Get them before they are gone.
— Christopher Schwarz
Category: The Anarchist’s Tool Chest
Letterpress Poster Update
Yes, we are indeed sold out of our share of letterpress posters from “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.” But don’t despair. Read on before sending us a(nother) nasty-gram.
We sold 500 posters over the weekend. Another 400 posters – personally autographed like the ones we sold – are going to Lee Valley Tools this week for that company to sell. Another 50 (also signed) are going to Classic Hand Tools in the United Kingdom. And we’ll have 50 on hand to replace any that are damaged in shipment (and maybe have a few to sell at our storefront on May 14).
We don’t know when Lee Valley and Classic Hand Tools will begin selling the posters. That’s their decision. We have no say as how they operate (obviously).
Some readers have asked us to do a second run of posters. John and I have decided against that for several reasons. We have books to publish, and lots of them. Also, John and his neighbor are rolling and mailing these posters, and it’s remarkably time-consuming. Finally, these posters are not profitable. We kept the price low to say “thanks” to customers for supporting us all these years. If we continued to publish posters like this, John and I would have to take second jobs at Arby’s.
So keep your eyes peeled at Lee Valley and Classic Hand Tools.
— Christopher Schwarz
Letterpress Posters Now Available
You can order the letterpress posters featuring plans for “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” from our store for $20 – all orders include free domestic shipping.
Visit our store here to order.
The 18″ x 24″ poster was printed in dark blue on heavy #100 paper by Steamwhistle Letterpress of Newport, Ky. on a Vandercook 425 proofing press. See a video of the press run here. All of the posters are individually signed by me.
The construction drawing was made in soft pencil by Randy Wilkins and then converted to a polymer plate for the Vandercook 425.
We printed 1,000 posters. We don’t anticipate printing another run of these, so get them while you can. All posters ship in a rigid cardboard mailing tube.
Note: International customers will be able to purchase this poster through Classic Hand Tools and Lee Valley Tools (while their supplies last). We are still in the process of shipping these posters to them, so please give them some time to get things sorted out and ready to take orders.
— Christopher Schwarz
Video: Letterpress Poster on Press
Today I spent some time with the crew (OK, Brian and his mom) at Steamwhistle Letterpress as the pair worked through the second day of pressing our forthcoming construction print of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.”
If all goes well, we should have the 1,000 prints by Monday. Then I’ll sign them, we’ll get them to Indianapolis for fulfillment and then put them on the website. When I know the date they will go on sale (for $20 each, which includes domestic shipping), I’ll post it here.
If you are in England or Europe and want this poster, send a note to Classic Hand Tools. They will be selling part of our stock of these prints (these will be signed as well). We might have another international retailer on board with these posters. So stay tuned.
The posters look fantastic. And watching the press is mesmerizing, so I shot this short film of Brian and his mom in action.
— Christopher Schwarz
Coming Soon: Letterpress Tool Chest Plans
As part of the fifth anniversary of “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” we are printing 1,000 signed copies of plans for the chest that are hand-drawn and printed via letterpress.
The project is in conjunction with Steamwhistle Letterpress in neighboring Newport, Ky. As I type this, Brian Stuparyk and his mom are pulling copies of the poster from the Vandercook 425 press and allowing the dark blue ink to dry.
The posters will be $20 apiece (that price includes domestic shipping in a rigid cylindrical mailer) and each one will be personally signed by me. We are making these prints as affordable as possible as a “thank you” for all the people who have bought the tool chest book – allowing me to quit my job without having to live in a cardboard box. They should be available in our store for ordering next week.
The construction drawing of the chest was handmade by Randy Wilkins, a film set designer and the man behind The Designer’s Assistant blog. The print includes all relevant dimensions for building the full-size chest, plus specifications for the hardware.
Our intent was to make the print useful enough (and affordable) so you could use it in the shop. But it is also nice enough that you could tack it on the shop wall or even frame it.
The tool chest print is also our trial run for large-scale letterpress work for the book on Roman workbenches that I’m writing. The process during the last few months has been a real education for me in processing images and type so they could be reproduced on a polymer plate for the Vandercook proof press.
Earlier this week I spent an afternoon at Steamwhistle as they set up the press for the run, which will take several days. Brian hand-mixed the ink (blue with a little black) to suggest a blueprint. One of the many nice things about letterpress is the texture of the result. You can feel every line of the drawing in the paper. It is nothing like traditional offset lithography.
These are printed on smooth 100 lb. cover stock, which is rigid and durable. The finished size of the print should be about 17” x 22”, a typical size for an engineering print.
— Christopher Schwarz
