A Helpful List of Terms Used at the Bow & Arrow Press Anti-Skin Spray Spray solvent in the magenta cans that keeps the ink from drying in the can and forming a skin. Use each time you put a can away

Apron Wear this to keep from getting ink on your nice clothes, or don’t wear nice clothes to the Press.

Awl Metal implement for punching holes in paper.

Band-Aids Use for cuts, scrapes and slices. In the closet near the big flammables cabinet.

Beeswax Rectangular lumps of beeswax used to lubricate and waterproof the bookbinder’s thread for making booklets.

Bench Hook A simple tool that hooks onto a table and allows you to cut linoleum blocks without using your hands to brace the block. Helpful for avoiding cuts, scrapes and slices.

Big Black Barrel This is where rags go to die. Put them here when there is no white left on them.

Biohazard Can This is where rags go when they can be used again. Always pull from the Biohazard Can before you pull from the box in the closet.

Blankets Soft woolen pieces of felt that protect the intaglio press and your plate from pressure. See Starch Catcher, Pusher Felt, Pressure Felt

Bone A bookbinder’s implement for making sharp creased folds.

Brayer A roller with a handle. Always place metal-side down, never rest on the rubber.

Broken Type Can Next to the end of the No. 4 Press. Put broken type in here to be melted down into new type.

Burin Engraving tool made of tool steel. Very sharp.

Burnisher/Scraper Dual-ended tool used to scrape and burnish intaglio plates to erase and modify marks.

California Job Case An arrangement of letters in a type case that makes it easy to pull and put away type.

California Wash The solvent in the red, wide-mouthed plunger can. Use this on everything.

Case Where type lives. Large flat drawers of wood and metal that are subdivided into places for letters.

Challenge Cutter The “finger-chopper machine”. Used to cut large stacks of paper.

Charles Brand Press The intaglio press at the Bow & Arrow

Chase A metal frame used to organize and lock up type for transfer to the press

Clean Room The way-back room at the Bow and Arrow with a computer and a nice desk. No lead type or ink in here. Probably the safest place to eat.

Composing Stick A metal hand tool for typesetting lead type.

Craft Paper Brown paper on a roll in the Paper Room to use for wrapping prints

Crank The big handle on the presses that allow you to roll them forward

Cutting Mat The healing mats in the Paper Room, the best place to use X-Acto blades to cut paper.

1 Deckle Edge The ragged edge of a piece of fine-art paper that comes from the edge of the screen used to make the paper. May be trimmed or used as part of the design. Considered preferable to some.

Drawing Ink The multicolored water-based inks on the back of the craft counter in the Paper Room. Use brushes with these.

Drive Roller The bottom metal roller that is connected to the electric motor. Serves as a reservoir of ink for the inking fountain. Don’t forget to clean it.

Drying Rack The wire-frame fixture in the Paper Room that allows free flow of air for drying prints. Try to move your prints on and off of the drying rack quickly.

Drypoint A form of intaglio markmaking in which a sharp tool is drawn across the surface of the plate, leaving an irregular crevice and also raising a burr. Can be used to sketch images.

Editioning The act of making a series of identical prints that are signed, titled and numbered in sequence, in order to create a limited supply of artwork for collecting purposes.

Em Space The largest space, in the shape of a square. Also known as “quads” or “em-squares”. These are available in cans on the roller cart.

Em-Square See “Em Space”

Engraving A form of intaglio printmaking in which a sharp tool is carefully drawn through the surface of the plate, leaving a v-shaped crevice and removing the burr in the process.

Etching Needle Hard steel needle with a curled profile for ease of grip. Used for drypoint and hard ground etching.

Exhaust Fan The fan in the Plate Room that draws air through the Press and out. Turn on when using solvents. The switch is to the left of the galley tray organizer in the Press Room.

Fifth Space One-fifth of an em square. Small space. These are available in cans on the roller cart. Also known as “5/M”.

File Used to bevel the edges of an intaglio plate to prepare the plate for drawing.

Flammable Cabinet The two bright yellow cabinets that store inks and solvents. The smaller one near the SP-20 holds intaglio inks and solvents; the larger one near the No. 4 holds letterpress inks and solvents.

Flat Files Low, wide shelves that hold paper and other tools, scattered around the Press. The flat files in the Press Room holds composing sticks, tympans and packing paper. The flat files in the Paper Room hold printing paper and older projects.

Font Originally, a collection of lead castings of one typeface; now, synonymous with “typeface”.

Foot Pedal The part of the press that opens up the grippers to accept a piece of paper for printing.

