[Hitching up the trailer]

 

[Cutter and lumber that’s about to become skids]

 

[With skids it just rolls on pipes]

 

[NOT how to move heavy objects]

These old cast iron tools are so heavy that they are impossible for one person to move unless they’re up on pipes to help them roll. Once they are, you want to be very sure that they come up slowly and under control. The come-along is made for this exact job. It’s capable of pulling the thing up a steep slope one inch at a time.

 

[Much better strategy]

It’s relatively fast if there is someone to move the pipes while the other person cranks the come-along.

 

[Slow and steady, up, up, up]

 

[Easy roll to the front of the trailer]

Loading the guillotine first was a fantastic idea, sort of a warm-up to the main event, moving that gorgeous press.

[Watch one person easily roll the heavy press across the garage]

 

[Same as before, one inch at a time]

Well, there is one difference. We hitched the come along to the middle of the trailer, and then had to lock the press in place while we extended the come-along and moved it to the front. It’s easy to hold the thing in place with some stops drilled into the plywood. This is a good reason to use 3/4″ instead of the standard 1/2″ plywood.

 

[Blocked in place]

Once everything was exactly in place, we got to work with the heavy duty ratchet straps. It’s tied to the sides to prevent tipping with the come-alongs tied to the front and to the back to keep it from sliding during acceleration and braking.

 

[Strapped down TIGHT]

 

[Stopping for food in Brownsville]

By the time we arrived at home, it was well after dark and well below freezing. I’ve got some great friends, though, and they showed up to get that thing down off the trailer.

 

[Pulling in after dark]

[Down is even slower than up]

Alright! The big tools are at least in the building where they’re going to live.

 

[Done for tonight!]

We had perfectly dry weather for the entire process of moving and driving, but a look at the weather report told me that I had no time to lose – I needed to get the trailer returned in a town 45 minutes away before I went to bed.

 

[Better hurry!]

Good thing I did! When I woke up and tried navigating the end of my driveway, this is what I saw. The van was barely able to navigate this much snow, and this was just the beginning.

 

[Next morning, stuck in the driveway]

I’ve been snowed in for two days now and loving it! I just worked nonstop for seven weeks to gain as much experience with designing, producing, and selling letterpress work. The thing that kept me pushing through week after week was the dangling carrot of a break.

 

[Yurt oculus in the snow]

 

[The view outside]

So, yeah, I’m laying around doing very little except designing the studio layout and working up ideas for product lines that I’ll design and create with the new press.