Gem With Steel Wheel
The Press Collection is a body of bespoke presses, made and matched to your options
The Press Collection presses are all :
- Capable of Etching, Drypoint, Collographs, Linocuts and Woodcuts.
- Maintenance free, guarded where appropriate and have bed safety stops fitted.
- Constructed using the best quality parts and fixings.
- Capable of a 25mm clearance about the bed using Easi set adjustors
- Finished in a choice of colours Deep Green or Dark Blue.
- Designed by a professional with over 50 years experience in Engineering.
- Designed with integrity, assembled with care and sold with honesty.
- Covered by a back to base one Year Warranty.
About us
I started my working career as an appentice fitter for the then National Coal Board. In the North East where I lived and still do , it was the natural thing to do in the Sixties. University was not seen as a career choice , how things have changed. So at 15 I embarked on my chosen path. I stayed with the Coal board through my appenticeship and left just before the mine closed. I actually enjoyed my time underground it seemed like an adventure , of course there where good and bad times but importantly for me it gave me a perspective and work ethic which I have retain all my working life . In a nutshell, when I do a job or make something, its for me, something I want to own.
Leaving the mine I went to work in Factories, continuing in Engineering, honing my skills for later.In 1979 I started Rollaco with my brother Mike with the sole intention of bringing a modern press to the market. A press which would utilise modern concepts and materials. The result would be a press that could be used in the home. A press that would be easier to use and easier to maintain. Its design would never compromise the quality of the prints produced. Our first press was called the Classic, alas no longer made. This is an example , there are many more still out there over 40 years later, still going strong.
My Goals
When I design and build my presses, they must first, produce the best results. They have to be easy to use. They have to last and have to be maintenance free. Lastly I also try to make them look good.
One Happy Customer of the Classic Press https://cobeau.weebly.com/printmaking-in-fife-blog/rollaco-classic-etching-press
Our present range of presses are all prefabricated to my Modular design. I believe these are the first fully prefabricted designed presses in the UK. Others may make the claim but they produce no evidence , I have examples in Schools ,Colleges and Print Workshops , going back decades. They are still out there producing daily and without a service , truly maintenance free.
These days we hear about ‘journeys’, well I went from the National Coal Board to the National Gallery or from the Coal Face to Eton College. I did them both as well as many other famous and unusual places over this long career.
I hope you enjoy The Press Collection
John Pears – Press Manufacturer since 1979