Chapter XV
PRINTING, STAMPING, AND EMBOSSING
Every boy, at one time or another, gets an attack of printers’ fever, and then he will not be satisfied until he makes or purchases a printing-press. There are, of course, many different kinds of printing-presses. One of the simplest forms is shown in the drawing of the flat-bed press (Fig. 1), which is very easy to make and to manipulate. A flat board one and one-half inches thick, twelve inches wide, and eighteen inches long will form a substantial bed on which to fasten the frame and pressure-plate. The frame is made of hard-wood strips seven-eighths of an inch wide and three-fourths of an inch high. These are glued and screwed fast to the bare board, forming an enclosure five and one-half by six and one-half inches, and large enough to accommodate a chase four by five inches. A chase is always measured from the inside. From one-half to five-eighths of an inch all around should be allowed for the thickness of the metal of which the chase is made.
The pressure-plate is cut from wood one and one-fourth inches thick, and the same size as the outside measure of the frame attached to the bed-board. A stout lever fourteen inches long is screwed and glued fast to the top of this board, which is then attached to the rear strip of the frame by means of three stout iron hinges, so that when closed down the pressure-plate will fit closely to the top of the frame.
The type as it is set up in the chase will stand face up in the frame, and the card to be printed is caught with gauge-pins to the inside of the pressure-plate, as shown in the drawing. The type, having been inked with the roller, gives the impression to the card when the pressure-plate is brought down and held against the type by means of the lever.
The gauge-pins that hold the card in place are made of metal or of ordinary pins. Several forms of pins are shown at Fig. 2. A is made from an ordinary pin, while B and C are other forms cut from thin sheet-brass and then bent into shape with small pliers.
Fig. 3 shows a chase five by seven inches, of cast-iron, which can be purchased at a printers’ stock house for a nominal price. When the types are set up they are blocked into position in the chase, and two wedges, made with bevelled edges to bear against each other, are tapped with a light hammer on the thick ends, so as to wedge the type in place. These are called quoins (Fig. 4).
Fig. 5 shows a small proof-roller made of glue and molasses. It may be purchased at a printers’ shop for a few cents.
A piece of glass or marble will answer very well for an ink-plate or slab, and after using them both the slab and roller should be thoroughly cleaned with benzine. The cleaning must be done directly after printing, else the ink dries on the roller and thus spoils it.