Copies bigger than 11"x17"

[Hank Trent]

Keeping in mind we live near a very small city that's only near slightly larger cities...

What kind of businesses might be able to make black-and-white copies on both sides of 22"x17" paper? Our local copy shops can't do bigger than 11"x17" and don't know anyplace that can.

As you might guess, this is to reproduce a period newspaper. Worst case scenario, we'll get the 11"x17" copies and carefully piece them together with a glued strip of paper at the spine, which shouldn't be too noticeable. But full size copies would be ideal.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Spinster]

Re: Copies bigger than 11"x17"

Hank,

I'd really start with local small town newspapers and see about a special print run. I would imagine you already have this file in electronic format.

The only other folks I know of with printing capacity of this size is engineering and mapping firms--in it for their own needs, and not as a public resource.

I'm cranky right now because some eletronic files of handbills I need are broken up into 8 1/2 * 11 bites--and I'll have to marry up the pieces to get the file to handbill size

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Copies bigger than 11"x17"

Check your local blueprinter--they usually have large-format Xerox machines that can do full-size black and whites up to about 24"x36" without a problem, though I don't know about double-sided. Our local one runs something like 25c per square foot.

[Charles Heath]

Re: Copies bigger than 11"x17"

Hank,

Elizabeth is correct, and even if you don't have any A&E suppliers around you, grab your Yellow Pages (if your area still has them) and look for the surveyors, architects, and engineers. You are likely to find one or more who uses their equipment as a copy side line for smaller outfits. Tell them you want "Bee Dubyas" (BWs) and they'll know what you mean. If they start spouting of "Size C" or "Size E," just use the paper size charts online as a reference back to area by inches.

As an aside, if you need large format paper beyond ledger size, check for "desk pad" and "desk blotter" size paper, which matches up well with those larger muster forms, and some other "big paper CW form sizes." Most office supply places carry this stuff in small quantity, as well as newsprint. The latter is ostensibly for wrapping and shipping, but CW enthusiasts find other uses for it.

[Hardtack Baker]

Re: Copies bigger than 11"x17"

Mr. Trent,
We reproduced a found copy of our local town newspaper from July 10, 1863--many reports of Gettysburg and Vicksburg. We thought the engineers copies too expensive. After checking with three small area newspapers, we found one that fit our budget and was good to work with. They offered the proper large "broadsheet" paper size, color, and quality. It was a lot of leg work, questions, and follow up, but we have a really nice paper that is an amazing piece of history. So, my vote is for the small town newspaper shop that is willing to work with you, whatever your project. Our guys did a fabulous job of stripping the negatives together and printing! Good luck!!
Sincerely, Marie McNamara -Hardtack Baker -Third Minnesota, Co. C

[Becky Morgan]

Re: Copies bigger than 11"x17"

Hmmm. You could call the Wheeling Intelligencer and ask. (Yes, I'm serious. They're still there.) They've done reprints for their own use and the new printing plant does a LOT of outside work.

[toccoa42]

Re: Copies bigger than 11"x17"

Keeping in mind we live near a very small city that's only near slightly larger cities...

Many Kinko's and Office Max locations use a specialized large format copier/printer called the KIP (3000, 3001, 5000, etc). Tell me where you live with zip code and I can give you the address of a location that uses the KIP.

[Hank Trent]

Re: Copies bigger than 11"x17"

We called around and found, through blueprint and map places, copiers that could do 17x22, but only on one side. They said that all the larger copies were that way, because they used extreme heat, and if the same sheet was put back through, the heat would damage the printing that was already done on the other side. I suspected there might be a problem like that, after seeing the trouble Horace Greeley had with his press at Winter 64. ;)

Can the KIP copiers do 17 x 22 on both sides, or only one?

The local newspaper said a short run of an actual newspaper would start over a hundred dollars, so it looks like the best option is to go with 11 x 17 sheets, pasted together. The cost per copy ranged from 20 cents down to 10 cents at our local library if they have the right size paper, so that would make one "newspaper" cost in the $1.60 to $3.20 range. Can't give away too many for a reproduction 10-cent note at that price, but it's at least affordable for a few samples.

Edited to add: Linda just talked to Kinkos. The closest one is about two hours from us, and they can do up to 24 x 18 on both sides, but it costs--gulp!--$2.50 per side.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[toccoa42]

Re: Copies bigger than 11"x17"

Can the KIP copiers do 17 x 22 on both sides, or only one?

KIPs are roll fed, not sheet fed, which means there is no duplexing function. You would literally have to flip the roll output, and good luck getting everything to line up. But you really should call a location that uses the machine and ask them. Some might single-sheet feed, but I doubt it.

The advantage to the KIP is you can copy sizes much larger than the max 18 x 24 size available on some of the high-end copiers. Some KIPs I believe will output up to 36" width.

[AZReenactor]

Re: Copies bigger than 11"x17"

Good information. I'm working on putting together a reprint of an Arizona Paper and will be facing some of the the same challenges when it comes time to print it. One solution I am looking at is printing a larger run with a local newspaper office and making the excess available to the community gift shops and such to resell as a way of recouping the production costs.

