Book World

Yesterday the world that the book has created was at its most abundant.

The cast....
Steve, computer training 10.30am re debosing artwork for book cover
talk to HQ of Cloth House re felt purchase, can we get a deal/support in kind?
talk to Konica Minolta local rep , Mark re a replacement photocopier.
Dan at Service Point photocopying images on tracing paper for silk screening. 12.30pm
Lisa at Stew to expose tracings on silk screens 2.30pm
Konica 1216 photocopier at Stew, to flatten lining paper ready to chop to size.
John at Ecoprint to chop paper exactly to A3 on laser machine. 3.30pm
visit Henry at the Book Hive for pricing and release schedule advice 4pm
Norwich Arts Centre to use their super photocopier 6pm
Go to Planet Beet Fridge and make music noise 9pm
Wrap and label all printing.

We Have a Deadline...

So a couple of weeks ago we were given a deadline and I have been in the fear zone and the 'do' zone and forgot to write.
10 books by May 14th
10 books by June 5th
Remaining 140 by the publishing date of October 15th 2012.

So the Stew photocopier is acting up enormously, but Ecoprint are helping with some B+W prints.

Binding.....I went to see Peartree, they will bind 10 books if we sew.
Aidan Abernethy will show us how to sew.

Peartree need two weeks to bind.
Deliver books by May 1st.
We need a week to sew. April 23rd.
We need a week to put books together April 16th.

We now are finishing any printing not done in batches of 20.

We have to buy rubber, felt, tracing.

We have to solve the problem of housing the vinyl.

We have 26 days before the books need to be assembled.

screen printing continues The Deadline arrives

Today I will screen print more.....

Last session I managed 100 or so prints from 11.30am - 3.30pm

It's quite hardwork on yer upper body.

The Deadline has arrived, the book will be released on October 12th 2012.

I will outline the journey to this guillotine!

silk screening

Today I will silk screen some more black pages.....totally black pages.

I have been using photocopiers with the lid open, but the amount of ink smoothed onto the paper

feels a bit criminal......

I managed 50 prints in 3 hours which included a lot of mucking around getting a system.

today i would like to do 200 prints, but I think I should be happy with 100.

Perhaps a better plan is 100 today, 100 on Friday.

I will learn my roleplay at the same time.

Last print session I got so in the zone I could barely speak.

Risograph Printing

HATO PRESS and BLACK BOX PRESS

Great find, lovely books and the mention of Munken Lynx!

The start of my journey into building a book was the need for a tactile paper to print on.

I wanted the pulp of cheap books, old colouring books....this is called Munken Lynx.

I never found Munken Lynx because it seemed only to be sold in tonnes from China and now here it is mentioned and used at Hato Press.

Foxing is the discoloration around the edges of the page, due to light/moisture, great stuff.

All roads lead to home.

Photocopier Surfing

So like one might sofa surf, I am now photocopier surfing.

I've been in a secret location on a digital Konica Minolta machine and have done 640 copies in 3 hours.

The blacks are good, the textural quality is good.

This is the answer for the single pages, often single as attached to colour.

Not sure whether to re-do some colour if the reverse image needs to be solid black.

'Old Konny' at Stew is not doing her blacks anymore, not without a lot of pfaffing and warming of the room, removing condensation from the machine and warming the machine.

The only task in all of this is cutting, flattening and then precision cutting wall lining paper to A3.

It's a world I have created with Sal, we will live in it for a while yet.

Book Building is full on.
Sal and I took a stocktake of all the printing since the beginning of August......
I gathered the info and tried to create optimistic % s....but the truth is we are not half way.
In the region 19,000 pages printed, but with a total knocking on 52,000.......sigh

So, a massive focus to turn things around, see what is to be done, see if there are easier ways.

The ugly truth is though that I am having to print pages twice to get the blacks black.....hmmmmm

I'm liking the zone, my daily routine takes me across town in the gales with a bundle of prints to be cut to size.
Then over to Stew for printing.
Then home for paper chopping, collect more stuff for the the machine at printers to chop in bulk.
Stride across town in the gales with a bundle of prints to be cut to size.
Then over to Stew for printing.
Then home for a rest, more paper chopping, listen to music, write lyrics ( good ones and crap ones )
Then drink some whisky.