Brayers are Stupid Expensive

The large brayers I got included in the press sale are stupid expensive. Thanks for including them Nick.

Prices for brayers, Above Ground Art Store in Toronto

The Press is in Place, with Extras

Around 1000lbs. The bed itself weighs in at 285 lbs. 3 men to lift it!!

Some nice extras included in the $3800 price tag  Included items were Hahnemuehle paper, inks, a large drying stand (1/3 is in the press room will need to find room for the rest later. Also got 1 large brayer and 1 super large brayer, new cost is $300+ CAD.

I hope to be making photogravures this winter.

Thank you to all who helped move this beast. The next move will probably be after I die. I am hoping I can use it over the next 20 years to produce limited edition photogravures. If I can make back my $4000, that would be a nice bonus. 

Note* Nick the seller decided to hire a mover for the 285lb press bed.  That was an additional $300 cost, we split it  50|50. So the total cost for the press and extras was $3950 CAD.

Note** Got the little desk table free earlier this week. It fits the spot but not sure I will keep it. 

The garbage can was expensive, over $100 but it is to prevent fires a safety concern. I guess with some inks the cloths that are used to wipe off the inks from the plates can SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST and start a fire! Best to bee safe, pay the money and all the rags go inside and are changed out daily.

The crazy expensive brayers

Inks

All extras included

VIDEO: She’s here!

After 2 nights of effort. After help from 6 or 7 people. The etching printing press is set up in the press room. Photogravures to follow!!!

My back hurts!

Dragged in and rebuilt, thank you team Nick!

Video: Thinking on Photogravure

The etching press transfer will start tomorrow. It might take 3 days.

With the press coming, I am thinking more and more about the prints I can make. I found these 3 small digi prints up by the computer and thought “I wonder what these would look like in photogravure?”

If I can get foot at this process, the possibilities are endless. 

The 3 great photo processes for black and white prints are platinum, carbon and photogravure. If I can get a handle on this process, I might be able to make something truly beautiful.

LINK: Claude Money

When I was younger I was not a Monet fan, but as I got older my opinion changed. Part of that change was seeing and loving Monet's water lilies and the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.

I like the line from below "He focused on eliciting a instinctive emotional response." 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Monet 

Claude Monet Influence

I picked up this thrift store book today for $4. I love one image (detail) near the back of this thin volume. I keep thinking wha it may look like as a Ambrotype. I do that often with JMW Turner paintings, now it is starting with later Monets.

Snow Storm, or Snow Storm: Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth, is a painting by English artist Joseph Mallord William Turner from 1842.

Proper Tools!

Having the proper tool for a job seems like a simple idea but it is so important at times. I will often pay extra money to buy a tool that just makes the job easier and I am never disappointed.

Case in point yesterday I was taking apart a wooden crate used for carrying my heavy metal gutting cutter. Initially I was working with an adjustable crescent wrench then a screw driver setup, both worked but were very difficult to use. When I got out my new/used mini Dewalt drill with bits bought at thrift shops. The work was easy and very fast!

Proper tools to do the job, is where it’s at!

My Reign of Terror Begins! The Guillotine has Arrived

My reign of terror begins in 10 minutes. Head chopping to start soon!! The guillotine is ready and very sharp!!

Actually it’s for cutting the photopolymer metal plates used in photogravure printing.

 

32 inch Vevor Guilitine metal plate cutter, 

A Ton of FREE GLASS, Got to Love It!, $5000 CAD?

I counted up some of the FREE glass I got today. There are about

4 large sheets of 3mm

14-15 large sheets of 4mm

and a dozen so smaller sheets of 3 and 4 mm.

Most of this glass (unscratched),  I can use to make  Ambrotypes on, Glass up to 24x24 inches. With the 4mm thick glass I will have to take the back of the holders to prevent light leaks.

There is also some textured glass in various sizes that is not as useful but that I can probably cut down and paint, to use as background substrates for framed works.

I am unsure how much this glass is worth new but my guess is $4000-$5000 CAD. The glass is far from new, muddy, scratched and some broken but still a wonderful find for the AMBROTOS KANATA project.

 I had some positive Karma today!

Thank you again Elizabeth and Keith for your kindness!!

I hope I can turn some of your fathers glass into works of art, worthy of collecting. Something that can be shown in a museum 1 hundred years after we are all gone.

 

In the barn

On the truck

Got My FREE Glass

Got my FREE GLASS!! 4-5mm thick, many very large sheets, small sheets. A variety of other glass as well. Will use it for the AMBROTOS KANATA Ambrotype  project. 

Thank you Elizabeth and Keith!!

The FREE glass locked, wrapped in carpets, locked down on the back of "THE BEAST" 1 Ton

Free Stuff!!

I have taken to getting FREE stuff Facebook marketplace. Picked up 2 large metal shelves for the carpentry room and a slightly abused picnic table last week. 

Going to get a bunch of glass tomorrow for the Ambrotype project. All FREE. If undamaged will use it for plates if scratched will use it as a blackened substrate to place behind the Ambrotypes when framed.

FREE picnic table, before and after a repair and 1 coat of grey paint

The 2 FREE metal shelves, added to the carpentry room

FREE glass I will pick up tomorrow

VIDEO: 2 Free Shelves Give a New Look to the Carpentry Room.

Placed the free picnic table in the backyard next to the RV and the 2nd free shelf in the carpentry room! Then did a cleanup!

You never understand how important shelves are until you have some and load them up. Only then do you realize how bigger the room becomes.

