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The miracle worker

This is my friend Carl.

He’s a wood engraver extraordinaire—

—and his West Seattle letterpress studio is a thing of beauty.

He does lovely, painstaking work (those are his engravings on the wall there), and he runs a tight ship at that studio of his.

Which is why my friend Mary-Alice called on Carl when she picked up a vintage Adana flatbed press, and wanted help whipping it into shape. She and her husband were planning to bring the press to West Seattle yesterday. I’d never seen an Adana in action before (I’m more of a Vandercook gal myself), so I asked to tag along.

Carl was more than ready for us.

He gave the press a quick once-over. “I think you’re getting off too easy, Mary-Alice,” he said. “There aren’t even any spiders under here!”

A few drops of oil,

some careful adjustments,

one of Carl’s own engravings to use as a test,

and a little text M-A set from his massive collection of type—and all of a sudden the Adana was print-ready.

Carl even broke out the fancy handmade paper—”This is an important occasion!” he said.

Pretty darn good results, if you ask me. Carl made us all sign the finished broadside. (Mariners pencil for the win!)

“How come I get to sign?” I asked, confused.

Carl chuckled and said, “You documented the occasion. Sign it!”

Aye, aye, Captain!