You Should Start Your Book Arts Practice Today.
There is never going to be a better time to start a book arts or printing practice, than right now.
“Stan” is our workhorse platen press, which we bought from a friend for $1200. There are currently 5 presses like Stan in the Detroit area for free.
When I started Small Works, we got a little Risograph from a friend for $500. I then got a very, very tiny Kelsey 3x5 for $150. I thought I had hit the jackpot! A whole printing studio for under $1000! In about a week I realized how much I misunderstood what having a printing practice looked like, and what equipment was needed to make my ideas reality. I am still, daily, learning how much I don’t know. I imagine this will go on forever.
When I got into printing, demand was high, and I would learn that the demand for printed matter generally follows a ten year cycle. When demand is low, the equipment becomes cheap, and more people get into printing. When more people are printing, the printing becomes more visible, and the demand for equipment goes up. Eventually, demand lowers again, and those equipments enter the used market again. Had I been more patient, a lot of the things I paid for would come up for free. I bought a lot of equipment that later, I couldn’t sell, because the demand for that equipment went down. I also just wanted to save every piece of equipment I came across, because I thought they were beautiful. But now I realize there is a more pressing issue to address, and a better way to approach preservation.
So much type we’ve bought over the years was given to us, or acquired cheaply. This will very quickly not be the case, as the supply of type thins and less and less is saved.
You see, not everything gets saved. Each time there is a lull in printing equipment demand, some of that equipment goes to the dump. Which means the next time things pick up, it’s not available. Eventually, the days of free equipment will be gone, simply because there will be no equipment left. Which means each time there is a glut of printing equipment on the market, it is literally the best time possible for you to get a start in this practice.
Today, right now, is one of those times.
Small Works paid around $5000 to buy and move our first three production presses to Detroit. One was in a basement, another in a warehouse, and a third at the Russell. I ended up having to sell two of them to move to our current location, because they wouldn’t fit through the door. I sold another press and bought “Stan”, our workhorse C&P for $1200. I love Stan. They are a dream of a press. But there are 5 presses like Stan for free in Detroit, right now. I could have gotten every press I paid for, for free.
Our current SF setup cost around $15k. You can, on the current used market, find a machine for $200.
Our current Risograph setup cost $15k, which I have a love hate relationship with. Small Works couldn’t help produce work the way it does without this machine. It is also a great machine to work with. Quick, easy, very few issues. But it was a gigantic financial strain on the shop, and to date, cost more than the total cost of everything in the shop currently. Today, right now, you can buy a Risograph for $200. Not as new as our SF, but it will work, and it will print.
I am telling you this because I think it’s important to contextualize the moment we’re in through the experiences I’ve had. Every time this happens, this lull in printing, it is the best time to get into printing possible. Because every time it happens, there is less and less equipment available. People in the ‘80s and ‘90s were able to get small cylinder presses, Vandercooks and the like, for a few hundred dollars or less. Many times free. Now those same presses are selling for 10k even in a bad used market. Type was really expensive when I got into letterpress printing—now it’s nearly free everywhere. But when that happens, and it doesn't get bought, it goes to the dump. Not everything will become cheap again. Not everything will exist in the future. So the best time is truly now.
Here’s my offer to you, if you live in Detroit. If you want to start a printing practice, or bookbinding, or paper making, I will help you. I’ll help you find equipment, I’ll teach you what I know and connect you to whomever I can. Because I also firmly believe that the more people working on this together the better it will be for all of us. There is no point in competing. No matter how many of us are working and printing and making there will never be enough to cover what we’ve already lost and are losing every day. If you want to start a practice—do it today.