Moving Days: Part Two

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A MONTH CAN MAKE. We’ve packed and we’ve lifted and we’ve hauled and we’ve leveraged and we’ve blocked, and we’ve lowered and we’ve pushed, and finally the new home of the Tampa Book Arts Studio is starting to look like — well — home.

Or, at least almost a home! We’re still a long way from being fully set up and operational. One major advance is that we’ve gotten all the equipment into one building, instead of having it spread out in the two. And as you will see in the pictures below, all the machinery has found its place in the new studio floor plan, but what’s left to do is the process of organizing and unpacking.

"Slowly but surely,” TBAS Letterpress Coordinator Carl Mario Nudi says when referring to cleaning the workshop up for the premiere incoming MFA class of creative writers. “What’s also great,” he says is that, “[TBAS] is going to be organized better now and everything will have its own place. There's going to be a place for casting and composing, for presses, and a bindery/multipurpose room, while the office and library will have their own separate area. It’s overall a better use of space, compared to the old setup, and will have a very clean and inviting look to it.”

The benefits of this new floor plan will pay out in dividends once TBAS is put to use and when those working in the studio find that they won’t have to be working right on top of each other and can spread out in the workspace. As well, the bindery having its own dedicated room now and the better arrangement of work tables and reference materials will offer opportunities for more creative explorations and collaborations in the studio than were possible before.

The well-worn clamp wheel of our vintage Peerless Gem paper cutter.

Tucked away in their own nook, our Challenge and Peerless Gem paper cutters await fresh sheets to trim to size for printing or binding.  In addition to the guillotine cutters, this area will include paper storage shelves and a work bench with a drill press for working with caster nozzles and mats.

Click here to see the studio in 360 degrees and what it looks like now (But it did take some work to get here). Special thanks goes out to the crew for making this transition happen so smoothly. Check back soon to see the conclusion of the Tampa Book Arts Studio moving days and the final pictures of the completed studio and the opening engagement. 

The Hancock Printing Equipment crew lift one of the cabinets holding full and heavy California job cases with a forklift in early November to move to the Tampa Book Arts Studio new location. Gene Hancock and his crew used their skills and experience to load and transport all of the heavy machinery and equipment to the new facilities. 

Wrapped in protective plastic, the type cabinet is lifted onto the truck for the three-block trip to the Tampa Book Arts Studio new location.

The moving crew, Gene, Eric, Larry, and Kirk, place the type cabinet in a temporary holding spot at Tampa Book Arts Studio new location.

Gene Hancock, left, owner of Handcock Printing Equipment, helps Kirk, maneuver a piece of equipment at the Tampa Book Arts Studio new location. The crew had already placed the Intertype, seen in the backgroud, into its permenant spot.

A metal cabinet, full of type, is pulled out of the former foundry of the Tampa Book Arts Studio to be moved into the new location.

Our Monotype “Orphan Annie” caster still needs to be unwrapped, but is positioned with its own drip pan for catching oil drips, shavings, and “squirts.” We use it for casting ornaments as well as fresh type for the cases.

Eric, left, operates a fork lift at the direction Gene, kneeling, as they position the Washington hand press, that belonged to woodcut artist J.J. Lankes, in place at the Tampa Book Arts Studio new location.

Eric, Kirk and Gene work, seemingly with ease, to place a heavy metal cabinet filled with type into place atop another cabinet, a delicate maneuver despite the weight and size of the cabinet.