Nov 05, 2009

Our Chandler & Price Platen Press

In September, my husband Pete and I drove to Cleveland, OH, headquarters of Chandler and Price Co., to pick-up our very own C&P platen press from a retiring printer. Weighing in at around 2,200 lbs, it was definitely a tough piece of equipment to move. Luckily there was a forklift rental place about a mile down the road from the former print shop.

Since there were no drivers available to drop it off at the shop, Pete very bravely decided to drive the forklift on the major 5 lane road connecting the two locations. I drove behind him in the huge pick-up truck we borrowed from Pete's Dad, with hazards blinking. Topping out at somewhere around 10 miles per hour, we slowly made our way, all the while the forklift bouncing around like crazy after hitting every little pothole and manhole cover. Oh, and I forgot to mention that it was raining the entire time!

Once we got there, we loaded the press in the truck without a hitch. Phew, big relief!
The journey continued with returning the forklift to the rental place, our truck stalling out due to a weak battery connection, and a stressful 3 hour drive back to the studio, BUT we made it just fine! I'm just sorry that I didn't get any photos of our adventure...

Moving the extremely heavy and bulky equipment needed for letterpress printing has proven to be much more difficult than I ever expected. But it's so worthwhile because this stuff is built to last. I just hope that we won't be moving studios again anytime soon!

Here's a photo of the press safe and sound in the studio.