Edition: 1000
Size: 10" x 13.3125" folds to 5" x 5"
Purchase: available on store page

Images and types made entirely of Linotype composition cast on the machine at Stumptown Printers. Printed in 4 colors on a platen press. The Linotype machine receives most of the credit for this composition, but the unsung hero is the Hammond glider saw. Much of the "Angry Fiddlehead" form was created using saw cuts. I couldn't imagine running Linotype composition without that tool, a good type saw is indispensable.

As for the band: Gabrielle Macrae and Barry Southern are the core of this group, they are amazing musicians and fantastic humans. And, when they are around Portland town, my buddy Kevin Sandri and I have the honor of backing them up as the rhythm section. It's a hoot. The recording was made without overdubs or other funny business. It was recorded live over a long weekend with two microphones expertly engineered by guru and good buddy Alan Garren.

I thought that a honest recording such as this should be met with equally candid cover art, and convinced the group to allow me to create an entirely "analog" composition made by Linotype. Since the computer is not involved with the process, the band wasn't able to see proofs or mock-ups of the progress - They're brave souls and I'm thankful that they placed trust in me and the machine. In the end, I like the results. This record will not be reprinted by letterpress / linotype, so if you are a fan of original hot metal composition and traditional fiddle music, pick one up!

Edition: 75
Size: 2"x3"
Purchase: Fiddleink Store

A wee manifesto on spot color printing. Multiple color runs printed on platen press using found ornaments, advertising cuts, hand-set type and freshly cast linotype Garamond 6pt 1558. 

Edition: 72
Size: 15 pages, 7.25"x6" (bound) 6" x 6" when pages are removed from binding.
Purchase: go to store page

Poems designed for your home, neighborhood, and playmates. By Marko Whens.

Printed on newsprint with perforated pages, double scored flip-back paperboard covers and industrial tape binding, this collaborative project is part poetry chapbook, part 1960s neighborhood-job-shop-Linotype-Type-specimen-booklet, part class room exercise book, and a partial retrospective from over a decade of Marko Whens' interactive poetry happenings.

Casting and print production started in 2011, was then stored on galleys for 8 years. Additional casting and printing accomplished in 2019. Bindery and assembly recently completed, thanks to Andre Chaves of Clinker Press and Jeff Shay of Buzzworm Studios for use of shop space and equipment.

Some types used within the pages of "Continue Us":

Linotype 8^442 Memphis Light With Bold, Linotype 10^496 Caledonia with Italic and small caps, Linotype 9^222 Gothic No 18 with Gothic no 20, Linotype 12^278 Garamond with Italic and small caps, Linotype 12^496 Spartan Medium, Linotype 14^94 Bodoni with italic and small caps, Linotype 11^622 Spartan Book, Linotype 8^586 Times Roman with Bold, Linotype 18^156 Spartan Bold Condensed with Italic, Linotype 10^292 Benedictine Book with italic and small caps, Linotype 10^440 Garamond No 3 with Italic and Small Caps, Linotype 14^198 Metrothin No 2 (with Metromedium), Linotype 10/12/14 Erbar Light with Bold Condensed. Keyed to run as lining face in same magazine, Linotype 9^168 Caledonia with Italic and Small Caps, Linotype 18^265 Garamond

Edition: 12 (in a series of 12 prints)
Size: 12”x12”
Purchase: available on store page

Series of prints made from Linotype cast slugs composed during C.C. Stern Type Foundry Open Hours. All prints in the series use one single type face: 14pt Intertype Bodoni Book 961. Proceeds from the sales of these prints go to the C.C. Stern Type Foundry.

Edition: 30
Size: 8” x 10”
Purchase: n/a

Keepsake print made in collaboration with Rebecca N. Gilbert for the occasion of the launch of Marfa Community Print. Linotype 14 point Intertype Bodoni Book 961 cast at the C.C. Stern Type Foundry in February, 2020. Printed at Craft Printing House.

Edition: 250
Size: 4"x6"
Purchase: Fiddleink Store

First flag of the autonomous state of Fiddleink. Made with various linotype matrix slide borders (12 Point 1505, 12 point 1500b etc.), 1 wood “F” and a bunch of “f words" (cast in 6pt Linotype Melior) 

Edition: 150
Size: 8”x10”
Purchase: not available for purchase, but available in exchange for spreading the word about this event. Contact me if you’d like a print.

