lately i've been addicted to ebay for purchasing type and vintage cuts. i've snagged some good deals.. i watch the item and right when there's only seconds left, i pounce on the other bidders and put my bid in! it's a rush as i wait for the last few seconds to wind down hoping other bidders don't beat me to the deals! the only bad thing about getting used type is that it's usually vintage and with the age, sometimes comes layers of paint, oxidation, and a lot of dirt. to clean the type i googled and found that you can mix together a solution of lemon and vinegar. i bathed the type in the mix for a few days and some junk came off, but not enough. so i dunk the type in another bath of mineral spirits over night. after cleaning each and every piece of type with a toothbrush, it didn't come out as shiny and clean as i want, but clean enough. for weeks, the pied type sat until the other day when i finally decided to separate and organize. the type has been sitting on the kitchen counter for days.. so now i just have to figure out where to put the type in my little workroom.

not only did the kind mr. patrick hogan sell me his beloved letterpress and goodies, he also drove to my home and gave me a one-on-one, hands on tutorial! sure, i didn't learn everything there is to know about letterpress in one day, but i got my feet wet and printed for the first time! he went through the basics of measuring type, quads and spaces, how to set type and create a forme, make-ready, registration, how to pull a print, how to ink up, clean up, and more. it was information overload in only a few hours, but interesting and fun. after he left, i successfully removed the chase, handset type, and pulled my very first print completely on my own. it was exhilarating! i am hooked!

a kind mr. patrick hogan sold me his craftsman superior last month. i saw his post on briar press and quickly emailed him. he sent me home with a lot of letterpress goodies: complete press with rollers & chase, several wood type cases, a ton of 12pt times new roman type, handheld slug cutter, reglets, paint, tympan paper, gauge pins, composing stick, planer and brush. after picking up the goods from patrick, we visited the home of mr. meers and his sidekick jenny of lock and key press- jenny is helping mr. meers liquidate a lifetime of letterpress. from his awesome collection, i left with a big box of furniture, more paint, leads/slugs, regular and hi speed quoins, and some fun vintage letterpress ephemera printed from mr. meers himself. by the end of the day, the trunk of the suv was packed and the car tail-heavy. i remember that day, i had a heavy feeling in my chest, an overwhelming feeling of, "i am in over my head, what have i gotten myself into?"... that feeling lasted for only a split second. and on that day, after the anxiety subsided, i named my newly acquired letterpress 'penelope'