An article about the press and its development has just been published in Printmaking Today Winter 2011 issue.  See 
printmaking today for the current issues and how to order.

This video show the platen mechanism in action as a plate is being slid in to print.  The creaking is not from the wood, but from the compression of the screws under the pressure.  Maurice wishes to see if this can be 'removed,' but I rather like it.  Either way, it is not a bad sign!

Images of the first testing of the press at Maurice's house where the press was constructed.  I was initially testing a wood cut which had both large areas of solid and areas of detail to assess the capabilities of the press.  Our first testings were very successful, showing that the press is able to produce high pressure to print solid areas.  It was very interesting to work with the press because I have never used such a mechanism/design before and thus there were many little details that I had to get used to in order to work successfully with the press.  But, this is like and printing press.  They are all unique and all have their individual personalities that need to be understood.

A shot showing the side of the platen and pressure arm mechanism.  The springs are incredibly strong and even if I place my full weight onto the top platen, they hardly contract.  This illustrates how much pressure the mechanism is applying as they compress easily when using the lever.

A detail of the beech end to the pressure arm.  The beech is very hard wearing and will maintain its spherical shape.  The hole in the top platen serves both as a locating device and it also allows the beech end to roll in the hole as the pressure is applied, thus allowing the pressure arm to remain vertical. 

And a detail shot of the lever.  Note the small locating whole on the top platen.  This is a slight amendment to the original design and it should work fine.  The depth of the polystyrene in between the platens here is 250mm, but we can fit deeper plates underneath as required.

This is the fully constructed press.  The components are all put together, the wood is yet to be finished and stained.  The lever mechanism appears to have worked very well, and Maurice pulled it with his whole weight and there was not a creak or sign of movement from the press, which is brilliant. 
The next stage is to test the pressure of the press and make any final tweeks to the lever mechanism if needed.  I am confident it will print relief plates wonderfully, but I secretly hold hope that the pressure will be high enough to print intaglio.  We shall see! 

Here you can see the A-frame taking shape.  The press bed is being built, the lever mechanism and sliding bed still to be finalized.  The press is looking great, and particularly sturdy.  Of course, we shall never know how much pressure it can take until we test it very soon...

And this is very exciting to see the press upright.  The first part of the frame looks very strong, which is great as this is the part that contains the pressure mechanism and press beds.  It needs to be strong.  Keep looking for further updates!

So the first stage of building took place...This involves putting together the main triangular frame.  It is looking very good, and quite amazingly straightforward thus far.  Down to good designing!

The first cuts are made....This is all the main body work of the press.  All flat pack. 

With construction soon to start, I understand that the press is to be put together with dowel and glue, to avoid the weakness of tenon joints.  Maurice has taken inspiration from Barnes Wallis and his Wellington bomber designs.  So so far we have a steam engine piston and a bomber construction.  It sound great doesn't it?

Construction starting this week!....keep looking for photos and updates.

This drawing is probably my favourite.  It shows how the press components are going to be cut out from the industrial ply.  It is basically a flat-pack press, which is very amazing.  Out of two sheets of ply, a free-standing press can be made.  It is cheap, and strong.  This press is really quite brilliant.  The exciting part starts soon.  The build. 

A few component diagrams.  It is so exciting to see how this all works.

This drawing illustrates the platen mechanism.  The top and bottom platens will be separted by springsin each corner.  When the springs are relaxed, i.e. no pressure exerted by the lever, the platens will leave a gap large enough to slide in the printing tray, plate, paper and blankets.  This gap needs to be carefully measured so that deeper plates may fit, for instance, metal type.  Thus it needs to be at least 1".  When the leaver is pulled, pressure is exerted, the top platen is forced down, compressing the springs in the corner.  The springs also serve to make sure that the top and bottom platens are always aligned.   

This is the second full drawing.  You can see it is a lot more detailed, and the lever handle is slightly more extended then the previous one.  The height of the press will be approximately 1.5m, with a width of approximately 1.3m.  The weight of the structure will enable 2 people to lift it whole and move it, which is pretty amazing.  Maurice is building the press so that parts may be deconstructed for further transport in a car boot, or perhaps in my mind, a pedal bike trailer!

The very first full drawing of the press.  It is going to be fascinating to see how this all works, and we are particularly interested to see if the weight of the press will be enough to withstand the lever pull without toppling.  The press bed was decided to stand at 850mm.  I measured the etching press bed heights that I work at, and finding them a tad too high, at 900mm, I reduced it by 50mm.  Hopefully it will be just right. 

