Home Printing Press

Reekwind

To be honest, I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this but I'll ask anyway. I'm looking to get hold of a small printing press - nothing fancy, just something that I could put in the shed and use to churn out a few dozen posters and the like - but I don't have a clue where to look. Would anyone here be able to point me in the right direction? Even if it's just to another forum on this bewilderingly large site...

Dubdude

Hi Reekwind, if you dont mind me asking but have you any experience with printing presses??

looksee

This would probably be the right site, but as Dubdude suggests, what are you asking, its a bit of a 'how long is a piece of string' question. Are you talking about letterpress or a powered press, one colour or two or four? If you are thinking about doing off-set litho you need much more than just a press, you also need a good bit of expertise.

Reekwind

Dubdude wrote: »

Hi Reekwind, if you dont mind me asking but have you any experience with printing presses??

None whatsoever; hence my rather broad question. I'd be interested in spending time tinkering with a press as a hobby but obviously I'm not looking to get into competition with the Times

looksee wrote:

Are you talking about letterpress or a powered press, one colour or two or four? If you are thinking about doing off-set litho you need much more than just a press, you also need a good bit of expertise.

I have no idea what those terms mean

Like I said, I'm not looking for anything overly complex. Just something to use for small poster runs, maybe with one or two tones per sheet. Is there nothing out there that can be used for this, without getting too elaborate or expensive?

looksee

I think you might be better off looking at screen printing. What you have to consider with a printing press is, what do you use to create the image? Maybe it is screen printing you are thinking of?

The simplest form of printing press is one where you create a panel of print (back to front) from wood or metal type by slotting separate letters into lines of type. This stuff is pretty well antique now and not very available. The panel is then put into a press and a sheet of paper pressed onto it to make the print.

The alternative is to make plates, which, however you do it, is a fairly sophisticated process and your best bet is to do a considerable amount of research and reading about the processes possible.

While it is perfectly possible to learn printing, it usually involves a long apprenticeship to be either a commercial or art printer.

Outline here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letterpress_printing

xxGalwayGirlxx

You'd be better off getting a digital printer, unless you want to train to be a litho printer and learn all the tricks of the trade...

Dubdude

I will give you my honest opinion and advise you to stay well clear of the printing trade, it has gone **** over the last few years. I know a lot of qualified printers with so much experience that are all out of work and not one of them have invested in buying a little machine for there back shed because they just cant compete with the guys with bigger machines.

Also a couple of other things you have to take into account if it is litho printing:
1. most people in the trade operate from a apple mac do you have one
2. a proofing system do you have a laser printer so you can proof with your client first
3. a rip and film output device and a film processor you will need both of these a lot of bigger places don't use these anymore and have gone direct to plate (CTP)
4. a print down frame this is to make your plates its kinda like an oven with a UV light bulb that burns the image from your film to the plate
5. a plate processor for developing your plates

all of the above has to be done before you even get to put a job on your printing press.

Reekwind

Okay, it seems that I was too ambitious in looking for a simple (apparently letterpress) press. Certainly I've no intention in investing in any industrial-grade equipment

That said, what alternatives are there? I assume that digital printing involves more than simply printing stuff on a bog-standard laser printer? Again, I only want to be able to do relatively small print runs (about a few dozen per run) for posters and leaflets

ztoical

It really depends on what exactly the prints you wish do produce are for. Are you just printing your own artwork as gifts or to sell or are you planning to offer to print other peoples work? What size are you looking to print? Water based or oil based, Paperstock etc

Printmaking is divided up into many different areas and each has it's pros and cons as far as the finished product goes. I would highly rec signing up for an intro to printmaking session in one of the print labs around the country or the Print Museum to get a taste for the different areas and it may give you a better idea on what it is exactly you want to do.

Print equipment is expensive and not something you can really teach yourself out of a book. Posters implies you want to go big and while table top presses for etching, lino/woodblock and mono can be found for around 600/700 euro you wouldn't get bigger then A4 on one. A decent full size press would cost in the region of 5000 and they require alot of knowledge to not just maintain but also to understand the presure and get good prints from. Going digital a decent A3 printer would cost in the region of 500 but thats just the printer not the computer with the correct software and knowledge to use it, the correct paper stock and inks etc

Reekwind

Just to say thanks for all the answers, people. I know I'm being very vague here with my questions but I am slowly learning

ztoical wrote: »

It really depends on what exactly the prints you wish do produce are for. Are you just printing your own artwork as gifts or to sell or are you planning to offer to print other peoples work? What size are you looking to print? Water based or oil based, Paperstock etc

I'm looking to print off posters (about A3) or smaller leaflets in runs of a few dozen each. This is, initially at least, for my own purposes and as favours to friends; I'm not looking to going into business on the back of this

Going digital a decent A3 printer would cost in the region of 500 but thats just the printer not the computer with the correct software and knowledge to use it, the correct paper stock and inks etc

Yeah, I'm starting to think digital, but can you get poster-quality prints (just good enough for sticking up on a street) from a digital printer? And what of the paper quality - I assume its not just standard office printer paper? I'm particularly wary about the cost of ink associated with printers

looksee

Posters that are put up outside are usually at least laminated. This is not the same as the thick plastic used on a small machine in offices, it is an almost invisible film that is sprayed on during printing. More likely they would be printed with waterproof inks, which creates a new layer of issues.

There really is no cheap and easy way of printing. Its as simple as that. The fact that you only want to do a few is actually a problem as the main issue with printing is setting up the job - whatever kind of printing you do.

I would suggest you look at simple screen printing. You can make your own screen quite inexpensively - basically a mesh (which you can buy online) attached to a frame that is hinged to a base. I cobbled one together from a bit of timber and plain net curtain and it was adequate for the particular purpose at the time. You buy inks and a spreader and you can make very basic stencils from paper (though you would only get one or two prints off it) or you can buy the proper stencil 'card'. If you want to make very detailed stencils you will need an exposure unit - kind of photographic unit - at which point you are going into expense, but still no where near the cost of other kinds of printing.

The whole thing is very 'hands on' and craft oriented rather than computer based. I would suggest you buy a very basic set up and experiment with it .

There is a lot of printing equipment here, including screen printing and presses. Remember with the presses you have to make the plate you are going to print, which has to be a relief plate like lino or letterpress.
http://www.specialistcrafts.ie/ProductList.asp?a=resetsearch&RootCat=798&CatID=798

singo230474

i have a digital press that i would be willing to do you good deals on printing or maybe even sell it to you