For W64 I was able to get the Harpers Weekly papers through Applewood books for a couple dollars per issue. They weren't listed on their site but any issue from the war could be obtained by calling them.

[Mudslinger]

Re: Copies bigger than 11"x17"

Hank,

Try Point Pleasant Printing Co., in Point Pleasant, Wv. They're local, & reasonably priced. Also, the West Virginia Farm Museum in Point Pleasant has a reproduction printing shop with an original press and other equipment. The event every June features a reenactor/printer who works the shop. The event is the weekend of June 28-29.

Point Pleasant Printing (304) 675-3592 317 Main Street, Point Pleasant, WV 25550

WV Farm Museum: 675-5737 contact Lloyd


Nick Miller
33rd O.V.I., Co. F
Mudslinger Mess
Acorn Boys

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."-Thomas Jefferson

[Hank Trent]

Re: Copies bigger than 11"x17"

One solution I am looking at is printing a larger run with a local newspaper office and making the excess available to the community gift shops and such to resell as a way of recouping the production costs.

For a while we toyed with that idea, and in theory I think it would be the ideal solution, since it gets yet another reproduction out there for future living history use. But for this, we decided to play it safe and only invest what we're willing to give away, since this is such an oddball thing--an issue of the Turf, Field and Farm sporting newspaper from June of 1869. It's useful really only because I was assigned to portray the editor, Sanders Bruce, for a one-time event that's set during that month and year.

Something funny is that I'm portraying the editor in Kentucky when he actually, historically, was visiting Kentucky from New York. In this edition of the newspaper, there's an article which is totally out of character for the newspaper, and in fact is just the kind of thing the editor vowed never to print.

If the editor had actually been gone to Kentucky for a week and left the young assistant editor Hamilton Busbey in charge, that might explain how it slipped in. When he/I read the copies I receive in the mail in Kentucky, I'm not going to be happy to see what was printed while I was away!

For W64 I was able to get the Harpers Weekly papers through Applewood books for a couple dollars per issue. They weren't listed on their site but any issue from the war could be obtained by calling them.

I'm still impressed that I'd brought the previous two issues of Harpers Weekly to W64 to read, and when my mail came, totally unexpectedly, there was the next copy, just like I was a subscriber.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Hank Trent]

Re: Copies bigger than 11"x17"

Just an update. We got the 11x17 copies printed and I glued them together to make 22 x 17 pages with a little hinge strip of the same paper, using contact cement, like rubber cement only the stronger kind that's used for floor tiles and such.

The result really is pretty decent. The hinge strip isn't noticeable unless you're looking for it. The down side, though, is that the glueing is time consuming, but for half a dozen copies, it seems a pretty good compromise.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Hardtack Baker]

Re: Copies bigger than 11"x17"

Congrats on achieving your goal, Mr. Trent! I understand better from your description what your requirements were. Yes, if anyone is trying to reproduce a limited number of copies at a larger, odd size...it is a challenge, mostly because of expense. We decided to take the plunge and do a little bigger quantity run at the local, small newspaper shop. I used to work for a printer and knew what we were up against. We have the investment payed off now, and will continue to use it when it fits in. It was well received and a worthwhile project. Recently, at a Minnesota Sesquicentennial event, we were able to give a copy to the Governor. It is great to hear of others putting "news of the times" into someone's hands. For me, it makes an event more real! When the public is present, they have interacted, purchased, and responded with some remarkable family stories to share. When we "open the door" people want to peek. That continued interest in history we inspire in our fellow countrymen will be realized in future preservation efforts. Thanks for sharing your project!!!
Best regards, Marie McNamara

[Hank Trent]

Re: Copies bigger than 11"x17"

But for this, we decided to play it safe and only invest what we're willing to give away, since this is such an oddball thing--an issue of the Turf, Field and Farm sporting newspaper from June of 1869. It's useful really only because I was assigned to portray the editor, Sanders Bruce, for a one-time event that's set during that month and year.

Here's a further update, that was pretty neat. The first set of visitors I talked to, I introduced myself as Col. Bruce, editor of the Turf, Field and Farm, and asked if they subscribed.

The lady said, with total confidence, "The Turf, Field and Farm? Yes, I subscribe."

Nobody can get that name right on the first try if they haven't already heard of it, and she was dead serious. I knew something was up.

It turned out that she was a researcher of thoroughbreds, had written a book about Troye the horse artist, knew all about Sanders Bruce, and actually did own antique original copies of the newspaper, as well as an original copy of Bruce's stud book. I sold one of the repro newspapers to her friend for ten cents, and we had a long first person conversation about the current state of the horse industry and my (Bruce's) viewpoint on it. At one point, she said as an aside to her friend, "Let me see, would he know that yet? What's the date on that paper?" and checked the newspaper, just like a time traveler.

To me, that's the magic of living history. For a brief while, I hope she felt a tiny touch of the magic that can come from pretending the old yellowed documents are brand new and part of living people's lives, and I had the magic of feeling like Col. Bruce who actually had subscribers and book buyers out there unknown to me. I hope the experience was as cool for her as it was for me!

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net