Press moving day is always an adventure. First, you often are meeting new, wonderful people. The folks who made this move happen and anyone I've ever met in a letterpress situation is someone I immediately like and who will likely become a friend for life. This press move was no exception. Ron, the mover, Tom the awesome guy who gave us the 2 presses and my friend, Jason. All great people and integral in getting the press from point A to my shop.
Second, the actual moving is always a feat involving problem solving, quick thinking and a little brawn at times. There were two presses that were being given away, and subsequently, moved. I graciously accepted one — A Heidelberg Windmill 10x15 Red Ball. It's estimated to be from 1974-75 and seems to be in excellent shape. The other press is also a Heidelberg Windmill, only slightly older and set up for foil printing. The second press will pretty soon be ending up at its forever home at the Letterpress Depot in Englewood.
Ron — our mover for the day— broke out each press into it's own separate move as one was all that could fit on his rig at a time. Ron has moved tons (literally. A Windmill weighs about 2800 lbs) of presses and each one is a different experience he noted. Tom, the very generous fellow who gave us these presses was also no hack— he had them expertly rigged to his forklift in his warehouse ready to be picked and dropped anywhere Ron needed them on his truck. I'm always a supervisor. I don't know anything about moving huge things and am too careless to trust myself with moving anything larger than a cardboard box.
Once my press was loaded onto Ron's truck, it just had to travel safely from Boulder to Lafayette. This part was no problem at all!
Once the press was forklifted as far it could into the garage, my good friend Jason from Genghis Kern and Ron lowered it slowly down to the floor, removing the pallet and then placing it on various sized wood blocks and planks (this technique, while slightly modified, is burrowed from the Egyptians) — until one snapped! And for a moment it seemed like the press would topple and crash into my new cabinets and possibly ending the lives of both Ron and me. While it seems silly to run straight into danger, it is a new press and cabinets we're talking about here.
Once that small "shitballs" moment passed things slowly progressed until the press landed safely on the ground, awaiting power to be connected. So more to come!