Type Jam is an informal gathering hosted by the C.C. Stern Type Foundry. Its purpose is to bring printers together to share recent work composed of metal type and ornamentation and/or to discuss “analog” printing that inspires them.

This Type Jammer Fella is printed in 4 passes, using 3 colors (and an ink tint of one) Top hat type is Linotype composed 14pt Metromedium No. 2 14^198. Tagline 6pt Linotype Melior 6^8486. Whiskers are made from Linotype border matrix slides including: 6 point 130, 6 point 136, 8 point 134A, and 12 point 140. Face is made from foundry type: 36pt Hobo, 72pt Onyx and 60pt Corvinus.  

Cast, handset and printed at Stumptown Printers in April of 2017. 

Edition: 50
Size: 12.5” x 19”
Purchase: available through Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum

Poster printed in collaboration with Rebecca N. Gilbert for the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum. Our poster is in part a tribute to Toni Morrison. Linotype composition used: 14 point Intertype Bodoni Book 961 and W.A. Dwiggins' 12 point 1262 Caravan Decorative border. Unidentified six-line wood type used is stamped with the Hamilton name and appears to be similar to number 676.

Edition: 100
Size: 12”x12”
Purchase: available on store page

“Click Here Now” is compiled from excerpts of junk e-mail collected from a week of spam from a particularly troublesome email address at Stumptown Printers. After spending some time pulling garbage mail out of the ether and giving it life in the form of cast metal type, the words took on more meaning. Some of the spam mail text seems even more absurd than when read on the computer screen, while some of the text was transformed into something almost eloquent and reads a bit like poetry. The “eject” symbol is made from 240 cast lines of Linotype 6pt^696 Helvetica.

"Click Here Now!" Was created for the “Dada ist 100” print exhibition which opens in Gransee, Germany June 4th, 2016. Organized by Marc Berger / Edition Schwarzdruk the print show celebrates 100 years of Dada movement. Marc has managed to wrangle more than 50 letterpress printers from 10 countries to contribute work to the exhibition. For more info on the show, here’s a link.

Edition: 63
Size: 12”x12”
Purchase: available on store page

Unofficial Marfa Myths 2018 limited edition keepsake print. Collaborative print by Rebecca N. Gilbert and myself. We tackled this one after the job work was complete at Stumptown Printers, over the course of some late nights shortly before leaving for the Marfa Myths festival. Printed from types and ornaments cast on the Linotype machine at Stumptown Printers as well as some Monotype ornaments cast by Rebecca at the C.C. Stern Type Foundry. The type face is Dwiggins' 14pt Electra with short descenders. Tagline / colophon is cast in 6pt Spartan Heavy. 12" x 12" edition of 63.

Edition: 45
Size: 12" x 12"
Purchase: available on store page

“House Warming” a poem by fellow C.C. Stern Type Foundry board member, printer and friend Joseph Green. Over the years Joe's words have been an inspiration (both in person and when read on the page) so it was a real treat to cast, print and spend a little extra time with one of his poems while making this broadside. 

Linotype composed Garamond 18pt^265 with hand-set title. Image is made from a reduction linoleum cut and some dramatic overlay to create the color gradations. Paper is Hahnemühle Ingres Antique. 

Edition: 100
Size: 4"x6"
Purchase: N/A

Created for the “Grand (International) Letterpress Christmas Card Exchange 2016.” Damn the word-scoundrels. If we placed some of these unscrupulous bastards behind the type case or Linotype keyboard, maybe they would learn a thing or two about respecting our words, and taking responsibility for the words that they spew. Anyway. Printers have a great respect for their type and the words that they create from those letters, and this simple card is a thank you note to them. The type used is Intertype 8pt Garamond with italic and small caps 1655. This print also was a good exercise to experiment with some saw work - the ornamentation was created using linotype border cut to form an interlocking grid. 

Edition: 333
Size: 4"x6"
Purchase: Fiddleink Store

Printed in honor of the 2014 American Typecasting Fellowship Conference, this keepsake was created using all Linotype cast ornamentation and types from the model 31 at Stumptown Printers. Letterpress printed in 4 runs. 

Here, our little pal recognizes the individual beauty of letters in the night sky. 

Type is 5 ½ pt Linotype Ionic No. 5, border matrix slides include: 6 point 1523, 6 point 1429, and 5 point 1438 

Edition: 75 / 300
Size: 7.75” x 3.75” / 4.5” x 4.5”
Purchase: N/A

Beer labels and coasters (beer mats) for Lino Lager! This beer is a special limited bottling of Royale Brewing’s Pilsner, and was created as a fun collaboration between Stumptown Printers and the brewery to honor the Linotype Machine, classic commercial print and a job well done.