Fountain A thin film of ink; can be on a motorized roller or on a Plexiglas palette.

Frame A metal frame used to organize and lock up type for transfer to the press.

Furniture Wooden and metal forms that take up extra space on a frame to make it easier to lock in type. Can also be used to keep a frame from moving on the press bed.

Galley A metal tray for moving type.

2 Galley Tray Organizer A set of shelves painted green that holds galley trays to keep their type safe. Across from the SP-20 and around the corner from the No. 4.

Galley-High A press bed that is 0.968” from the rollers and printing surface. The SP-20 can be switched from type-high to galley-high and back.

Gripper Margin The margin at the top of a piece of paper that cannot be printed on, because the press grippers hold on to the paper there.

Hair Dryer A blue hair dryer stored in a ceramic jar on the galley organizer. Can be used to warm the surface of linoleum blocks to make them easier to cut.

Healing Mat See “Cutting Mat”

Ink Knife A metal tool with a handle that is used to remove ink from an ink can. Can also be used to mix ink on a palette. Remember: never gouge ink with the ink knife. Think icing, not peanut butter.

Inking Card Piece of cardstock used to smooth ink onto the surface of an intaglio plate before wiping.

Inking or Form Roller The middle rubber rollers that actually contact the type. Harder to clean as they are soft and a very dark gray. Make sure they are clean. Finish with Super Rubber Rejuvenator at the end of a class day or printing session.

Intaglio Ink Very thick, buttery ink used to print in the intaglio process.

Intaglio Press A high-pressure fine art printing press used in the intaglio printing process

Intaglio Room The room at the Bow & Arrow that enters into Adams House; the room with the flat files for paper, the intaglio press, the drying rack, the Challenge cutter and the craft counter.

Key The tool that opens or closes the expansion quoins to lock in type. The square key is used with the small Wickersham quoins; the star key is used with the larger high-speed quoins.

Leading Strips of lead in various sizes. Used for spacing lines of type, filling our space, and locking in type.

Letterpress Ink Smooth-flowing latex-based ink used for relief printing projects, of which letterpress is a subset.

Linoleum Block A piece of linoleum mounted to a piece of particle board that is 0.875” high. Will need to be padded or placed on a galley to print on a type-high press.

Lock-up Bar A tool that uses a lever to lock itself in place on the press bed to keep a frame or block from moving down the press bed during printing.

Magnet A small, strong magnet that can be used to hold blocks or wood type. Lives on the end of the No. 4 press.

Manual Press See “Roller Press”

Margin Space around the edges of a piece of paper that is free of text or images.

Mirror Use this to read the reversed letters of lead type. Many types of mirrors are available at the Bow & Arrow Press.

MSDS Material Safety Data Sheets; on the large flammables cabinet; contains information about the chemicals used in the Bow & Arrow Press.

Needle Thin piece of metal with an eye for drawing thread through holes.

3 Newsprint Very thin grey paper on a roll in the Paper Room for interleaving prints or wrapping prints. Not recommended for printing, as it is not acid-free and will yellow and disintegrate over time.

Oscillating Roller The top metal roller that slides back and forth across the inking rollers to ensure that the ink is spread evenly and consistently. The oscillating assembly comes off the No 4, but stays in place on the SP-20.

Packing Pieces of special paper used to raise or lower the printing surface on a press to apply more or less pressure. Also protects the printing drum.

Palette A piece of Plexiglas or plastic that is used to organize and mix ink.

Paper Board The board above the press bed that is used to organize paper for printing.

Phone Book Ancient form of information storage, primarily used at the Bow & Arrow for final wiping of intaglio plates

Pilot Press The small hand-hand operated platen press mounted on the top of the small flammable cabinet. Very finicky. Can be rewarding to a patient person.

Plate Room The room at the Bow & Arrow that stores the wood type and the old printing/linoleum blocks.

Point Size The size, in points, of a letter cast as lead type.

Press Room The room at the Bow & Arrow that contains the four letterpresses, type cases, the galley tray organizer, and the flammable cabinets.

Pressure Felt The thickest and softest blanket used on the intaglio press. Placed on top of the starch catcher and below the pressure felt.

Print The setting on the presses that engages the mechanism to drop the paper into contact with type. Use only when printing; run the print head all the way to the end of the press bed.

Printing Block A zinc or copper block mounted on a piece of wood that was used for commercial letterpress printing. These blocks are the same height as lead type and should not be set on a galley.

