Yesterday, I wandered around Zida Borcich Letterpress for awhile, taking pictures of the shop and generally getting underfoot. Anyway, I happen to like letterpress, and I think that letterpress shops are pretty neat, so, you know, here are a bunch of pictures of a letterpress shop. (The presswoman was camera shy, so you don’t get any pictures of her, but she’s very talented and supercool. And she didn’t mind me clomping about and making idiotic statements like “ah, foiling, are you,” so she wins a prize for that in my book.)

These are very thin spacers made from brass and copper, used to ensure that lines of type are tight when they are set. They are extremely thin, and supercool.

These jobs are either waiting to be filed, or waiting to be printed. It’s common for shops to keep frequently printed jobs on file, so that they can just pull and re-print as needed, rather than setting the piece all over again. Incidentally, this type is the real deal, 100% lead and delicious in the mouths of toddlers. And I speak from experience.

On the left is a photopolymer plate; a lot of printers use photopolymers rather than hand setting type and ordering engravings for images, or mix photopolymer and actual type. On the right, you can see the finished job.

Ornamental initials in a typecase full of dingbats and initials.

A 1924 Chandler and Price press, which was originally owned by the Georgia Pacific Lumber Company.

Directions for running said press.

One of two Heidelbergs at ZBL, with the engine running.

The other Heidelberg, set up for foiling. Alas, nothing had been foiled yet, so I can’t show you how awesome a roll of foil looks after it’s been used. But, trust me, it’s cool.

Some vintage type.

A stack of plates on one of the many file cabinets in the shop. You can see full metal in the front, and a photopolymer lurking in the back; both are made by coating the surface in a photo sensitive emulsion, exposing it, and then dipping it in an acid bath which dissolves the areas to be left white.

Here’s a case of type, looking all type-y.

Here’s a printer’s workbench, set up for composition. The stone in the center is used to mix ink.

Cases and cases of type.

You can never have too many slugs in a working printshop.

Printers’ ornaments, also known as dingbats. Check out the level of detail, pretty cool, eh?

More dingbats and initials, with brass clips to keep them divided in the drawer.

Note the slanted drawers!

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into the workings of an actual functioning letterpress shop. There are lots more pictures on my Flickr account, for those who want to explore a little more.