3D teaching model · 12 seconds · Captioned
How a screw press prints
Follow the paper and inked type beneath a platen, then see a turning screw apply and release pressure.
Explore this mechanism in interactive 3D or watch the new 1080p film →
Follow the mechanism
- 0:00
The bed carries paper over already inked type beneath the raised platen.
- 0:02
The lever turns a screw through the fixed crosshead. The screw and non-rotating platen descend.
- 0:05
The platen presses paper against the raised type. In a real press, this pressure transfers ink to the sheet.
- 0:06
Reversing the screw raises the platen and releases pressure.
- 0:09
The bed slides out. A printer can remove the sheet and prepare another impression; those operations are not shown.
What the model simplifies
A schematic wooden screw-press mechanism, not a reconstruction of a particular surviving press. The type blocks are simplified; actual inking, reversed lettering, paper registration, tympan and frisket, human operation and sheet removal are omitted. The paper is already positioned over inked type. Ink transfer is explained in the captions rather than simulated. Proportions and timing are illustrative.
Place it in history
The screw printing press: pressure, type and repeated pages →