ABNC Transfer Die

Nah... There's so much more out there I wish I knew... but numismatics, fine arts, printing, graphic design, advertising/marketing, history, bullion/investing and such all get me jazzed up and when it all comes together at one time it's great fun!

 

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Thanks guys, The top is actually hinged to a bottom piece of plywood to insure a consistent return between prints. Part of the issue I think was that the plywood was a little too thick which required me to double the sweater to raise the paper. Next I will add an 8ht inch of wood right inside the cutout to raise the height of the paper. This should allow a more consistent pressure across the die surface. When you look at the entire piece you can see that the edge of the die had plenty of pressure. The wool did not give the pressure probably needed to pick up the ink in the image. That having been said, with more pressure I probably would have picked up more ink in the unwanted areas as well. The ink was room temperature and had the consistency of butter that is soft but not so soft it was melting (heavy creamy smooth). The paper is Rives BFK Cream 104LB. For the non-art people, this was made for Intaglio printing and is heavy smooth stuff that stood up well to about 45 second under water then about 5 minutes dry time. After 5 minutes I am afraid the paper was no longer wet enough as the towel under it had wicked much of the moisture. Will try again as soon as I have a little time.

Best Regards ~ Darryl

 

Rives BFK is a pretty heavy paper quite suitable for intaglio plates printed under the tremendous pressure of a flatbed press. However, you may want to experiment with papers for letterpress and typesetting as well. Those will still be 100% cotton/linen rag type, perhaps a 'laid' paper with a smooth 'plate' surface on one side and less 'tooth' than the heavy paper stocks like Rives type papers.

All of these papers can get rather pricey per sheet, so you may like to order a catalog and some sample swatches from art supply shops. I recommend New York Central Art Supply for one, Talas and if you like really amazing handmade papers Hiromi International has fantastic Japanese papers. There are a lot of paper resources for artist / printmakers out there, but I'd suggest trying to find a paper type that is close to what bonds and notes were printed on for the type of engraving you are trying to get an impression from. Paper Mills may also send you some swatch books for consideration of fine milled papers. Like Monadnock and Mohawk amongst many many others.

 

I ordered the paper from blick's on-line. Anything you might recommend from that site?

 

Most of the paper companies create a range of papers, in weights and for various uses, which ordinarily are defined in the product description. Blick carries the standards of printmaking papers for artists and students which are widely in use and recommended but they are overall heavier and for plate printing, needing to be soaked in water baths to remove the binding starches and collandered (stretched) prior to use, which is a lot of work. The starches that one soaks out of the papers actually effects how well ink will take to the paper and the humidity of the paper likewise effects how ink transfers from plate to paper, as you discovered when the paper was drying out.

The Canson laid papers should work for you and seem to be available on the Blick site. Another paper company that makes excellent folio/book weight papers for this kind of delicate image would be Hahnemuehle traditional artist grade papers for graphic design, called Ingres type papers. Also their high end Bugra Butten series is nice if still available. Another great paper to try are those from the Fabriano company. Their Rosapina and Ingres series papers are VERY suitable. They also make security paper, but I'm not sure it's for sale to individuals. An exceptional paper is Velke Losiny laid, from a Czech maker if you can find these. Essentially, to find some of these papers, you have to check the other links I posted above, locate some more artist supply stores to see what they carry, and look for 'laid' papers. Some may have too grainy or 'toothy' of a surface, so you may want smooth surface papers to try out. Not using the appropriate press on any of these papers the results will obviously vary greatly so it will remain very experimental until you can locate the right kind of press that the die can be used with. I hope this helps a little more with point you in the direction of a few more sites and papermakers and types.

 

Darryl, if you ever get a hold of a flat printing plate, I know someone with a spider press. Unfortunately he can't do much with a cylinder die.

 

Right now there is a set on eBay --
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330421432982&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123
I don't think this will sell at this price, especially since he understated the amount of silver. At auction they do okay, but on ebay these generally don't bring much more than silver price. Sad but true.

 

Any more success on the printmaking?

 

The short answer is no.

I have not tried since the last attempt posted here. I really need to get a few different types of paper and a different type of ink, or two, or three. The depth of the image is not very deep so it will take a lot of experimenting to get it right. Most of the stuff I would need would have to be special ordered and then it could still not yield any better result. I will try again at some point in the future when I have enough money to throw at it until I get better results. I will post the results when I do.

 

Ok thanks, I am thinking about purchasing one myself,

 

I don't think you would be dissapointed. I am still keeping an eye out for a ABNC printing plate and also a stock that uses my image for a reasonable price. Both of those goals are going to be long term though and probably tough to complete.

 

4 years later and I have finally picked up a stock to go with this transfer die I own. Currently the die is not in its normal resting spot, but when it returns the stock will make a nice supporting piece. Love it when a plan starts to come together!

Thank you Greg for pointing out the stock on eBay. It's in pretty nice shape considering it was issued in 1886!

Best Regards ~ Darryl

 

nice!!

 

- Slowly but surely a long time goal is coming to fruition. This is only 1 of 2 two machines I am aware of that can do this and likely an extremely small group of people that know how to use them properly. Here is part of the message I received tonight:

"I have a retired bank note siderographer doing the lay-down (transfer roll to steel plate). The plate still has to be burnished, cleaned up and than it should be chromed faced to protect the surface. It will probably will take a few more weeks to complete."

 

Awesome!!

 

Sweet,

Free Prints for everybody, thanks Darryl.

 

That's fantastic!!!! I can hardly wait to see what the finished plate looks like! I do hope you plan to make some prints from it.

 

Darryl, Let us know if you'll have an edition for sale. I'd love to get one and see the fruits of this long process. It's great to see your old die pressed back into service!

 

ROTFL