Calling all printmakers!

#1

Howdy Folks,

Went deep down a design nerd rabbit hole this weekend and and currently obsessed with Risograph prints. Anyone here have experience with Riso? Im considering buying a Riso SF5130 digital duplicator. There are some really cool community riso print shops around the country, the closest one is over in New Hampshire and there are a few in NYC. Maybe have shared member run spaces and offer workshops and trainings similar to how generator operates and I think show some cool ideas we as a generator community could build on. Anyway just wanted to share and see if any other printmakers in the space have worked with Risographs and/or has interest in discussing / nerding out on them.

#2

Not sure I am interested but just to help any who want to start down that rabbit hole

https://us.riso.com/products/digital-duplicators/sf-series/sf5130/

Digital duplicators offer faster printing speeds and higher quality prints than photocopiers but can be more expensive to purchase. Photocopiers on the other hand are less expensive and provide a wider range of features like scanning, faxing, and emailing.

#3

I LOVE the look of Risographs!!! For the past few years I have been buying Risograph made calendars and home wares from a small artist run company in CA.
I do silkscreening, Gelli monoprints, and block printing (I use the laser to make my stencils and wood blocks). Not sure if I want to buy a Risograph machine, but happy to geek out and explore with you!
-Joanne Kalisz
Happy Fantastic

#4

This is a cool artist run, small scale company in CA that utilizes different types of printing in their work. Love their colorful and abstract patterns. Inspiring how the work is unified even though they use different printing techniques.

#5

Awesome. And thanks for sharing @Gary

Here another link that has a ton of info about studios around the world:

#6

@JoanneKalisz - how difficult is it to make the wood blocks from the laser?

I was planning on using a CNC machine. Is one approach better than the other?

Also, does anybody have one of those rolling table things that you’d use when printing off a print block?

I’m looking at making a limited run of a particular design, and want to make sure I can actually print the papers.

Thanks,
Bill

#7

Block prints from the laser are easy and work well. There is a bottle Jack press in the great hall too. Ideal for block prints.

#8

After further research while Riso printers are available and not too expensive the ink drums are hard to come by. You need a unique drum for each color of your print. With 3- 4 colors rgb or cmyk you can reproduce a photo and of course there are tons of cool color combos for two color prints. But at 300$ plus for a drum I’ll stick to screen printing or paying to have Riso prints done by a studio.