

Splurge: Pantone Solid Coated and Uncoated Formula Guide: $155.00īacking/Packing board: use cereal boxes, which are made from a soft chipboard. Save: Coated Formula Guide – $65 (limited quantities from Boxcar Press) Splurge: California Press Wash: $38.75 (1 gallon container) (okay for cleaning everything including plates) Save: Odorless Mineral Spirits: $8 (1 quart container) (okay for cleaning everything including plates) Super Save: Vegetable oil followed by baby wipes followed by a very thorough drying with a clean shop rag – $5 (not for your plates) Soft shop rags (for cleaning up your printing plates) Cut-up old soft t-shirts: Free! Inking plates use the glass from two Dollar Store picture frames for your inking plates: $2.00 Splurge: Van Son Rubber-based inks via Boxcar Press ( $34.65-$78.10 )

Save: 5 oz or 8 oz ink from Southern Inks: $10 – $20 Save: Caligo Safe Wash Oil-based ink tubes: 150ml tube ( $14.30 – $23.99 ) Soft rubber inking brayer 6” Speedball Soft Rubber Brayer: $15.95 You can cut down (9) nine 8.5” x 11” sheets from their 27.5 x 39.3 big sheet size)

Photopolymer printing plates Boxcar Press platemaking costs: u p to 50 square inches of printed-area-only custom made printing plates (KF152 plate type): $35.50. Other at-home machines that can be substituted – Fiskars Fuse Kit, Sizzix Big Shot, and Cuttlebug. The Evolution Machine (from We Are Memory Keepers). L Letterpress ($75 – $100) – highly recommended.ĭie Cutting / Embossing Machine that is the platform used for the L Letterpress kit. finding out you don’t have all your supplies at-the-ready. Keep in mind how big (or small) your budget will be for your printing projects as this will be a great way to reduce wallet woes and will help make sure you aren’t making multiple trips out to the store or online for more paper (or worse…. ( Note that these prices do not include shipping costs and are general estimates for the items themselves at the time of this blog post). We’ve included options for a few select items where you can curb spending or splurge for luxe goods. But what about the initial setup costs and the essential items needed to make the printing journey a fun and fruitful one?īelow is a list of the essentials (as well as general pricing) to help get you started. We’re in love with the fact that at-home do-it-yourself letterpress machines are giving access to the beautiful world of letterpress to those who are hands-on and are looking to stay budget-friendly for printing projects (hand-made wedding invites or business cards, anyone?). What you need to print well on your L Letterpress Machine.
#Letterpress ink how to
How to build the ideal letterpress shop.
