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As I mentioned previously, I operated a double demy Miehle machine. The close register on the machine was tremendous. I could print a double crown sheet, then send through the same sheet to be printed again (just to check the register.) You would never know the sheet had been through twice, only by the extra ink on the sheet. If there was a small line of 8pt type with a full point, the full point on the second impression would fall exactly on the full point again. Very, very occasionally, if the ink was a bit tacky, a roller may pluck up a slack wood letter. This could then bring the letter up and there would be a terrific crunching of wood as the cylinder dragged it through. To stop the ink being too tacky, I would thin the ink down with a liquid called Flotex, or a Mander Kidd paste called Adinol (I don't know if these products are still available.) Occasionally if the ink was left over a week-end it would have dried by Monday morning. I would then have to use paint stripper to clean the ink. Van Son Rubber Based Inks solved a lot of that problem. The ink could be left on the machine for quite a time before drying, yet would dry okay on the paper. I hope these small tips may help someone. Rob.

Many thanks for the insights Edwards. You indeed hold very valuable skills that a current generation like mine might never be able to inherit.

It would be a great privilege if I could even try out one of these machines. But sadly, I have not come across anybody within my community personally with the necessary mechanisms to do so.

I was a letterpress poster printer. I started my apprenticeship in 1960 at 15 years of age. I am now 64 and gave up printing in 2006. I trained as a compositor for 6 years and then started learning the printing machines. I operated a flatbed Wharfedale double crown (20" x 30") machine, also a double demy Miehle press. The centre cylinder alone on this weighed three-quarters of a ton. I hand set double crown auctioneers posters (quite often printed in two colours) 4 or 5 main lines would be printed in colour and the rest in black ink. These would only usually be short runs about 50 to 80 runs. I picked up little tips from older gifted tradesmen and found a few out on my own. For example, if you are setting type in say 8 em size and you need an unusual fraction, such as one seventh. Go to a 4em case (48pt) and use a capital "T" and turn it upside down, then use figure 7 in the same type case. Put the 7 on top of the "T" . You then have two 4em (48pt) on top of each other making it exactly 8 ems (the size you are working to.) Rob.