on the inside...

Now that I've opened the doors of the bookworks for the first time - 

would you like to meet some of my favourite bits of studio equipment?

here's 'Maria'...

... a huge French standing press

she gained the nickname 'Maria' because I picked her up in the nearby township of Moruya

isn't she a lovely looking girl?

but at 250kgs she is a substantial lass!

Phil welded her a special metal table/base so we can feel confident that she's fully supported

then there's 'Chappie'

weighing in at around one tonne

 'Chappie' - my late 19th century Chandler and Price clamshell printing press - does tend to dominate the space so I've tucked him into the back of the studio

nearby is my one chest of metal type (and letterpress bits and pieces)

(although 'Chappie' and mates do take up a lot of space in the studio, I'm not really a letterpress printer so I don't have mountains of gear & I certainly make no pretense at being a letterpress expert!)

My book journey started from the land of calligraphy

 and look - here's my tilted drafting table that's been my faithful calligraphy table 

since the early 1990s... 

its a homemade affair that has lovely a Vemco drafting machine - a beautiful drafting tool more commonly seen in an architects atelier than a calligrapher's studio...
My calligraphy table takes advantage of lovely easterly light
- and soon I'll be able to look out onto my beloved chooks in their own yard -
(right now they are living in a moveable chook tractor that you can spy through the window!)

also inside the studio is my smaller copy press ...

that I use as a nipping press

then there's 'tubbie'

my wooden finishing press and tub

my big wooden finishing press....

sewing frames....

and all my precious hand tools.....

Very soon I'll be announcing the next open day
(I'm hibernating for the winter!) 

when I'll be concentrating on just BOOOOOOOOKS -
so you can come and play with all these goodies
(and maybe even make some booky things)


stay tuned!


.....