Problems

Having problems printing. I've just spent two nights trying to print from my first solid area plate, but having the same recurring problem that I've been having since I first put ink on the press.

The issue is that an area the length of the plate and one inch high is not inking. If I rotate the rollers 180 degrees, the whole plate inks up again, but after one or two prints, resorts to having an uninked strip again. It's not always the same area. It's less noticeable with line art.

At first, I thought it was that the rollers were sliding over that spot rather than rolling over it. I checked to make sure that the trunks were free of grease, and that the tracks were also clean.

Then I thought that it was because the rollers weren't being completely covered in ink as they ran over the ink disc -- that they didn't complete a full rotation over the ink, and therefore couldn't fully ink the plate.

My fiancee discovered that one of the tracks wasn't 100% straight. So we taped it up until it was, but that made no difference either.

Only rotating the rollers a little by hand, and then continuing the cycle seems to ink the plate up evenly, though only for a couple of prints.

Our best guess so far is that the rollers' axis has a bow in it. If this is the case, it's bad news.

I've put in so much work to get this far, and it's really disheartening to discover something like this. I have no idea where to get new complete rubber rollers, and even if I did, it still puts my wedding stationery back a few weeks. It's so frustrating.

I threw out most of the prints before realising I should photograph them, but here's a few pics:

Best print from last night. I ran the ink very heavy, had just a kiss impression to the plate, and rotated the rollers by hand after every print.

The plate tonight. Not a great example, but you can see the uneven ink distribution on the plate across one section. Rotating the rollers by hand fixed this for a couple of prints.

Example of a dodgy print from tonight. Notice the line of absent ink halfway down the print.

One of my rollers during the cleaning process. Both of the rollers for my eight-five have a few knicks in them which, surprisingly, haven't seemed to produce 'holes' in prints.

&Duck mentioned in the previous post's comments that double sided tape can cause problems and that spray adhesive is a better idea (which I'll be doing from now on), but after fiddling with this plate, I don't believe that's the cause of my inking problems.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm at a loss here.

First photopolymer print

Today was first proper opportunity to print from my new polymers. I think it went rather well.

I'm really keen to print the first colour of my giraffe and rabbit illustration, but I need more paper to do that. Today's prints were just done on standard office paper, as they were just a test.

All bases covered

Never admit defeat. If you can't find someone that makes wooden bases for photopolymer plates, damnit, make them yourself!

... and then when you can't find timber that's the height you need for your base, find something a little too low and glue MDF on top. Clamp tight, leave overnight and presto!

Hrm, but MDF should be cut outside, and it's pouring out there. Will have to cut tomorrow. Damn. No printing tonight.

But wait! My delightful fiancee just suggested using two sheets of thick card that we've got lying around for tonight. This way, I can actually print something, which is fantastic because I'm getting sick of not being about to print anything.

So tonight, dodgy job that might work. Tomorrow, make the real deal. I've got enough to make 6 wood blocks, 185 x 110mm. Is this finally the last hurdle conquered??

First plates

These little polymers are worth their weight in gold to me today (well, probably more than their weight, they're very light...)

Can't get printing with them yet as I need a suitable base. I did borrow one today from Ampersand Duck, but, just my luck, the base was 1mm too wide for my chase! Argh!

Neg film ready!

Very exciting letterpressing day today. Once again, no printing done by me, but look what arrived in the mail from etsy today:

From Pistachio Press. Blog here.

From Satsuma Press. Blog here.

But even more exciting was picking up my first neg film for the photopolymer plates today:

This sheet of film has about an A3 sheet's worth of designs that include my Save the Date cards (two colour), giraffe & bunny design (two colour) and a few swirlies for good measure. Can't wait to print these.

File sent!

Today I emailed my first plate designs to Monaro Printers to get film made for plates!

Vector-making

Apologies for my lack of blogging in the past couple of days. Truth be known, I'm hanging out to print graphics now. There's only so much I can do with my limited amount of small type. So this weekend I've been sketching ideas for illustrations to use on greeting cards, as well as designing the "Save the Date" cards for our wedding. I figure if I send out these cards, I'll have more time to work on the actual invites, and not have to worry about people missing out on vital information.

Above is a preview of an illustration I created this afternoon that I'm having converted to film tomorrow. Nervous that I've started with something a little too complicated and that it won't come out well on a plate... but we'll see! If it does work, they'll be pretty cute.

So I'll be posting updates soon with progress on these prints once the plates are done.