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OUR LAB SPACE

AFTER RAY RETIRED FROM TEACHING, we started to dream of a 1,000-square-foot space where we could equip a working letterpress studio and museum. In February 2008, we rented a dreamier 2,200 square-foot room in the Sandy Brae Industrial Park in Newark, Delaware, at 120A Sandy Drive. As you can see in the photo above, the Lead Graffiti lab has lots of bells and whistles. There’s enough space for working groups of 15 people (20 in a pinch) to get their hands dirty simultaneously.

PUTTING OUR LETTERPRESS STUDIO IN AN INDUSTRIAL PARK has proven to be a stroke of genius. A few metal-working shops nearby have proven helpful in repairing and maintaining our equipment. And another shop had helped us with forklifts and pallet jacks when we needed them. Lead Graffiti is located at the end of the building closest to Sandy Drive. Look for our name on the doors. For wheelchair accessibility, park at our studio and enter from the front of the building (glass door). Visitors are also welcome at the metal side door facing the parking lot.

NOTE : We are fully vaccinated, but encourage visitors to exercise caution against Covid.

SIGN UP FOR free studio tours at the bottom of this page.

WORKING PRESSES

WE CONDUCT TECHNICAL WORKSHOPS on all of our presses, which is ideal if you’re researching getting a press of your own and need to weigh the pros and cons of different models. We also offer press rentals to qualified printers or anyone satisfactorily completing the associated technical workshop.

MAIN presses

  • R. Hoe Washington #5 iron hand press, 25 x 38, 1868

  • Chandler & Price, 10 x 15, motorized / 700 ppl, 1915

  • Harrild & Sons Albion iron handpress, 21 x 29, #8112, 1928

  • Heidelberg Windmill, 10 x 15, 1956

  • Vandercook SP15, 14 x 18, handcranked, #26817, 1967

  • Vandercook Universal III, 18 x 24, power, #28690, 1968

  • Miehle V-50, 20 x 14, ?

    SMALLER presses

  • Tabletop #1, 6 x 9

  • Tabletop #2, 6 x 9

  • Norton proofing press, 12 x 18

  • 3 additional floor-model platens in storage

INTERTYPE

THIS AMAZING MARVEL OF ENGINEERING lets you sit at a keyboard and cast your text in hot metal; no redistribution is required.

  • 1956 Intertype C4, #26,476, 1956, (link to the 33-minute film on How It Works)

  • 72 magazines (full and half-sized)

  • approximately 200 fonts (120 in galleys)

  • 100 molds for borders of all kinds

  • 1000s of additional characters, accents, math symbols, etc.

CUTTERS

TAKING OUR TECHNICAL WORKSHOPS gives you access to our cutters and supporting equipment (listed below) to help you produce your projects.

  • 32" rotary guillotine

  • 40” board shear

SUPPORTING EQUIPMENT

PUT FINISHING TOUCHES on your projects with the equipment listed below.

  • lead saw

  • double-wire punch & binder, manual

  • paper drill, motorized

  • 24" pin perforator, treadle operated

  • corner rounder, manual

  • Accu-Cut table-top die cutter, manual

  • airbrush and compressor

OTHER

  • Lead Graffiti also has 5+ small “gentlemen’s presses” that we keep around for show, and various historical items on display involved in casting type, hand setting type, making paper, decorating paper, carving illustrations for letterpress, and more.

  • We maintain an archive of our work, a collection of other contemporary letterpress work, as well as historical manuscripts and early letterpress examples for comparison purposes.

STUDIO TOURS

WE OFFER FREE STUDIO TOURS EVERY 2 MONTHS OR SO. Sign up through our online store under “workshops.” Feel free to bring your family and encourage friends who might enjoy a look back into the past. For groups of 6 or more (such as students, a club or organization, a business department, etc.), we are happy to arrange a special tour with a focus connected to your interests.

Tours can generally include:

  • Discussion about the history of letterpress printing and typography, with a chance to hold a piece of 4,000-year-old cuneiform, and examine examples of early printing, and a Gutenberg Bible page printed from contemporary handset metal type

  • Presentation of contemporary creative letterpress work, including books, posters, cards, invitations

  • A tour of our 2,200 square foot facility with 2 iron hand presses, 2 Vandercook cylinder presses, floor-model, and tabletop platen presses, an Intertype C4 linecaster, and 600 cases of antique wood and metal type cases

  • An explanation of hand setting wood and metal type, California Job Cases, composing sticks, etc.

CLICK HERE TO LINK TO OUR WORKSHOP REGISTRATION PAGE AND LOOK FOR A STUDIO OPEN HOUSE OFFERING. To set up something special for your group of 6 or more, please email us with a couple of suggested dates. We are happy to offer these on weekdays or evenings. With enough advance notice, we can adjust our typical weekend workshop schedule.