Golding Pearl No. 3

This press is an elegant meld of form and function. Made in Franklin, Massachusetts, in 1909, it was restored by Gary Johanson in 2011 and is running like a top (quieter, in fact, than our desktop laser printer). It is a floor-model platen press, with a chase-size of 7"x11,” and utilizes a treadle and flywheel (think, old Singer sewing machine).

Chandler & Price 10x15 New Style

The prize for heaviest press at SBP goes to this beauty from Cleveland, Ohio — it weighs in at about 15oo pounds, and was great fun to squeeze through the shop door ;-)  Born in 1914, this C&P was a long-time veteran of a printing office in Greensboro, NC, before retiring alongside it’s printer sometime in the ’90s. With its beefy build, large platen, and three rollers, we use this treadle-press for long runs of everything from coasters to books.

Ostrander-Seymour Handpress

Our newest old press, the Ostrander-Seymour Extra Heavy No. 1 is an iron handpress, built in Chicago around 1915. We are grateful to have acquired this press from master printer Bob Baris of The Press on Scroll Road, and to be working with it to print everything from books to block-carvings.

Metal & Wood Type

We are grateful to house a large collection of metal and wood type here at the Press. Some of the wood type was made in the latter half of the 1800s. The metal type ranges from 50+ years old to brand-new castings by our foundry friends. Whatever the source, these cases full of letters literally make language appear before our eyes, in our very hands. For an ongoing listing of the typefaces we have, please see here.

Poco Proofing Press No. 0

Crafted in Chicago, circa 1910, this is a small tabletop proofing press. The bed of the press is 12″ x 18″ and is traditionally used to “proof” or check printed forms before final production. When the cylinder is cranked, the bed slides under it, providing the pressure needed to “press” the paper to the inked type. This was our first press, and gets a lot of use to proof forms as well as to make prints from small carved blocks.

Guillotine Paper Cutter

This is, literally, "The Boss" here in the Shop. At 23 inches, the long sharp blade will slice through a thick stack of paper like a hot knife through butter. Made around 1895 by the St Louis Type Foundry, we are very careful with this beautiful beast!