Edison Mimeograph no.1 'Invented' by Edison, built by A.B Dick

In late March 2021 I bought my first antique - a XIX century mimeograph. I managed to get it at a very reasonable price considering it's age and condition. The "device" itself is just a few elements in a wooden box: a frame for printing and making/cutting stencils, a rubber roller and a plate for spreading ink. The one I got also came with three styluses, a tube of ink(still soft!) and the holy grail: a handful of stencil papers!

I decided to get it after realizing that my Print-O-Matic needs extra materials to get going (paste ink, ink pads, stencils cut to size and requiring "holders")... and of course those materials are no longer sold, so I would also need to create my own replacements. Having a bare-bones model eliminates a lot of those "unknowns" and just focus on the first important step - making a stencil replacement.

Contents #

The Case is a simple wooden box with couple dividers inside and a bracket for holding the roller. It is locked with two simple hooks. My case was a little worse for wear on the outside: scratched, missing labels and developed a patina. It was also bone dry. I decided against refinishing the case as I enjoy it's aged look. Instead, I treated it with some boiled linseed oil to help the wood recover some strength and rubbed some walnuts over the more prominent cracks to fill them in.

The Printing Frame is a hinged piece of wood resembling a picture frame. The bottom part is a relatively smooth stone surrounded by wood. The stone is used as a surface on which stencils are "cut" with a metal stylus. Two hinges on top of the frame connect the two parts so they can be opened (similar to how a screenprinting frame does). The top part is a frame with inlayed metal rectangle held in place by couple bits of metal that can be rotated to release it. The metal rectangle is used to hold the stencil in place when cutting or printing.

The Inking Surface is a smooth wooden(?) rectangle on which the ink is placed and rolled on with a roller. Serves the same function as a piece of acrylic in block printing - as a place to spread the ink without making a mess.

The Roller is just a rubber "dowel" with a handle. Used to roll the ink through the stencil to the page below. The rubber on my roller has deteriorated somewhat and the roller does not make a smooth connection with the page when "printing." I plan to fix it down the line, in the meantime I will use a block-printing roller.

The Styluses are just pen shaped pieces of wood tipped with metal. The tips are pretty dull as not to rip the stencil paper when "cutting." Depending on the stencil, a variety of sculpting tools can be used (as they are pretty much the same) or maybe even a dry (no ink) ballpoint pen (as I have read that zine makers in the 70s were using them).

The Stencils are thin, waxed paper (possibly mulberry) on which the design is made. The pressure from the stylus against the stone surface displaces the wax on the stencil making it possible for ink to seep through. The stencils I got came in a cardboard tube and are pretty fragile (possibly due to age, or maybe they always were like that). The stencils I have are semi-transparent white with a black grid printed on. I used a single stencil for initial tests with some inks I had at the house, but those failed. I am holding onto them once I progress a bit more in my research - there is at least few more in there, but I don't want to unroll them because of how fragile they are.

The Ink is a soft metal tube with an ink inside. While still soft when squeezed, I have not opened the tube just yet. I don't know what kind of chemicals were used in making it, but I expect at least oil base, possibly petroleum. I plan on testing it soon in a well ventilated area. Currently it is placed in a ziploc bag for safety.

How it works? #

The process using a flatbed mimeograph is similar to contemporary screen printing.

First prepare a stencil. This can be done on a typewriter or by hand. Typewriters simply use a "stencil" setting (not transferring any ink, plain slugs hitting the page) to write on a stencil. When cutting by hand use a dull tipped stylus and write/draw your design as you would on normal paper. Having a specialty surface (like the Japanese file plate or even the Edison's stone surface) makes the process easier (in what way? I will need to test it!).

Secure the stencil to the frame. In the case of this model a metal rectangle holds the stencil on the frame, but you can as well use tape.

Open the frame, place page underneath and close it. Roll ink over the stencil so it is transferred to the page underneath. Lift the frame, replace the page and repeat.