Adventures in Letterpress: Calling Cards En Vivo

Last week I had the pleasure of printing up some personal calling cards for the brother of a friend. In barter for the cards, the brother sent me a set of lock picks, which I really enjoy fooling around with. Figuring that a guy who barters and plays with lock picks is probably a giant nerd, I decided to record the printing process for his cards. And, because he gave me permissions, and so did the other friend whose cards are being printed in the video, I figured, "why not just share the video with the Everyday Correspondence community?" And so it was.

Without further ado I present to you: Hacking Letterpress, letterpress printing on an 1890s squeegee. Please, enjoy.

Sigwalt Chicago No. 10

While I have largely kept my latest hobby out of my posts on Everyday Correspondence, I have actually gotten quite into printmaking. I began with cut linoleum stamps, and moved on to letterpress style printing on a repurposed cylinder press to make cards and invitations for friends. That entire time, I had my eye on purchasing a tabletop platen press. And a couple of weeks ago, I finally purchased one.


This little baby is a Sigwalt Chicago No. 10 printing press. It has a printable area of 3" x 5", small, but what I could afford. It's in relatively good shape, all the parts move properly, and it came with a roller in decent condition (not pictured). I plan on doing mild restoration to the piece, as there is some rust and peeled/worn paint.

Notice the still vibrant hand painted details on the sides of the press and the gold piping that adorns the contours of the cast iron pieces.

I have a can of WD-40 and a 3M scrubby at the ready, and boy, am I ready to get to work!