Earlier this year, I was thrilled to receive my new 36” x 54” tabletop monotype press from Michigan’s Conrad Machine Co. It came, via a freight carrier, disassembled and carefully packed in two crates. The press and workbench were packed together and there was a separate, flat crated press bed. In total, they weighed a little more than 600 lbs.

Conrad Monotype Press with Stand

The first, and most urgent challenge was uncrating the components and moving them into the studio before it rained. I could only have done it with the help of my amazing wife. Some of the reasons I chose this particular press over a traditional etching press is that it weighs less and can be moved through a standard-width door in pieces.

The delivery of my crated Conrad Monotype Press. There was a separate flat press bed crate, too (not in the picture).

Over the coming days, I put together the steel stand, which has hefty casters, and mounted the press to the 3/4” plywood bench top that I had custom cut at a local lumber shop. I decided to paint the top with a multi-color geometric design. This is how it turned out, all set up.

Overall, I’m impressed by the quality of the press. When I ordered it over the phone with Conrad, it was nice to be able to ask questions and customize the press how I wanted. If you’re ever ordering one of these, keep in mind that it can take many months to fulfill an order based on my experience. I’ve only used it a little since I got it but I’m really excited to print some big linocuts.

Printmaking is a little like cooking, trying to find the right combination of ingredients for the perfect recipe. I spent the weekend trying to find the best combination of paper type and press tension for a new type of ink (Daniel Smith oil-based relief ink) I'm test driving. By Sunday afternoon, after countless test prints, I happily found the right mix. I often print on Stonehenge paper, but from time to time I've had a problem when the paper slips ever so slightly as the etching press roller pushes the print through. The front half of the print looks crisp, while the rear half of the print looks a little fuzzy and I end up having to recycle the prints. But Rives heavyweight paper worked fantastic. It's a little lighter weight than the Stonehenge paper and laid nice and 'snug' to the inked block. The result, after going through the press, was a nice clear image. To add another wrinkle, I decided to mount the carved linoleum block on plywood, which I never do, and I see some benefits. The photo shows the first layer of my newest edition of Italian car prints.

Car Linocut Print

2018 Update - I now have a review of my Blick 999 Model II Etching Press and its smaller cousin, the Blick Econo Etch Model II Press after using them for over five years.

My printmaking world is getting bigger and better. A new etching press was delivered last week by truck freight and the deliveryman was nice enough to wheel the crate directly into the garage (the shipment weighed about 200 lbs).

The first step was to unscrew the top off the crate so I could take a look at the press. It's a Richeson / Blick 999 Model II. What this all means for me is that I'll be able to make prints up to about 17" x 35" - much larger than my existing press allows.

I spent a lot of time looking for press benches and had trouble finding one that met my space, functionality and budget requirements. Having used an IKEA kitchen cart for my smaller press, I immediately looked back to IKEA for options. I found my solution when browsing through their Emeryville store and stumbled upon the HEMNES coffee table. It's made out of solid wood, measures 46.5" (L) x 29.5" (W) x 18.125" (H) and has a shelf underneath the main table surface.

I decided to do an IKEA 'hack' by stacking and attaching the two tables and adding heavyweight casters to the bottom. The tables were easy to assemble (less than an hour each) and were connected together with metal corner braces. The trickiest part was attaching the casters I got from a hardware store. The legs didn't have enough surface area to screw in the casters so I had to widen the legs by about 3/4" by screwing in a small woodblock on the outside of each leg. If I want the bench to be a little lower, I could saw off a few inches from the four legs.

Overall, the bench's benefits are that it's tall (I'm tall), mobile, less costly, and has three flat surfaces underneath the press. The shelves will be perfect for storage and large sheets of paper used during a print run. Two of the shelves can be taken out without taking apart the bench. Now I need to put it all to good use!

New Blick 999 Model II Etching Press and IKEA Bench

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