Unless something goes awry, Brian Stuparyk at Steam Whistle Letterpress plans to start printing the pages for “Roman Workbenches” this week. The plates are in. The paper is in. Now it’s just a matter of putting the two together on his Vandercook press.
Once the pages are printed, we’ll truck the results to Massachusetts so the bindery can fold the signatures, sew them and bind them. It’s too soon to tell exactly when the book will be finished and then ship – I’m hoping the process takes another five weeks.
Today I stopped by the Steam Whistle shop in neighboring Newport, Ky., to take some photos of the plates and paper to assure you that we haven’t taken your money and run off to Kansas (that’s really about as far as we could get on that sum).
Brian is a newly minted father and seems still as excited about the job as I am – and I don’t think he’s slept since Monday.
When the press starts rolling, I’ll post some photos and video of the process. It won’t be long now.
— Christopher Schwarz
Chris and John – Let me know if at any point you find that you need a local contact for Acme Bookbinding, and I’d be happy to help. I had a nice flashback when I read that Acme was doing the binding work because I had my doctoral thesis bound by Acme many moons ago…
– Josh
As a designer that worked at a letterpress shop, I’m curious what press he’s using. Any ideas?
It’s a Vandercook 425 proofing press.