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Dropped $200 on a vintage letterpress and the ink ruined every single print
I got obsessed with letterpress printing after watching a YouTube video (big mistake) and bought a beat-up 1950s tabletop press off eBay for $200. Turns out the old ink I bought separately was dried out and actually corroded the rollers, leaving orange gunk all over my first 50 prints. Plus the type itself was all mismatched and I spent 3 hours just trying to get a single word to line up straight. Has anyone else gotten burned by buying old print gear, or is it just me being impatient?
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logan_young295mo ago
Had a buddy sink $300 into an old platen press from a barn sale, only to discover the flywheel was cracked and it threw the timing off with every pull. He spent two weekends cleaning rust out of the ink disk with a wire brush and solvent before getting one clean sheet. That first print that actually worked was the ugliest business card you ever saw, but he framed it anyway.
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elizabeths515mo ago
You really think framing that ugly card is that deep, @logan_young29? I mean, it's a piece of paper with some ink on it, not a Picasso. I bet his buddy spent all that time and money just to hang a crooked, smudged business card on his wall like it's some kind of major life achievement. Is it really that serious, or is it just something to hang next to the fridge?
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wendyg435mo ago
That framed ugly card probably means more than any perfect one ever will...
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