Lino printing at home?

[dave_f]

Hello everyone, first post here, I need a bit of advice re. lino printing from my home studio.

We recently acquired a Scarva hand lever printing press - these are supposedly made specifically for lino printing amongst other things, however our prints are coming out very faded and weak, as if not enough pressure was being applied to the press - even though we are pressing down as far as it will allow. We are making A5 prints using A4 cartridge paper, oil based lino inks and not doing anything particularly difficult or unusual - we just want standard black & white prints to look ok.

Does anyone know how we can improve the quality of our prints? Are these presses not very good, or are we doing something wrong? Also, for any other lino cutters - how do you get good quality prints when printing at home?

thanks in advance..

[Diane Cutter]

Hi, Dave...

I'm not familiar with your press but it occurs to me that you probably need to build up the surface the lino is resting on to bring the linocut up to the level of the metal coming down. Not all lino is exactly the same height.

Regarding the inking, make sure the inked surface is evenly inked, checking across the inked surface. You don't need a lot of ink... just even coverage.

More pressure will only compress your lino and, after a few prints, you will lose detail from squishing the heck out of the lino.

Try it and see if you are getting a better print... Let us know what results.

Diane

[PAL PRESS]

You can try to shim your plate, you need to use a shim material that will not compress, like paper, if you can get some litho plates, or mylar, then you can work your way up to the point where your getting good solids, oil based inks are the best btw, could you post a pic of your lever press in action, i m curious, thanks P

[winking cat press]

Dave... i know the Scarva press quite well.... and yes it can print some nice work. BUT like all presses it has it's limitations. the Scarva is rather limtied as to the amount of pressure it will put down..... and that's what's happen ing with your prints. You aren't getting enough pressure to make a good image.

You need to work within it's limits. Two things will help greatly:

1. limit the size of your printed images until you get to know the press. Try doing a 4 x 6 image, maybe. A 3x5 will even be better. The smaller the image area, the more lbs per squ inch you can use.

2. print on soft, untextured paper. The harder your paper, the more pressure you need and the tougher it is to get a good impression. I use Canson's Edition, and it prints nicely with such a press. You may also want to dampen the paper before printing. That's an old letterpress trick, and it works wonders.

3. you might want to look into a softer printing block..... like Steadler's rubbery looking material. It prints better with lower pressures.

OK... that's three things, not two. BUT stay with it. You'll soon learn how to use your press to best advantage.

[johngibbons]

Printing press
The Scarva press is the same as my Abig printing press. I have worked in it 2yrs in linocut. I use 3mm felt with 2 layers.
The felt I got at www.greatart.co.uk
Johngibbons

[PAL PRESS]

The felt is the right answer. I used to use felt with a vandercook proof press with good results, in fact I think I wrapped the moveable roller with thin felt aswell.

[dave_f]

Thanks for all the advice, everyone! Really grateful for your help.
We will try a couple of things tonight - I will try to shim the plate with whatever I have to hand at my home studio, and perhaps dampen the paper a bit too. The felt sounds like a great idea, as well as the softer block - I will post a couple of pics and our results once we've done a few prints.
thanks again!