Maurice sent through these three frame designs to show how the square frame would work.  I still chose the A-frame as I find the potential very interesting.

These three presses, from top, an example of a screw-top press from Lebanon (1738), a Fawkner press (1838), and a Gutenberg style press, the original Gutenberg was invented in the 15th century.  I wanted to show these as they are examples of wooden presses that have through the centuries all used a square frame.  Our press is unusual in its A-frame design, which will be fascinating to use.  The press we are designing is also exceptionally light-weight, thus it will be fascinating too see what pressures can be achieved through the lever mechanism. 

This is the first proposal by Maurice for the triangular framed press.  This is a perfect way to increase the strength of the press as well as the stability.  Because of the lightweight wooden structure, it is essential that the press does not topple with the pulling of the lever.  It is very good that the lever Maurice plans to use pulls in the vertical plane, rather than the horizontal.  Pulling a lever in the horizontal plane for such a light-weight structure could cause a toppling effect.  Whereas if the lever is pulled in the vertical plane, there is less chance of the toppling of the press. 

This is a diagram drawn by Maurice to illustrate the use of the Watt Linkage in the lever mechanism.  the Watt Linkage was designed and built by James Watt to restrain the movement of a steam engine piston to as straighter line as possible.  This would increase efficiency of the piston and reduce wear.  Mechanism based upon the Watt Linkage are currently used in some racing car suspension, and indeed, in this press.  It is a very efficient way to transfer energy and power and thus perfect for maximising the pressure transference from printer pulling the lever to pressure being exerted onto the plate.

This painting by Daniel Maclise in 1851 shows William Caxton with his press, showing the print to King Edward IV at Westminster.  Caxton was vital to the introduction of the printing press to Britain and to the future development of printing.  Note, again, the horizontal lever mechanism of the press and the square frame.  Maurice has taken inspiration from this wooden press, but updated it to produce a higher pressure and stringer frame. 

With the platen's running along in their design, we had to start thinking about the all important method of exerting pressure.  In previous drawings, Maurice had illustrated a screw-top press, as with the turned wooden screw used in Gutenberg presses.  However, although this would be possible to make, Maurice came up with the above idea.  This method is beautiful not only because of the ease of use for the printer, but also because this type of ever is capable of exerting huge amounts of pressure, possibly up to 1200psi.  With the long handle, the amount of force required by the printer to be able to exert the high pressure is minimal.  Also, unlike the Albion and similar relief presses, where the handle is pulled along the horizontal plane, this is more like the mechanical direct litho presses, where the handle is pulled in the vertical plane. Note also the holes along the lever.  This allows the pressure to be increased or decreased, depending on which hole the connector is pinned into.  It truly is a wonderful design by Maurice.

 

This is the first drawing of various press arrangements.  At this stage, we were still looking at a basic square base frame, which was soon to change.  There was the choice of making a table top press (option 1), but I much prefer free-standing presses as I do not like the inking area to be anywhere near the printing area.  The free-standing press also allows for the potential of storage shelves underneath.  Note option 3, with the crew exerting pressure from underneath.  This design was put forward by Maurice as a question of turning things upside down, and for ease of printing (and saving the printers knees and back), the pressure was decided to be exerted from above.  Also, it would be all rather messy and confusing to have to place printing plate on top of paper, on top of blankets, so we decided to stick withe the classic method!

These drawings by Maurice show the designs for the top and bottom platens.  We decided on a press bed (printing area) of 350mm x 350mm.  This enables the press to fit through a standard door width, which is useful if I am to be transporting it around.  We were also concerned that any larger and the pressure may not be high enough.  This is the first press we have built and it may not be the last, so we would very much like this one to work so that if we build a larger one, we can learn from the successes of this one.

For this project it was decided to settle on a relief press design as the wooden structure would suit itself to the lower pressure required from these presses.  This early sketch shows our first idea for the press.  As of yet, the most complex part, the pressure lever, has not been added.  At the start we were trying to find the best design for the top and bottom platens.  Note the 'tray'(the element with the handles at the front) that we thought would slide out from between the platens and act as the base where you place your plate, paper and felts, before sliding back ready to print.  This has taken inspiration from the Albion wind in press bed.