Bill Ritchie design in Missouri
in the
Jo Van Arkel Collection
Active and passive sides of Mini Etchng Press #5
Mini Etching Press No. 5
Specifications: 2013. Mini Etching Press. Serial No. m60005. Specifications: Top and bottom rollers are 1.5 x 6 and 5.5 inches. The bed is 1/4 x 6 x 14.5 inch polycarbonate with steel rack; overall length is 14.5 inches; overall width is 9 inches; overall height is 10 inches; weight, about 13 lbs; hand-welded stainless steel drive wheel is 8 inches in diameter. Bed is rack-driven, approximating a 3:1 mechanical advantage. Wood is solid American black walnut with custom brass fittings and large, personalized side badge. Pressure screws are linked and synchronized. Includes two etching felts and tools for assembly.
Comment: Jo Van Arkel sent email to ask about the Mini Etching Press, as she is building a "micro press" for publishing small artist's books. Already she has a 4 X 6 Golding, mini letterpress for her new venture and she decided the Mini would be a good addition for intaglio prints for book arts. Active in the College Book Arts Association, we arranged to get her press to her in time for the January 2004 conference of the CBAA.
About Jo Van Arkel: She is a professor of English at Drury University. The Web page there says: "Jo Van Arkel is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Texas Christian University with an M.A. in literature. She holds an M.F.A. in writing from the University of Oregon. She is the winner of the Missouri Arts Council's 1990 Missouri Writers' Biennial Award. Her fiction has appeared in Northwest Review, Sou'wester, The Literary Review and other literary magazines. She is the author of two books: The Things I've Got Growing Deep Down Inside is a collection of short stories and Give Me a Hat to Wear is a collection of poems. She teaches courses in creative writing and poetry." She won an award to help establish a micro press, "Pencil Box Press," specializing in small book arts.
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