Charles Brand 26" Floor Model Etching Press (26" x 48")

New Charles Brand™ Press by Conrad

The Charles Brand™ etching press has long been a favorite for printmakers. With its durable design, larger upper roll, and steel bed, many printmakers have relied Charles Brand™ presses in their personal and professional studios. At the urging of countless printmakers, Conrad Machine decided to revive this press.

Taking inspiration from the original design and building on our decades of experience with these machines, we identified the weak and problematic points of the vintage Charles Brand™ presses for improvement with the goal to create a new, modern press that still feels familiar to the touch. Thus, the New Charles Brand™ press line was born.

Driven by a weighted hand crank attached to an enclosed geared drive, the New Charles Brand™ etching press provides a smooth printing experience no matter the pressure setting. Built with the professional studio or classroom in mind, the frame design has been reimagined. Removing excess weight and adding adjustable roller guides and removing troublesome warp plates, the bed flows easily through the press with adjustability like never before.

The New Charles Brand™ floor model press upper roll design has also been improved to fix the weak roll shaft design of the vintage presses that were prone to breaking welds. Leaning on nearly 80 years of press desiging and building experience, we created a tubular roll design that outperforms the original and gives the printmaker an even smoother printing experience without the worry of breaking at any pressure setting.

Since safety is paramount, we’ve also improved the bed stop and bed tip guide design to give printmakers a more seamless experience.

The expansive 26" x 48" precision ground steel or aluminum bed provides the ultimate printing surface. This is the only type of bed material capable of the highest pressure prints like etching/intaglio, photo gravure, and solar plates. Softer materials like wood, MDF board, or other laminates simply don't have the strength for printing precisely with this level of pressure.

The 26" x 48" precision metal bed glides smoothly through the press on 8 independently adjustable support bearings and side guides allowing you to print lighter pressure work like monotypes, linocuts, wood blocks, letterpress type, and other relief techniques without the slightest resistance.

The New Charles Brand™ 26" Etching Press can easily print the following media:

• Monotypes
• Wood blocks
• Linocuts (mounted & unmounted)
• Type high blocks
• Letterpress
• Drypoints
• Engravings
• Intaglio/Etchings (copper, zinc, etc.)
• Photogravure/Photopolymer
• Caligraphs
• Plate lithography

The New Charles Brand™ 26x48 Floor Model Etching Press comes with the following configuration:

• Micro-gauges
• Upper roll driven
• Commercial drive with weighted hand crank
• 26" x 48" precision ground aluminum bed plate
• Protective bed cover and registration grid

Optional press configurations include:

• Chrome plated upper roll
• Precision ground steel bed plate