A few weeks ago our latest analogue gadget arrived at the toggle office.

Earlier in the year we decided to focus and dedicate more time towards the handmade aspects of our business: our websites are hand coded, we use handmade elements in our design work and enjoy using traditional techniques for creating imagery.

A couple of Christmas’ ago, I was given a book called ‘Type, The Secret History of Letters’ – a book about the history of letters from the 15th century to present day. Reading this book gave us a new appreciation for traditional typography and started the idea of owning a letterpress one day. So when we found a refurbished 6×4 Adana letterpress (1953) for a very good price, it sealed the deal.

The press is in very good condition and has a lovely fluid motion to it. When you pull the handle downwards, the ink rollers move up to the inking plate. When the handle reaches it lowest position, it makes a lovely ‘chink’ noise as a small lever under the plate rotates the ink plate using a set of teeth. This is what I love about analogue gadgets; it’s much easier to see all the parts and mechanisms that make them work.

After researching our press, we discovered that our Adana 6×4 was made in Twickenham, not far from the toggle office. The press was originally created as a hobby sized letterpress and cost £16.80 when it was made in 1953. The very first Adana machines created in 1922 only retailed for £2.25!

At the moment we only have the press and rollers so we need to buy alot of equipment including roller wheels, ink, paper, type and blocks. Reading that our press was classed as a ‘hobby press’ made me chuckle because it’s incredibly heavy and not something you can whip out of the cupboard when you feel like doing a bit of printing. However compared to the printing presses that filled entire rooms it is most definitely hobby sized.

We’re looking forward to getting stuck in and creating some lovely prints. No doubt we’ll make a few letterpress items for the toggle shop.