Is our identity connected to the exact method in which we print? Is our brand just about the slow, treadle-operated way? Is that why our customers buy our cards? I don't think so. Humble pie is being eaten.Ä«uying this press has raised questions about who we are as a business. I honestly didn't understand their complexity until I had one in front of me. They are certainly not a walk up and push a button kind of thing. Windmills are incredibly beautiful machines that take skill and practice to operate. It's scary to admit that your business has changed. I have a lot to learn, and it's humbling to stand before a 2,000 lb. So what do you do when your business starts to outgrow the slow way? It's scary to invest in a new press. I've been all about the slow, methodical, hard way. And I've been a little snooty about the "handmadeness" of printing on a Heidelberg. I have said no way, no how, I'm not doing it. The question you may be asking right about now is this: "Aren't you the treadle operated and handpress loving person who swore off motorized automated presses?" Yes. We talked the decision through at length (although quickly) and decided to buy it. When the opportunity to buy printing equipment presents itself, you have to move quickly. As I always say, there's no "letterpress store." You can't drive to IKEA and pick one of these bad boys up. This is not the first time I've seen printing equipment for sale and changed direction drastically to make it happen. One morning I searched for "letterpress" on Craigslist (dangerous!) and saw the Windmill for sale. (Taking us to only 1,000 prints per hour, and costing a flobbidy jillion dollars.) (Less rest time, less family time, less working on new products time.) We could have bought another C&P and put the baby in full time daycare. In order to keep shipping orders ASAP the way we want, something needs to change. This means we're printing about as much as we possibly can on the C&P. We're filling larger orders than ever, and we're working on building relationships with sales reps for continued growth. When we were a one person business, it made sense to have one press. The minimum speed of a Windmill is 2,200 per hour. My maximum speed on our treadle-operated C&P is around 500 prints per hour. I actually slept the night before and didn't have a mini panic attack on the day of the move. I'm so glad we made the decision to hire movers. (He was awesome.) They were professional and experienced, and made it look like moving a 2,000+ lb. One of the guys did so with a cigar in his mouth. moved the Windmill and our new paper cutter with two guys, a forklift and a giant truck. This time, we decided to pay someone to do the move for us. Usually we tackle moving with rented equipment and buying pizza and beer for every guy we know. We've moved our studio 3 times, and have moved presses and equipment in and out more times than that. I always say I'm never moving another press when we finish a big move.
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