A Revolution in Printing

It was inevitable that the merciless progression of the Industrial Revolution would radically alter printing. In attempt to improve the hand press, inventors applied mechanical theory and metal parts to it which improved the efficiency and size of the impression it made.

But it was Lord Stanhope's printing press that showcased some of the more revolutionizing improvements to the hand press. Constructing his printing press completely of cast-iron parts made it stronger and, thus, more efficient. The reason for this being that the metal screw mechanism added to the press only required one-tenth the manual forced needed to print a wooden press. Stanhope's press also enabled a doubling of the printed sheet size. His first successful prototype was installed and experimented with in William Bulmer's printing office.

Friedrich Koenig was responsible the next step in revolutionizing printing by converting it to a high-speed steam powered factory operation around 1804. The first steam powered press was build similar to a hand press connected to a steam engine. This new and improved printing press printed 400 sheets per hour. This was quite an improvement from the 250 sheets per hour from Stanhope's press.

More improvements to the printing press process included the following:
  • Revolutionizing the press so that the type forms are inked by roller instead of hand-inking balls. 
  • The horizontal movement of the type forms and the movements of the tympan and frisket were automated.
  • Type forms appeared on a flatbed that moved back and forth beneath the cylinder later on
The latter was a feature of Koenig's stop-cylinder steam powered press which enabled much faster operation. During the printing phase the cylinders rotated over the type. This action carries the sheet to be printed. The cylinder then stopped while the form moved from under it to be inked by the rollers. While the cylinder was still, a staff member called "the pressman" fed a new sheet of paper onto the cylinder.

Koenig was commissioned to build two double-cylinder steam-powered presses by John Walter II of the Times in London. This invention was capable of printing 1 100 sheets (90 x 56 cm) an hour.

The first steam powered cylinder press, 1814. This
invention caused printing speed to skyrocket and it's
price to drop considerably. 

In 1815 a gentleman called William Cowper was patented to build a printing press that used curved stereotyped plates wrapped around a cylinder. This press was able to print 2 400 sheets an hour and it could be used to print 1 200 double sided sheets too. In 1827 a four-cylinder steam-powered press was developed. This press also used Cowper's curved stereotyped plates, but the plates in this four-cylinder steam-powered press was made from papier-mâché molds. This press managed to print 4000 double sided sheets in a hour.

1798 blessed the industry with the prototype of a paper making machine invented by Nicolas-Louis Robert. France's political turmoil prevented him from perfecting it (what a bummer). In 1801 John Gamble was granted a patent for inventing a machine that will produce paper in single sheets without a seam from 1 - 12 and more feet wide and from 1 - 40 and more feet in length. The first paper making machine, a machine similar to Robert's prototype, was operative in Frogmore, England in 1803.  

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