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Crafty
Cards Tour > Page 1 | 2 | 3
The lead alloy type isarranged in typecases and placed one by
one into the composing stick, spaces included in between words.
Thin strips of lead are placed in between lines of text.
The letters are all backwards so as to print forwards, and the
type is set upside-down. An experienced letterpress printer
can often read the type nearly as fast as regular printed text.
Although many letterpress printers use nonrecyclable photosensitive
polymer plates to print text, we prefer hand-set type because
it can be distributed back into the typecase and reused. 
We make poymer plates for specialty custom text and image work, if needed. Our large poster types comes in lead, wood, or acrylic. The printers' blocks are sometimes made of solid lead and often copper or another metal mounted onto wood.
Presses
We have two printing presses in the studio, but the one we use
for our cards and invitations is the sporty Vandercook Model
4. Weighing in at a hefty 1400 pounds, and decades old, she's
a force to be reckoned with.
The block of type (or an illustration printers' cut) is placed
on the flat press bed and locked in tightly. Each piece of paper
is fed through the press individually on a cylinder which rolls
over the type, imprinting the text and/or image into the paper. Each
color printed requires a separate run through the press, which
includes a separate inking. A letterpress is a special piece
of machinery in this day and age, and we consider ourselves
very fortunate to have this Vandercook for company.
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