I must admit, I was a little torn — to clean or not to clean? The ink disk had layers and layers of dried ink on the underside, testimony to many years of love and labour. I was seriously tempted to leave it there… but having come this far with the restoration, I decided to press on. An hour later, the floor covered in a fine mist of ink dust, and she’s as good as new… well, almost. (And yes, I wore a dust mask).
In other news, I’ve decided on a name! From this day forth, my little darling shall be known as ‘Minnie’. Short for ‘Minerva’, and also because, as far as presses go, she’s just a wee thing.
The letterpress arrives 
Letterpress restoration 
Killing rust on the letterpress 
Guess baby’s birth stats