In the home stretch now, with a long run of red ink to impress  on the cover and colophon, as well as on the reprinted first and last pages.

Inked up for the final impression

The use of roller bearers has made a world of difference in preventing the roller slurs I had been struggling with – especially with so little type on the press for this print run.

And I MacGyvered a home-made humidor (courtesy of a model inspired by  Lunada Bay Letterpress) to store my damped paper between print runs.   Refrigeration allowed the precious luxury of time between print runs.    From the re-print of the first leaf in black to the second (and, hopefully, final) impression of red ink,  I had an interval of seven days with dampened paper — and, happily, no mold!

Close up of Wayzgoose signature

I continue to struggle with inking (too much?! too little?!) – and I am fast becoming acquainted with “monks” and “friars” and every other ink blot to paper that can plague the newbie.   I’m nearly done, and then I need to sit down and properly document what I’ve done and what I’ve learned.

Work on my Wazgoose submission has begun in earnest. After re-setting type for the first leaf, I spent a good part of the weekend in a state of perplexed make-ready.

As I started to proof, I had noticed a strange ghosting streak of ink across my prints. It was annoyingly erratic in its appearances. I examined the form and rollers for rogue pet hair (wouldn’t be the first time!) – but to no avail. I tinkered with the slipsheets to lighten the packing. I mucked around with roller height (really dumb idea, it turns out, because it took me the better part of 4 hours to get them calibrated again!)

I was sitting (read, moping) on the floor next to the press, wracking what was left of my brain for a solution, when I glanced up and noticed that under the press bed I could see the carriage bearers had pearls of dried liquid soap clinging to them. (That’s the soap used in washing up the safewash inks, which I had been using too liberally, it seems!)  These hardened bubbles were actually picking up ink from the type and then trailing it over the paper as the cylinder turned.   A few scrubs with a damp rag and this ghost was banished.

With the forme locked up on the press, I created a paper template to ensure all my pages were consistently shaped  (More nuggets of wisdom from my homework here, this time courtesy of Robert Bringhurst’s The Elements of Typographic Style).   First colour impression (black) went well once these issues were resolved.  (Jeez!)

The second colour registration was suspiciously easy to implement.  The impressions aligned well, and once I figured out how to resolve roller slurs (roller bearers to reduce the impact of the rollers on the text), the second colour impression was relatively free of problems.

Next step,  setting and printing the recto. But for the moment, I’m out of sorts (lowercase h, to be precise), so I’m heading back to the print shop to diss some type!

I’ve settled on a text for this year’s Grimsby Wayzgoose Anthology; it’s a contemporary and oft-told fable that can stand one more telling, I suppose — this time recounted in true curmudgeonly fashion by yours truly. The Bird, the Cow & the Cat ~ A Cautionary Fable for Cultural Bureaucrats, a tale inspired by the benign intervention of cows, is now in the works.

Benign cow. (Photo by Tim)

One of my objectives in tackling this project is to finally learn how to fully justify the type I set. In my past attempts at setting prose, I would usually set the right margin ragged after a few failed attempts at full justified text.   So, I’m going back to basics, and I’ve hauled out the textbooks of the masters:  General Printing, by Glen U. Cleeton et al, (McKnight & McKnight: Bloomington, IL., 1963) and Printing Poetry: a workbook in typographic reification by Clifford Burke (Scarab Press: San Francisco, 1980).   So, after a few days of serious studying, I’m back at the press – and the two pages worth of text I had set went back into the stick to be properly re-set. While I thought I would feel frustrated at having to start again, I was surprised to see how well it went, once I understood the method.  Despite myself, I found the work peaceful and with the text fully justified, and relatively even in tone, I’m very satisfied with the progress so far.

Fully justified, finally!

For the design of the signature, I drew inspiration from regular and previous Wayzgoose contributors.   One of the greatest pleasures I’ve discovered while indexing the anthologies,  is the opportunity to study marvelous work and the evolution of a private press’s or artist’s body of work over time.  So far, I’ve indexed about 16 years’ worth of Wayzgeese, and am amazed at the variety, quality and beauty of the work appearing in them.   Progress on the indexing will decrease while I get cranking, but all for a worthy cause.

Lately I’ve been prowling the typecases as I plan my next project: a Wayzgoose signature. After some sorting and reorganizing (I finally managed to sort some of the wood type!), I decided to print up a few of the blocks and fleurons that I’ve admired for years.

Oops!

One of my objectives was to test the quality of the bird and cow blocks I had found, because they may just fit into my Wayzgoose plans. So, a broadside of sorts, printed using Caslon bold in 60 point, with Caligo safewash inks.   Five good proofs, printed for fun.  And I was glad I took this photo:  it forced me to proof-read more closely!

After finishing up the Christmas cards,  I printed the title page and cover for a special Christmas gift.   It gave me the opportunity to prowl the typecases for a special typeface.  I was very happy to discover I had a complete font of Columbus in 48 point.  I love the shape of the serifs on the swash capitals — truly an added bonus.

Form for Venice title page

The ink was mixed to match the colour of the paper I used to bind the album.  While there were a few glitches while making the album (like ordering too many photos!), generally the binding turned out quite nicely.  The boards matched up well, the hinge was firm and strong, the lined pattern of the paper stayed true on the vertical.   A limited edition of one.

Venice photo album

Inspired by the precision and beauty of the work produced by the Ottawa Press Gang, I decided to make another attempt on my season’s greetings. This time, I’m relying on the grumpy eloquence of Ebeneezer Scrooge, whose word-perfect sentiments match my own when it comes to decrying the mindless, noisy and greed-driven behaviour of most people at this time of year.

Sentiments by Scrooge

The challenge in printing this piece is the precise registration required for the two-colour print of the poinsetta sorts. Given that my trusty, cranky Reprex is missing its micrometer paper guides, the make-ready for the second impression is finicky indeed.

Tricky two-colour registration

The red ink impression is slightly off – noticeable mainly on the poinsettas – but the text is aligned reasonably well, and the holly borders add a certain seasonal touch to the message. Generally, I’m quite pleased with the results. Now, I must sit down in my chilly den and address my sentiments purposefully to a few well-deserving recipients. Humbug!