Meet Our Presses

Our printing presses are the lifeblood of our shop. Like a painter has different types of paint brushes depending on the stroke they so desire, our presses allow us to produce in different ways depending on the job. We love a shop where the presses are running warm—it is a sign of creativity coming to fruition and our families being provided for. It is a place where the hands are speckled with ink and the air has a hint of press cleaner.

Our workhorse is our Heidelberg “Windmill” T press. We never got around to naming this beauty but it has only had one shop owner before myself. Just a few years back when I picked it up from the retiring pressman, his wife walked in with tears in her eyes. She shared with me that this was the first big investment they made for their growing shop. This press provided so much for them and their family—she was hoping it would do the same for ours, and I would be happy to tell her that it has.

Our proof press is a Vandercook Universal III. This press is affectionately named “Norma,” which means precision and light. Norma prints with excellent registration and allows us to pull larger poster-sized prints as well. Each item we run on this press has to be handed in as the pressman rolls each with the cylinder. We picked her up from a closing print shop in Virginia and before that she resided at a law firm that had original ownership.