In September of 2005 a Griffin IV press arrived at my studio. The original owner trucked it up from Santa Barbara on a car trailer. Having owned it for fourteen years and moved it from home to home he was happy that the press wasn't going to accompany him to the next property. I said good-bye to my Ettan tabletop press (went to Monterey Peninsula College) and my standing Griffin 00 press (went to Pamela Takigawa of Carmel http://www.pamelatakigawa.com/ ).
The largest of the presses that were made by Griffin in Oakland, California - she has a bed that is 66 inches long and 48 inches wide. At 1 and 1/8 inch thick the solid steel bed makes up half of the one-ton weight of this machine. It is truly beautiful with sand cast bronze handles, cast aluminum gear guard, solid steel rollers with a deep blue automobile paint covering the legs.
I work small. One of the great characteristics of this press is that an artist can pull a 4 inch by 4 inch print or a 60 inch by 45 inch print and the pressure will remain balanced.
For experienced printmakers the press is available for rent, unassisted, for $30 an hour.
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