The shelves will help the work flow. First I have more  room to do carpentry stuff and second, I can find my tools and carpentry supplies easier!

New-Free empty shelf

Full Shelves

Press Room Ready, Waiting on the Press

The press room with 2 pieces of 3/4 inch plywood is ready and awaiting the press. Once the insurance check clears at the bank I will go ahead and transfer the press with Nick the current owner. It will probably be in place by next week sometime!!

This is what AI said about the benefits of 2 versus 1 sheet of plywood for strength and weight spreading.

"Yes, two sheets of 3/4-inch plywood are significantly stronger and better at supporting weight than a single sheet of 1-inch or 3/4-inch plywood. 

Because structural rigidity (resistance to bending) increases exponentially with thickness, the total thickness of inches provides far more than double the stiffness of a 1-inch panel.

Why Two Sheets Are Better

• Exponential Strength: Mathematically, a beam's bending stiffness increases by the cube of its height. Because of this, going thicker drastically reduces sagging and increases load capacity. "

2 More Freebies!

I picked up a second large self today, thanks Edward. Also got me a banged up picnic table. I will fix up the table and paint it. A nice little project.

BOTH FREE

Bought me a Metal Cutter, Hand Shear

I ended up going with the biggest VEVOR model metal guillotine cutter, their 32 inch. It was a $105 more than the one I posted earlier, but on sale, $359.90, down 16% from $429.99.

The main use for this cutter will be to cut the photopolymer metal backed plates used in modern phtogravare printing. I initially will be cutting the 16x23 inch store plates into 4 sections.

A bit of a gamble, hope I can use it lots. If I do them that means my photogravure dreams came true!

Note*  I can also use it for general carpentry work.

How to Cut Photopolymer?

Trying to figure out the best way to cut 16x23 inch photopolymer down to smaller sizes (metal backed). Hand shears seem the best option for straight even cuts. Part of the Photogravure printing process.

Thinking of this tool $255 CAD

Kinda has a “French Revolution's Reign of Terror (1793–1794” feel to it!

Free Metal Shelf for Carpentry Workshop

I picked up a free heavy duty metal shelf today. I washed it, added a can of blue spray paint and placed it in the carpentry workshop. It is great place to keep all my power tools, neatly in one area! Strong sturdy and free you got to love that!

I am a bit amazed how important the carpentry shop has come to be for the photography. My original thought was to make frames for the Ambrotypes but since then it has grown. I am making boxes for my glass plates, air conditioning cupboards, plywood sink counter tops and boxes for the darkroom trailer. The list of useful photography related things I can make in the shop continues to grow.

You can get some useful things for FREE

LINK: Learning Photogravure Online

I found a great source for learning about the Photogravure process. Silvi Glattauer also gives workshops in Melbourne Australia and online.

https://www.silvi.com.au/ 

Nice Used Find

Got a lightweight, smaller, aluminum folding scaffold today. Delivered to the house, cost was $75 CAD. A lot more expensive, new online ($366).

Bought it for work around the house (painting etc.) but I might be able to incorporate it into the AMBROTOS KANATA project as well. Camera support? A raised sitting position? Inside a tent as a shelf? Not sure just yet how I will use it but the light wait and functionality gives me options.

Photogravure Press Room Ready

The small room I am going to do my Photogravure limited edition work (once I learn the process) in is ready. The vinyl floor was installed today for $940. They did a good job, everything looks sweet. 

So far the entire post burst pipe renovation, upstairs and downstairs at the house cost is about $3000 CAD.

Will try to place the press in the new space later this week.

VIDEO: AC Unit, Setup and Working!!

I have the 12v AC unit setup and working, connected to the Jackery power supply.

I am hoping it will provide a consistently cooler workspaces allowing for both myself and all the wet plate chemistry to keep working consistently well. 

Temperature is such an important part of the process. Let’s hope this works. The AC unit is a $500+ gamble.

Note* I did a test run and I  think I can get about 4 hours of cold air out of the unit at the coldest setting. 

Note** I have 2 Jackery 1000w units.

Note** I can recharge the Jackery a number of ways. Via 110 power, 12v power or through 2 solar panels.

Scrap Wood Cabinet!!

Made up a scrap wood cabinet today. Not the nicest looking thing, a bit crooked but it should serve its purpose well and it is strong n sturdy.

The plan after painting is complete it to place it at the front of the darkroom trailer under the counter top. It will hold my new 12v AC unit along with the Jackery 1000 watt power supply.

I did a test run and I  think I can get about 4 hours of cold air out of the unit at the coldest setting. 

Note* I have 2 Jackery 1000w units.

VIDEO: First 11x14 Selfie

Here is a video of the 11x14 selfie I did a few days back. I have grown to like it. Will continue to work along these lines.

Working Out My Ambrotype Portraits!

So much wet plate photography done in the modern era is just plain bad. The photographers get so filled up with the process and the techniques that they forget to make good photographs, especially in portraiture. There are so many bad, boring, mundane portraits made by wet plate photographers , that it becomes a painful just to look at them all!

I want to create unique Ambrotype portraiture. How to do that? How can they be more than a fancy old process? How to create work that speaks to s different level of thought and awareness. Something that reaches past the humdrum and ordinary? 

It will be very difficult to do something unique. It is doubtful I can do chase down my pretentious hopes and do more, but I can at least try make the imagery more thoughtful and visually unique. Then from that point, maybe something deeper can eventuality be attained, with lots of hard work and the right sitters.

First attempts, will try more tomorrow.

11x14 inch Selfie, May 27th 2026, age 63