Yes, you are right, all of the stamps in this thread were printed either on a Heim diestamp print press or on a Waite & Saville one.
There were old small presses of both these makes in use capable of printing just one sheetlet of either 4 large-format or 10 small-format stamps as well as new large pressess producing two sheetlets of either 4 large-format or 10 small-format stamps.
The Postal Printing House of Securities, Prague had several of each make then. Which one was then being used for printing any of the stamps was not made known, unfortunately.
Today, only Waite & Saville diestamp print presses are used as Heim no longer produces the machines.
I am sorry I have not found a good picture of a Waite & Saville used in the Postal Printing House of Securities, Prague.
I am very sorry, I have to correct my statement in yesterday´s post that "...all of the stamps in this thread were printed either on a Heim diestamp print press or on a Waite & Saville one" which was incorrect because I had forgotten about the WIFAG-printed stamps on the FDCs on pages 1 and 2 of this thread posted by lithograving on 05/24/2014 8:44 pm , 05/24/2014 8:52 pm , and 05/24/2014 8:58 pm (there it was only the Commune of Paris stamp, but not the following Bratislava Tapestries set printed by die-stamping), which you will have had in mind in your previous post. I do apologise.
As for the pictures of the Waite & Saville presses (similar to the Heims) you have found on the web, those will be the kind used by the Postal Printing House of Securities, Prague. Thank you for showing them here.
Diestamping at Piccolo Press Nairn Scotland in October 2010 (the Waite & Saville diestamping press of 1950s vintage - about sixty years old - printing engraved stationery):
0:11 Guillotining the paper, 0:20 Making ready the Press for first diestamp of the sheet, 0:44 Diestamping underway – notice feeding and checking of each sheet, 0:55 Sheets being laid out on the delivery board, 1:22 A sideways view of the Press as we go round to look at the inking, 1:39 The back of the Press – showing the inking and wiping arrangements, 1:51 The inking roller inks the die – blade wiping of the die, 2:00 Brown paper wiping of the die for each "stamp", 2:13 The front of the Press under the feed table, 2:26 Diestamper Shaun Watson well into the job now!
Florian, thanks for that Waite & Saville diestamping press video and the various links.
I have to say that this press looks like and performs like something out of the 19th century and I find it amazing that so many beautifully multicolored engraved Czech stamps were produced on a press such as this.
I mean it is such a small , crude (primitive) press compared to lets say a Koenig & Bauer or a Goebel webfed,rotary press of the same era.
Florian asked me to post this pic of the Johnston diestamp print press which was in use between 1937 and 1959 to print miniature sheets of 4 and small panes of 10 or 12. The press also printed engravings on FDCs and on stamped envelopes
Thank you, lithograving. The photo was published in No 20/1950 of the Československá filatelie bimonthly having been taken at the PRAGA 1950 stamp exhibition where the Johnston diestamping press printed the PRAGA 1950 miniature sheet (see http://www.filaso.cz/katalog-znamky...asnost-arsik ) for visitors to observe the process.
Diestamping presses are small, hand-fed and therefore meant for small print runs of up to 500,000 (now about 100,000 only) but unique for ink leaving a raised relief image of excellent clarity and tactility suitable for producing superb pieces of craftsmanship in stamp printing.
Some more Nature Protection miniature sheets combining multicolour offset with recess in a single colour on the Waite & Saville diestamp print press for sharpness and clarity. Designed by Mrs. Libuše Knotek (the engraver Ladislav Jirka's daughter) and her husband Jaromír Knotek), engraved by Martin Srb:
Thanks for those links Florian. As you state, by adding just one engraved colour (black usually) it changes a dull, flat offset/litho printing into a sharp,crisp, detailed work of art. Same as when the Austrian State Printer would combine one colour engraving with multicolour photogravure.
Thanks, lithograving. I also find parallels between the Austrian State Printer's photogravure / engraving combination printings and the Czech Postal Printing House of Securities' offset / engraving ones.
Both in 2014 and 2015, Issue Plan of Czech Postage Stamps prospectuses, published by the Czech Post, named the offset printing machine as Heidelberg Speedmaster.
littleriverphil - I am afraid I have not noticed any star-shaped perfs on Czech or any other stamps as yet but then I have to admit that unless perfs spoil the aesthetic appeal of stamps I do not care much about them and their technical details in particular.
Besides, I have never been much of a true philatelist although the hobby of moderate stamp collecting has lasted me uninterruptedly for 73 years - ever since I was five. Finding fine stamps still a joy to look at in admiration, I am now concentrating on accessible hand-engraved stamps in mint condition that are slowly becoming the luxuries of the past.
However, the maxim that I go by is Ne quid nimis - Nothing in excess, which applies to stamps as well.
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Posted 12/22/2014 04:06 am