Linotype types and ornaments cast for this limited printing: 9^256 Olympian (one of the last Linotype typefaces cut for Linotype hot metal type composition. Designed by Matthew Carter in 1970), 6^496 Spartan Heavy, 30^53 De Vinne Condensed Outline and border matrix slides 4pt 1617, 6pt 1317.

Edition: 175
Size: 4"x6" (folded size)
Purchase: distributed through the AAPA

A fiddleink “AJAY” Mini journal. This issue describes a late-night New Years Eve hike with a buddy. Cast and set primarily in Linotype Olympian, one of the last Linotype typefaces cut for linecasting. Typeface designed by Matthew Carter in 1970. 

Edition: 400
Size: 4"x6"
Purchase: Store

Created for the “Grand (International) Letterpress Christmas Card Exchange 2015” This keepsake print is 2nd in the "Linotype Matrix-Slide-Being" series. This fellow delivers gifts that fulfill. His sack of gifts is made from Linotype Garamond 6^274, red suit is made from border slide matrix 1341B and 1351A, his boots are made from foundry 60pt Corvinus cap "P", and his face is made up of an 18pt Hand Tooled Goudy lowercase "o", a 36pt Tower cap "T", a 18pt Cheltenham Italic lowercase "o", and a 24pt Goudy cap "I." 

Edition: 200
Size: 4" x 6"
Purchase: distributed through the AAPA

Printed for the AAPA's annual cooperative publication "Ink Cahoots." Text is taken from the 1923 "Manual of Linotype Typography." Type is 10^292 Benedictine, an elusive typeface originally designed for Linotype in 1915 by Joseph E. Hill under the direction of Edward E. Bartlett. (Bartlett was the co-creator of the gorgeous "Manual of Linotype Typography") Our Benedictine matrices are good and hammered, you can see a generous amount of "hairlines" when viewing the close-up photos. Other linotype material cast for this piece: 6pt 737 multiple rule matrix slide, 12 pt G-58 decorative border, 6pt 39 292 & 293 decorative border, 6pt 31 345 "fist" and 6pt^236 Copperplate.

Edition: 250
Size: 4" x 6"
Purchase: Fiddleink Store

The MICR typeface is arguably one of the most familiar figure designs around, however, it's the least appreciated. It’s a very hard-working stubborn fellow who thanklessly does the dirty work.

The uncelebrated MICR typeface (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition called "MICK-ER" in the trade) kept Linotype machines clicking and chugging along well into the desktop computing age. Occasionally Stumptown Printers is hired to cast a couple MICR lines for a local crash printer. On one such occasion, I decided to celebrate this uniform width font (Linotype MICR 10^203), and out came this little beast. He appeared on a 25 em measure cast on a 12 point slug, demanding some respect after 60 + years of no-thanks.

Edition: 250
Size: 4" x 6"
Purchase: Fiddleink Store

Fishy Fiddleink. Iridescent metallic inks on a pitch black deep sea paper. 

These deep sea creatures are made from 18 line Cooper Black "O" wood type, 36pt Monotype Flash "O", 60pt American Type Founders 598 Stymie Black "O", 60pt American Type Founders 518 Ultra Bodoni "O", and a variety of freshly cast linotype wave rule from matrix border slides. 

Edition: 250
Size: 4" x 6"
Purchase: Fiddleink Store

Frosty Finds Fancy. Let your inner fancy melt that frosty exterior. 

Orange frosty is made up of 8 line and 12 line wood Kabel "Os". Frosty's arms are a series of linotype em dashes with 10 pt ^ 400 fist. Silver frosty is freshly cast 12pt Linotype border matrix 1271A. Dapper dude is printed from original newspaper advertising cut. Type is Linotype Garamond 6pt 1558. The "L" matrix was being a little stubborn and didn't want to sit still while casting took place, but I liked the way it looked.  

Edition: 50
Size: 8.5"x11"
Purchase: Not Available

Dedicated to the Hamilton Wood Type Museum. This broadside is in honor of the manufacturers of not only the wood type that they are famous for, but the type cabinets, galley racks and accessories that keep our type safe and organized. Made with a found advertising cut, Hamilton wood type, and Linotype Poster Bodoni with italic 10^298. 

