Welcome to the Bracken Press PRINT-workshop website
Intaglio (etching, drypoint, aquatint)
& block printing & wood engraving
(lino-prints, surface printing) & letterpress
Established 1974.
Double crown size.
Manufactured on March 20th 1889
Purchased in 1974 from a printers in Wensleydale.
Refurbishment:-
before work commences.
1st stage was to dismantle the press, wire brushed to remove and old flaky paint, power sanded with buffering machine, primed and painted in black.
2nd stage was to degrease the mechanism, buffer the steel to remove all rusty marks.
3rd stage was to clean and buffer the platen, prime and repaint.
The main frame, legs and rails were treated in the same way.
With all the various parts cleaned it was time to reassemble.
A 2 ton car jack came in very handy to replace certain parts.
A large pin holds the mechanism in place which is held in suspension by a steel sprung coil.
Lifting the piston into place with the help of the car jack isnt the easiest of jobs to do single handedly.
Next is insert the chill & mechanism which operates the press.
Once complete the platen can be attached to the piston.
The platen is suspended from the piston with 4 bolts, these have to be inserted properly as they were most probalbly made individually for this press.
The platen is one of the most important pieces of the Albion, and the trickiest to replace.
Using lengths of string to hold the locking devices in place, the platen is slid into position.
The mechanism which when the lever is pulled exerts great pressure on the piston which in turn presses the platen.
The space in the piston where the chill will sit along with the mechanism.
The completed press, just the tympan to recover and the refurbishment is complete.
The Albion 1889