Meet the newest addition to my studio – a very large, and very sturdy etching press. This press was designed and built over 30 years ago in Seattle by the late Glen Alps. Glen was head of the University of Washington Printmaking Department, and taught there between 1949 and 1978. He is credited with developing the collagraph technique of printmaking. Glen designed and fabricated about 30 of these very durable presses over his lifetime. This was one of the last presses made while Glen was still alive.
The Glen Alps press is completely utilitarian, but elegant at the same time.
The press is really robust, made of sheets of 3/8” steel. I’m guessing it weighs about 1500lbs. The bed is 40” wide and 63” long and it is powered by a really sturdy electric motor. The top roller is 7” in diameter and the bottom roller is 16”. The pressure adjusting screws on the top roller are linked with a chain so that both sides move in unison.
View of the pressure adjusting screw and the main drive gear.
I had been interested in a larger press, but wasn’t actively looking when I stumbled upon this Glen Alps press in a cabinet maker’s workshop on Vashon Island and it struck a chord with me.
I like the design which is completely utilitarian, but elegant at the same time. As an example, the press has these lovely curves cut into the side. The curves give it a great esthetic, but the real reason they are there is that the press was designed to be constructed with minimal waste from couple of sheets of steel and the curves are the result of cutting out the circular end pieces for the large bottom roller. The entire design is similar – every facet of every part exists for a reason and the function is always apparent from the form.
Another thing I like about this press is that it is a bridge to the past and to the region where I make my home. The gentleman who sold me the press studied under Glen Alps and eventually became Glen’s teaching assistant and close friend. Glen made the press for him in the 70s and helped him move it and set it up. Now Glen’s protégé has helped me move the press to my studio and I will continue the tradition.
Actually Glen taught until 1984.
We have a red Glen Alps manual press available for sale on Whidbey Island. My Mom was a local artist, Betty Rayle. She passed away last year and we are looking for a good home for her press. The art studio it is housed in is for sale.
Thanks
I too have found an Alps press. It is in a studio where the doors are too small to get it through in an intact move. I am trying to think through the steps to possibly disassemble this press and carry away in a truck. What steps to take to disassemble and then what to do in proper order to put back together. What special equipment. I actually owned this exact model of press in 1978 and Alps himself with a grad student delivered it and put it together in my basement. later I sold it to Lakeside School through my late father in law who, with another guy took it apart and put it back together at the school. I didn’t watch how all these events played out and it looks very difficult now a days. Any suggestions?
To all of you who have said you have or are looking at getting an Alps Press, please drop me a line. I have the original blueprints for the press and am a board member with Seattle Print Arts, so I can put you in contact with the right people for both moving and assembling the press. I own 2 of the presses myself at my Print Zero Studios in Seattle. I am also trying to put together a list of who has the 30 or so presses that were made. Please drop me a line printzero2 (at) gmail.com
brian lane