¶ Without going into the migraine-inducing nightmare of being the first to build in a new development of acreages in the North Okanagan, and after more than 8 months of work, the new shop was finally ready for some action by the early winter of 2017 (albeit there were no services yet available, and so I was setting type huddled next to a useless space heater).
¶ Comprising two rooms and some 1000sq/ft, the shop was built with both printing and typecasting in mind, with the main room set up for book work and the smaller for making type. The building faces north to avoid any direct sunlight in through the large windows (mainly to avoid ultra-violet rays on the bookshelves, but also to help keep the shop cool during the blistering Okanagan summers), but the windows still provide plenty of light and a lovely view of the forest outside.
¶ The main room houses both Vandercooks (15-21 & 219AB), the paper cutter and both of the pantographs used for engraving matrices, as well as the bookshelves and type cabinets. There is a 16ft long workbench running along the front wall which I foolishly thought would be plenty of counter space. A paper rack was built into the rear corner of the print room to accommodate full-sized sheets, with a book press and paper trimmer set on top. A large steel composing table, with lead/slug/furniture storage and galley racks, provides a bit of extra working surface, along with the double-column oak cabinet where most of the paper folding gets done.
Construction of the new shop from excavation to siding.
¶ The construction took far longer than it should have mainly because I did most of the work on my own (with plenty of help from my girlfriend Caitlin and my nephew Jake), and, as of June 2018, there's still a fair bit of detail-work to be done. However, the shop has turned out nicely and provides adequate space to get things done.