Pusher Felt The strongest blanket used on the intaglio press. Protects the pressure felt from the metal of the press roller. Placed on the top of the set of blankets

Quad See “Em Space”

Quoin A metal implement that expands and applies pressure. The smaller Wickersham quoins use the square key; the larger high-speed quoins use the star key. Always use against furniture or leading; do not use against lead type.

Rags Pieces of cloth used for cleaning. The boxes of new rags are in the closet near the No. 4. Rags should be used until they are fully saturated with ink. Usable rags can be stored in the Biohazard Can. Saturated rags should be disposed of in the Big Black Barrel

Recycling Can The former Civil Defense can near the roller press and smaller flammable cabinet. Single-stream recycling. No ink, coffee cups, paper towels, food items or trash items in here, please.

Rider Roller The small rollers next to the oscillating roller on the SP-20 and No. 4.

Roller Cart The steel roller cart next to the sink that holds the cans of spaces, screwdrivers, wrenches and other tools.

4 Roller Cutter The Dahle paper cutter located on the craft table in the Paper Room. Please cut no more than two pieces of paper on the roller cutter at any time.

Roller Press The long manual press near the foyer. It has no crank, so will not emboss much and can get stuck. Less formal than the SP-20 and No. 4.

Rolling Pin Used to smooth and blot paper

Roulette Tool with a hard rolling drum at the end that is used to create a continuous texture on intaglio plates

Saddle Stitch A method of bookbinding that uses centerline stitches through a nested signature of sheets. So-called because a commercial stapler used for such binding uses a saddle- shaped platen to hold the signature.

Saran Wrap Stored in a large blue-green roll on top of the large flammables cabinet. Can be used to save ink on a palette or to store ink for later use.

Scoring Making a light cut or deep emboss into the surface of a piece of paper in order to make a clean fold.

Solvent Gloves Heavy blue vinyl gloves for use with major cleaning solvents. Always wear them when using industrial solvents.

Stab Binding A simple form of bookbinding that uses a series of stitches that loop from the outside of the booklet through a series of holes made (“stabbed”) along one margin.

Starch Catcher The thinnest blanket used on the intaglio press. Goes directly on top of the paper, on the bottom of the blankets.

Super Rubber Rejuvenator A solvent that protects the rubber inking rollers and helps keep them soft and receptive to ink. SRR repels ink, so it is used only at the end of a class day or printing session.

Super Soap An industrial hand cleaner made from sawdust and vegetable oil. Use on dry hands, scrub into the skin, then wash off.

T-Square A ruler with a T end that can be used to make 90º angles and to make sure lines are square to an edge.

Tarlatan Starchy cheesecloth used to push ink into the crevices of an intaglio plate

Tear Bar A steel bar with a ridge and edge that is used to tear paper into smaller pieces. The torn edges are straight but not precise; can be used to mimic a deckle edge.

Third Space One-third of an em square. A medium space. These are available in cans on the roller cart. Also known as “3/M”.

Thread Linen thread used for bookbinding.

Trash Can The plastic can over by the roller cart and sink that should be used for anything that shouldn’t be recycled.

Trip The “neutral” setting for the printing presses. The default setting.

Tympan The oil-resistant paper sheet used on the press to hold the packing in place and to protect the printing drum. The tympan is always the top sheet on the press drum. It is called a “tympan” because it is always tightened to drum-head tautness.

Type Wash Aggressive solvent that evaporates quickly. Can be used on metal items for quick cleaning. Used to clean ink off of lead type. Should never be used on rubber rollers or brayers.

5 Type-High A press bed that is 0.918” from the rollers and printing surface.

Typeface An alphabet drawn to a specific design and cast as a set.

U-Gouge A broad cutting blade that removes a shallow cut of linoleum, which will print more fuzzy.

Used Blade Can A plastic can with a blue top located on the galley organizer. Put used blades in here for later disposal.

V-Gouge A narrow cutting blade that removes a deep cut of linoleum, which will print more crisp.

Vandercook No. 4 The small press.

Vandercook SP-20 The big press.

Wood Type Large letters made of wood that reside in the Plate Room. The wood type is organized by letter, not by typeface. Wood type is type-high, and should never be placed on a galley.

Work Gloves Latex or purple nitrile gloves used to typeset or work with ink to keep the hands clean. Should not be used to protect against industrial solvents.

X-Acto Knife Knife handle system that accepts very fine, sharp blades. The small handles accept No. 11 blades and the larger handles accept No. 2 blades. For best results, it is recommended to change the blade whenever starting a new cutting project. Blades are kept in a metal box on top of the galley organizer. Always dispose of a used blade in the used blade can.

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