Whanganui retired engineer builds printing press for Aramoho artist

Bill Bishop and Esther Newrick with Bishop's homemade printing press. Photo / Mike Tweed

Whanganui retired engineer Bill Bishop has been on Antarctic expeditions and worked on nuclear submarines, but at the start of this year a simple tap on the shoulder led him on a completely different quest, building a printing press.

"I was out and about one day and I felt a tap on my shoulder," Bishop said.

"The next words I heard were 'I hear you're an engineer'.

"I immediately replied 'Yeah, and what of it?'."

Aramoho artist Esther Newrick had recently completed a printmaking course and heard about Bishop's engineering background through a work colleague.

"I sort of sidled up behind him and asked him if he would be interested in building me a printing press," Newrick said.

Bishop said he agreed to the project, even though he had no idea what a printing press actually was.

"I tried to do a bit of research about them, but I couldn't find much out.

"I went to see Esther at a printmaking class at UCOL and had a look at a couple of the presses there."

The first thing Bishop had to get his hands on was a stainless steel roller, to be centred in the middle of the press.

"I know a lot of people up and down Heads Rd, because I've been in the engineering trade for a number of years.

"After some digging around I went to Taylors [Body Shop], and low and behold, they had just accepted a stainless steel roller, brand new, for scrap.

"The boys at Garmac Engineering cut it down for me, and everything started from there.

"Everybody has pitched in and given me advice."

Bill Bishop's printing press "cleared out the cobwebs". Photo / Mike Tweed

Bishop said it's taken around a month of physical time to complete it, with an additional two or three of tinkering and planning.

"It's got the cobwebs out of my head and kept me moving."

Bishop, a former engineer for the United States Navy, settled in New Zealand in 1968 after leaving the service. He worked as a site engineer on petrochemical plants, as well as a 10-year stretch in Australia building plants with engineers from Houston, Texas.

Bishop said Whanganui is the place he has "hung his hat".

"Whanganui, or WhangaVegas as I like to call it, has everything you need.

"I've been around the world two or three times, but this is where my wife and I are stopping."

Now complete, the printing press is destined for Newrick's garage studio in Aramoho. While she started out using Mylar (stretched polyester film) for etching and printing, Newrick said she was keen to use biodegradable substitutes in the future as well as producing her own inks.

"Bill has done an amazing job, and had to do a lot of research because I didn't really have any information to give him," Newrick said.

"There will be a lot of experimentation with the press, and a bit of trial and error."