Edition: 75
Size: 11.5"x11.5"
Purchase: Not Available

"The Fir Tree" was printed for the “Grand (International) Letterpress Christmas Card Exchange 2014” organized by flowers&fleurons and The Elrod Press. The story is a Hans Christian Andersen tale, and was first published on December, 21st 1844. Type is 5 ½ pt Linotype Ionic No. 5 and Linotype Garamond 6^274. Tree ornamentation is cast from a variety of Linotype Border Slide Matrices.

Edition: 200
Size: 4"x2.5"
Purchase: See below

Printed from existing foundry type and newly cast ornaments (cast at C.C. Stern Type Foundry). Note the “st” ligature within the star - this was also cast at the C.C. Stern Foundry using the “Stern” typeface designed and cut by the late Jim Rimmer. An excellent film which documents Jim Rimmer’s making of this typeface is available. The trailer can be viewed here. This guild card is available through the C.C. Stern Type Foundry and can be obtained by donating at the “printer’s devil” level. Tell ‘em Fiddleink sent you. 

Edition: 38
Size: 8”x10”
Purchase: available on store page

Yes, it's time now to "dive in" to your reading bucket list. This is a quick and dirty print made to celebrate a group reading of Melville's masterpiece. Printed with various sizes and weights of Kabel wood type made for a sign press. Waves are Linotype cast 12 point 140 wave rule.

Edition: 75
Size: 11.5"x17.5"
Purchase: No Longer Available

Printed for the 2012 American Typecasting Fellowship Conference, this broadside is a tribute to those who have a fanatical desire to keep vintage typecasting and printing equipment in working order and in frequent use. Body is cast in Linotype Bodoni 14^94. Head is made up of found advertising and newsletter halftone head cuts (including one of my grandfather) and foundry cast circles. 

Edition: 500
Size: 4.25"x4.25"
Purchase: n/a

Promotional card for the C.C. Stern Type Foundry. Composed of found advertising cut and Linotype cast type and border. 

Edition: 250
Size: 4" x 6"
Purchase: Fiddleink Store

Fiddleink forge forward for fascinating frontiers. Forever finding fresh forged fonts. The ornament train delivers. Powered by Linotype 12 pt G-58 decorative border. The train itself is an antique cut from the collection of the late Byron Scott (Scotty) who lived on the Printing Farm of Stern and Faye in Skagit Valley, Washington. Type is Linotype Garamond 6pt 1558.   

Edition: 250
Size: 4"x6" (folded size)
Purchase: distributed through the AAPA

Mini journal. Cast in Linotype Olympian, one of the last Linotype typefaces cut for linecasting.  Typeface designed by Matthew Carter in 1970.

Edition: 200
Size: 4"x2.5"
Purchase: See below

Composed and printed from foundry type. This guild card is available through the C.C. Stern Type Foundry and can be obtained by donating at the “printer’s devil” level. Tell ‘em Fiddleink sent you. 

Edition: 250
Size: 5.5"x 4.25"
Purchase: Sold Out

Hand set foundry type, wood type and a big heavy cow cut.

Edition: 250
Size: 5.5" x 7.625"
Purchase: Fiddleink Store

There are a lot of odd birds in this town - this limited edition mini broadside documents one of them. In the style of an early 20th century field bird identification guide,  this piece describes the habitat and characteristics of the common Stumptown Eagle.

Letterpress printed from a found copper advertising, cut and cast 5½ pt Linotype Ionic No. 5, and linotype decorative border. 

Edition: 200
Size: 4"x6”
Purchase: n/a

Printed in 2010 to announce the opening of the C.C. Stern Type Foundry. Composed and printed from foundry type and a found cut.

Edition: 200
Size: 4.25”x6.5”
Purchase: n/a

Printed in 2011 as a keepsake reward for a fundraising Kickstarter campaign for the C.C. Stern Type Foundry. Composed and printed from an assortment of foundry ornamentation, hand-set foundry type, and Linotype 10^292 Benedictine. 

Edition: 250
Size: 4" x 6"
Purchase: Fiddleink Store

This flag is not claiming land nor drawing lines in the sand. It claims ink on wood and metal, and celebrates the machines and culture of the craft commercial print shop. Combining 5 line wood type and a variety of fresh cast linotype matrix slide borders, this flag is proud to be fancy. Border matrix slides used include Linotype 12pt 407 I Arrows, 4pt 505 Oxford Rule, 6pt 42 decorative border. Type imprint on reverse side is Garamond 6pt 1558.