Someone Built a Working Mini Printing Press Out of LEGO and You Can Operate It - Yanko Design

"Before Gutenberg changed the world with movable type, knowledge traveled slowly, copied by hand from monastery to monastery. The printing press democratized information and sparked revolutions in science, religion, and politics. Now, a LEGO creator known as PrintNerd has brought that revolutionary technology into the hands of modern builders with a project that does more than sit on a shelf. This LEGO Ideas submission features two fully functional printing presses built entirely from standard LEGO pieces. The lever-operated platen press and the roller-based press don't just look the part. They actually work. Turn the handles, pull the lever, and watch centuries of engineering history play out in black, gray, and brown bricks."

"The larger of the two models is a 312-piece platen press inspired by the Albion Press, which was the workhorse of letterpress printing for over a century. You operate it by rotating a handle that moves the printing bed into position, then pulling down a lever to bring the platen into contact with the paper. The mechanism is completely exposed, which means you can actually see how the force transfers through the system. There's a yellow minifigure head perched on top that serves no functional purpose whatsoever, but somehow makes the whole thing feel more approachable, less museum piece and more desktop companion."

Two fully functional printing presses have been recreated entirely from standard LEGO pieces: a 312-piece platen press and a 163-piece roller press. The platen press is inspired by the Albion Press and operates by rotating a handle to position the printing bed and pulling a lever to bring the platen into contact with paper; its exposed mechanism reveals force transfer. The roller press feeds the printing bed horizontally through compression rollers and uses gear mechanisms to crank the bed. Both models use an industrial black-and-gray color scheme, actually operate when cranked, and invite hands-on understanding of historical letterpress mechanics.

Read at Yanko Design - Modern Industrial Design News