Boring Pictures..

Like I mentioned in my last post, I had to opportunity to go to Woolverton and work for a few (5ish) hours.This is what I was working on.

(this pictures 28 stacks of 50 sections-each section containing 33 pages-for a cataloge)

The task was to take 33 different pages for a Omega Cabinatry Cataloge and put them in order for that section of the book. Now taking one sheet of paper off 33 different stacks of paper to make just one small section of a cataloge would take FOREVER! So I used this nifty little machine called a collator.


(a closer picture on the towers of the collator)


I seriously love that place and love all the big presses and other things that are there! Here is a very very very mini tour..


(in the background on the left is one of the presses. I forget the exact name of this one, but it will print like 7 colors at one time..pretty impressive. to the right you can see just one of the shelves of cans of ink that is used in the presses.)


(this is a drill. It is used to "drill" holes into paper like a 3-hole punch or 2-hole punch only much more efficient! I have ran this many many times and its very simple to use.)


(this is one of the inserters in the back - it is used to stuff enveleopes with letters and flyers and the like. some of the inserters will open the enveleope, put in like three or four different pieces of mail, seal the envelope, label and stamp it! pretty neat. however, they are often frustrating to run as they like to mess up or destroy envelopes and when you are doing a big mailing, one missing envelope can be a big deal.)


(this is a folder. it will take the big press sheets and fold them down to size or it will take an 8.5x11 sheet of paper and fold it down to fit into a #10 envelope- business letter size. I have assited in running one of the folders a few times - loading paper on the belt or taking off the folded pieces and putting them in a box or on a cart. It can be a challenge to set up-I have not actually been trained to set up any of the macines, just run them- but it keeps you moving and thats what I like about this work.)


(It was dark in there this weekend because Dad and I were the only two there and we were working in the back mostly so this picture isn't very good. To the left you can see the cutter. It is operated by computer and well, its hard to explain to someone who doesn't know what a cutter like this is. Its way cool though. I have used the one at my Grandpa's shop before, but his is a manual one and not as much fun. => The blades on this thing are huge and have to be sent out to get sharpened about every week or maybe 2x a week, im not sure. Without this machine, life would be so complicated in a print shop! Oh, if you didn't figure it out, it is used to cut and trim paper - both before and after printing.)

I didn't even get a picture of my favorite machines to run - or I guess I should say of the machines I run the most often. The presto sits against the back wall behind the cutter and is used to put together books. Like year books or magazines or catalogs of around 30 pages or smaller. The presto will take each press sheet -folded in fourths to make four pages- and put them together, staple the book, and trim all the excess off. When it is running well, I am litterally running just to keep up with boxing the finished product and keeping the box of paper scraps from overflowing. Filling the pockets is also a busy job and its way fun. Sometimes, the job we run on here has to be shrikwrapped into groups of like 20 or 50 or something so adding in that step is really fun! The other machine that is fun to "run" is the crease master..otherwise known as the bang-bang machine because of the loud bang it make when it perferates or creases a sheet of paper for easy folding or tearing. Im sure I have gotten my love of the printshop from both my Grandpa and my Dad. Maybe one day I will be able to work at one more than just whenever they can use an extra hand.

Of course, I couldn't post without saying something about the weather. There was so much snow at home and because home is in the country, the snow drifts.

(here the snow is drifted almost level with the roof of the chicken coop!)


(good ol' country roads. there is so much snow they just pile it up on the side of the road. you can't really tell in this picture how much smaller the road is right here with all the snow, but its cool...until the wind blows it all into the road again!)

Well, enough of boring pictures. Maybe I will have more of Ty next time! For now, its off to work and then studying for my wonderful Western Civ test tomorrow morning at 7:00!