U of S | Mailing List Archive | alt-photo-process-l | Re: Presses for Photogravure/Gravure/Photopolymer

Re: Presses for Photogravure/Gravure/Photopolymer



No question about that Robert! You'll pay more for the extra metal. Takach will fit most of their presses with the larger drum upon request. Most small presses with small drums can work fine for photogravure until you try to go larger than 8x10". Any larger and I'd say one is pressing one's luck (pun intended).

Considering the huge investment many of us have already made to get quality film positives and photogravure plates, it would be foolish not to go the last mile to have them print well. It would be like building a custom analog tube amplifier from scratch and using it to play vinyl recordings through $20 PC speakers.

Cheers,
Jon

Robert Newcomb wrote:
One of the problems is in finding a table top model with drums as large as 10 inches, most of them are far smaller in that regard. As far as I know, any press with 10 inch rollers is going to be expensive!!!
Robert


On Sep 25, 2008, at 1:14 AM, Jon Lybrook wrote:

Hi Brian,

A photogravure is ... a pain in the ass to do well no matter what the plate is made from. I've seen plenty of mediocre copper gravure prints as well as polymer ones. Since life is short, I'm putting my money (and time and artwork) on the ever-improving results we continue to get from the KM73 polymer plates. Sounds like you are too!

Takach is the standard by which I measure all other presses. I'd truly love to own a floor model one day, but a table top would probably work until your plates start to exceed 16x20", when the game changes a little.

Apart from the importance of drum size (10" diameter, minimum IMO), if it's a used press and feasible, I'd ask to use it a few times in your process before putting money down. I'd never buy a used press without trying it out first or getting a guarantee of some sort in any case. Seems I see the same exact intaglio presses showing up on Ebay time and again over the last several years. Only once or twice did I ever see a Takach there. Used Takach presses are never a problem to resell, are snatched up quickly, and, in fact, often increase in value over the years. One of the few sound hardware investments out there. Actually, maybe I should cash out my IRA now while there's still money left in it and buy a couple of nice presses....hmm...

Best wishes,
Jon

Brian Pawlowski wrote:
Hey. Don't want to argue about what a photogravure is:-)
Just wanted a little advice on presses.
I'm using the KM73 plates, and I'm about happy with what I have
in terms of production... I'm producing plates.
I tried to run it through a very very small etching press and I am
simply not getting anywhere near enough pressure to draw the ink onto
the (dampened Rives) paper. I clamped it down further and when I turn
the handles I lift the press:-)
I used some large oder presses with photopolymer plates at Kala Institute
in Berkeley, so think the final thing here is to get a beefy press
for intaglio work.
Any recommendations? I am sitting on a quote from a few months back
from Takach for the 3060 table top press. Though they suggested maybe
a 3450 floor press.
This is big. I could go smaller. But other options besides Takach?
Advice?
Brian
--
Jon Lybrook
Intaglio Editions
http://intaglioeditions.com
303-818-5187



--
Jon Lybrook
Intaglio Editions
http://intaglioeditions.com
303-818-5187