The world's first 3D-printed printmaking press.
Open Press Project is the first 3D-printed etching press ... and won‘t be the last!
Everyone who has access to a 3D printer can produce their own fully functional DIY press and print their own etchings, dry-points or engravings. Woodcuts, linocuts and other relief printing techniques work, too!
With only 5 € of material costs it is also the world’s most inexpensive press!
Future updates will be posted on my website and on the Open Press Project-Instagram account.
Future updates will be posted on my website and on the Open Press Project-Instagram account.
This is the outcome of my Intermediate-exam at KISD Köln International School of Design. After about 7 years of printmaking at Kölner Graphikwerkstatt I thought I should give the world a press that is not as expensive, heavy and huge like any other printmaking press. I figured that the unavailability of a press is one of the main challenges for people that want to try printmaking. That's why I decided to create one with my 3D-printer! Over the course of 5 months I built 10 prototypes, printed more than 100 proofs and used a kilometer of filament. And I got it working! The final prototype is able to print on a 70 x 100 mm paper!
All of the files are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, so you're free to copy, share, and edit the press for non-commercial purposes. I would love to see your redesigns, adjustments and improvements to the press! After more than 300 years of nonexisting innovation in the design of a printmaking press it's time to bring it to the next level.
To start printing you have to download the 3D files and follow the instructions on my website.
All of the files are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, so you're free to copy, share, and edit the press for non-commercial purposes. I would love to see your redesigns, adjustments and improvements to the press! After more than 300 years of nonexisting innovation in the design of a printmaking press it's time to bring it to the next level.
To start printing you have to download the 3D files and follow the instructions on my website.
Head over to the Open Press Project Instagram account to see 3D-printed presses in action! More and more people are using my design to print their etchings, drypoints or linocuts! Currently there are more than 70 colorful presses already. Art teachers around the world are now able to offer intaglio and relief printing in schools where printmaking wasn't possible before!
A) 2 x side part – B) upper roller – C) lower roller – D) press table – E) roller wrench – F) lower roller pinG) 2 x M5 screw H) 2 x M5 hexagon nut – I) top connector – J) 2x side connector – K) printing cloth/felts
A book was the main part of the exam in which I documented 3D printing tests and the design process of the press.
Article about the Open Press Project in the German Magazine Edison
photos above and below by Sven Buchert
Happy printing!
