The 1954 Kelsey 5x8 Model U Platen Press!

Our New Baby!

We purchased a refurbished 1954 Kelsey Model U 5x8 platen press this week! I'm flipping out! The seller did an incredible job and the press is like factory new. It's almost TOO clean and new! It arrived with a nice gift locked into the chase: a Ludwig cast Spofford Press logo block. Very cool!

This is a game changer for us! It's going to be a huge time saver compared to the larger manual etching press. We will have the best of both worlds. Larger prints or projects that need a deep impression will be printed on our etching press, while smaller cards, prints and labels will be printed quickly on the Kelsey! 

We've already printed the backs of some of our cards using the Kelsey. Each card now takes about 20 seconds for an impression compared to 1-2 minutes on the etching press! 

The chase with our logo block locked up.

Out of the Crate

Stunning!

1st little print proof!

It's So Clean!

The backs of some cards,  printed much quicker then using the etching press!

Whales & Bird Skull Prints

Two New Prints!

I have been pretty productive this past month! We have 2 new prints editioned and ready to go!  

The 1st is a new Resingrave engraving of 2 whales titled "Mother and Calf". The block size is only 3x6 inches. Here are the process steps of engraving the block along with printing the final image! 

Drawing of the whales on the block. 

The 1st engraved lines. They are very faint and help layout where all of the shadows and details will be. 

Here I'm using a diamond shaped engraving burin. Lines don't get much finer then these. 

Coming Along...

Here is the block right before adding highlights to the small calf. 

Here is the calf with the highlights engraved. 

The block sans background.

Close Up!

The final block ready to print! 

Oh there's nothing more satisfying then pulling that 1st beautiful print! 

Mother and Calf - printed in an edition of 50 on Zerkall paper. 

.   .   .  

Once "Mother and Calf" was editioned,  I purchased a set of linocut tools from Flexcut called the Micro Palm Tool Set. I had to try them out, so I prepped a 12x12 inch linoleum block with an older design I had and started carving. The tools are amazing when it comes to fine line detail work! Here are some process pictures. The print is titled "Pretending To". It was printed on Domestic Etching Paper in a very small edition of 20. 

The Tool Set.

Transferring the image onto the linoleum.

Carving Begins.

Coming Along

The final block ready for the press.

Inking station getting set up.

The Block On Press.

Inking up the block. I had to come up with a rail system to ink this guy evenly. I used longer pieces of mat board covered in blue tape, which raised them to the exact height of the printing surface of the linoleum. The brayer rolls over the block and over these rails instead of getting ink all over the press bed. The rails are then removed and the block is printed.  Nice little trick.

Hanging Up Drying

Pretending To - linocut printed on an 11x12 inch sheet of Domestic Etching paper in an edition of 20 prints. 

Both of these editioned prints are available in our shop!!