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.