Etching Press

What Is An Etching? The Etching Press

Back	This is the artist's Sturges CP-5 etching press. It weighs about 1500 pounds.
	Upper Roller: This roller, in conjunction with the lower roller, presses the paper into the inked etching plate. It is made of hardened steel. Both rollers are supported by heavy bearings at each end.
	Lower Roller: This roller is underneath the press bed. It is connected to the starwheel through the gearbox, and propels the press bed by friction as it turns.
	Press Bed: You can only see the end in the above photo. This 1.25 thick slab of mild steel supports the inked plate, the paper and the blanket as a kind of sandwitch as it passes through the press.
	Gearbox: Gears-down the turns of the starwheel; 8 turns of the starwheel turn the lower roller once.
	Starwheel: This is the handle that allows me to turn a shaft that connects to the lower roller through the gearbox.
	Pressure Adjusting Screws: These allow changing the pressure by raising the top roller (lowers the pressure) or lowering the top roller (raises the pressure)
	Blankets: (Not shown in above photo) The blankets are 3 pieces of high quality wool felt, the same size as the press bed. They are placed over the inked plate and paper on the press bed before it is rolled through the rollers. They form a "deforming surface" that embosses the paper into the ink-holding pits of the etching plate.

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