Penrith Museum produces Gutenberg models for sale

The Penrith Museum of Printing has started an ambitious task to raise money to save the printing culture for the future, beginning with producing 3D-printed copies of the original Gutenberg press to raise funds.

Museum promotions officer – and industry consultant – Stephanus Peters says, “We would like to grow into a National Printing Museum for Australia, with extensions into the cultural part of the Black Art of Printing, by teaching new artist generations who to print.”

To develop the idea into a reality the Museum needs to raise funds, with the first project making 3D models of heritage printing presses. 

The first one, now on sale, is a 3D copy of the first ever printing press, the Gutenberg. It is printed with a wood filament polymer, and locally made and assembled. The size of the press is 13cm long x 11cm tall x 7cm. The sale price is $40.

Peters says, “You can carefully sand it with fine sandpaper and stain it, as you would do with wood.”

And bearing in mind the season we are in, he said, “These would be a great Xmas present for any printing enthusiast.”

The next project will be a 3D model of the Museum's Albion press which will be made early 2020, with a Linotype model to follow later in the year.

You can order a Gutenberg from the Museum's website – click here.