A new press!
Published by Wayne in The cool stuff · Saturday 14 Mar 2026 · 1:30
As of Wednesday night (11th March) I have a new press installed in my studio. I found it online and the previous owners sold it to me at a great price (as well as helped disassemble it, as it weighs 200+ kg). I brought it home in bits and crafted a solid table to set it up on.
I risked my back putting it together piece by piece, as I was too excited to wait until one of my sons was available to lift for me. Press almost assembled, back survived...
On Wednesday evening my son came round after work and we set up the final part (Top roller and pressure adjustments). What I expected to be a 10 minute task took us 30 minutes...but it's now done.
I have wanted this for years. There is a guy who lives an hour away who refurbished old mangles and then makes them into beautiful presses. I contacted him last year to see what they cost (around $4500!). He just retired and stopped doing them in the same week I saw the advertisment for this press. Timing.....
What next? I will try it out with one of my existing blocks but plan to do a new print design to properly test it out. A three panel image based around Harbour Cone and the Otago Peninsula. That print will be taken down to my friend's gallery in Portobello and exhibited. Watch this space for progress!
