Gravity Sucks

As Dan mentioned previously, there's been tons o' fun in the press maintenance department. For instance, today I adjusted the platen on our press, a task which filled me with trepidation, largely because all of the reading I've done on the matter is made up of phrases such as: "Adjusting the platen should be done VERY RARELY," or "Platen adjustments are best left to experienced pressmen," or "Why in holy hell are you attempting to adjust the platen yourself, you dumb [idiot]?"

It turns out that adjusting the platen is indeed a tricky procedure, but let's face it: it's not rocket science. It's basically some nuts that you turn with a wrench. Whoopee!

Much more difficult was moving the press from a broken down pallet on to wooden skids. When we bought the press, it was screwed on to a rickety wooden pallet. This made it easy to move with a pallet jack, but was unsuited as a long-term base for the 900 pound press. The slats eventually cracked and the poor ol' press developed a serious list to one side. Not good. So with the help of my father, some 2x4's, patio paving blocks, a car jack, and some steel u-bolts, we successfully lifted the press off the pallet and got it on to skids. We took pictures at every step to document the process:

Just that quick and easy.

I get chills, they're multiplyin'

Mostly because we now have Valentine's Day cards! Whoopee!

The other reason for the chillness is because this weekend it was cold. I mean, it was COLD. Sorry, just needed to clarify.

For those of you who give a hoot, it is really, really hard to print with a consistent quality when it is ten degrees in your shop. So, this weekend was a learning experience. Here's what we learned:

1. Dan is a crack hand at installing insulation under pressure.


2. It is possible to print as long as the following components are warm: ink, ink disk, rollers, paper, base and plates.


3. It is difficult to keep these items warm once they come into contact with 900 pounds of cast iron that has been essentially sitting in an icebox for two weeks.


4. Maddy the dog will gladly sit or lay on snow for long periods of time, to the point where you need to drag her inside, but she doesn't like cold concrete floors. Go figure.


5. Swearing a lot only makes you feel warm for a second.

By Sunday afternoon, the temperature in the shop was a sweltering 58 degrees, and we had successfully printed our new line of Valentine's Day cards. We got some other good news as well, but I'll save the honors for Dan to post.

Cold. Damn cold.

It's been a warm winter but it's still cold enough in the shop to make your life miserable. OK, lately it's kate's life that's been miserable, frostbite-wise. We've had some sales through our Web site and some people from my day job, which means that we've needed to produce some cards rather quickly. Which means it's best if I fill out the paperwork and packaging, and let her make with the actual products.

But, first of all -- sales - that's exciting, eh? A couple strangers actually found our Web site, too, which restored some of my faith in my Google ad.

In order to help, I've taken a whack at heating the barn. We have a standard kerosene heater that should be plenty. But unless you're standing right next to it, it doesn't do much good. It's about as useful as a candle right now. It's not radiating or convecting, or making it any more comfortable to be out in the shop. And a cold press means that the plates won't stick to the aluminum base, which means we (kate) have (has) to bring the base inside to warm it up, then go back out and use it, and then bring it inside when it gets chilly again.

I've heard the word "motherfucker" around the house a lot lately.

I'm going to try nailing up some insulating panels between the studs.