Gnome Workshop Printing Press and Infusion Set

"Do you hear that? Tentacle Press is making books again. That noise, keeping us awake all night. And then tomorrow, the book is keeping us awake."

The technicians of Gnome Workshop have built a printing press for Margo Weedlebeam that enables her to produce copies of maps or books she made for Geertruud or her own company Tentacle Press. The input for the printing press are infusion sets with blueprints manufactured by Gnome Workshop and enchanted by Margo.

Printing Press

The printing press is a bulky apparatus wrapped in metal sheets. Its outside is covered with dozens of buttons, levers, gauges, dials and switches, most of them labeled with tiny numbers. There is a an input and an output shaft at the front and a big (gnome sized) maintenance door at the back.

Infusion Sets

For creating a working infusion set, the following items are required:

Fixation Unit

The fixation unit is a thin board (for maps) or a book (for books) used as a carrier for blueprints.

Blueprint

Blueprints are thin sheets of paper that get glued onto/into a fixation unit.

Ink

This special magical ink is used to write or paint the content onto a blueprint.

Fountain Pen

Used to write with ink onto a blueprint. Margo made a special magical version that allows her to dictate her texts.

Mechanics & Inner Workings

The inked blueprints are glued onto the fixation unit, which should have the same shape as the final product: a flat board for a map or an empty book for a book to be printed. The fixation unit is placed into the printing press and its content copied to an empty map/book in a second slot of the apparatus gnomicus. The process only takes about 9 minutes for a map and about 24 minutes for a book. Pulling the levers and pushing the buttons is the most time-consuming part. When two gnomes handle the machine as a team, this downtime can be reduced to a minute, allowing them to print 5 maps per hour (10 minutes per map for 50 minutes/hour, then the obligatory 10-minute snack break as mandated by the Labour Union of Working Gnomes), or 2 books per hour. Empty maps or books must be prepared and at hand. Every 8 hours the machine requires a minor maintenance cycle (refuelling ink, greasing parts, cleaning away dirt), once a month it requires a large maintenance cycle (replace parts, check everything is in order).

Printing Press Construction Plans

Model/Sub Type

GWPP Model 1000 C

Current Location

Perelline

Current Holder

Margo Weedlebeam

Manufacturer

Gnome Workshop

Rarity

very rare

Weight

800 kg

Base Price

confidential

Gnome Workshop Printing Press Model 1000 c Operator's Manual

1. don your security cap and glasses.
2. make sure switch sw-1 is set to position "not on".
3. open shaft sh-3.
4. place prepared fixation unit into shaft sh-3b.
5. close shaft sh-3.
6. open shaft sh-7.
7. place empty product carrier into shaft sh-7.
8. close shaft sh-7.
9. turn switch sw-1 to position "power up".
10. open maintenance door md-2 and make sure no more gnomes are sleeping in there.
11. push lever l-5 up to position "build up" (you might need a lifting jack).
12. carefully watch gauge g-1 and g-3. When both are at exactly 100%, immediately proceed to next step!
13. to jeff: replace this line with a description of the most important step before sending out. do not forget!
14. when the most important step is done, pull lever l-5 (means: jump up and hang on it until it comes down) to position "hold".
15. close maintenance door md-2 you forgot to close earlier.
16. push button b-5.
17. push all the buttons that are blinking until no more blinking is happening.
18. pull lever l-5 all the way down to "release" (you might have to jump onto it).
19. press button b-5, the printing press should start now.
20. if nothing is happening at this point, open maintenance door md-2, crawl in and switch the red and black connectors, then try button b-5 again.
21. when the bell drops out of the hanger, the process is complete.
22. turn switch sw-1 to position "not on".
23. open shaft sh-3.
24. remove fixation unit except you want to print another copy.
25. close shaft sh-3.
26. open shaft sh-7.
27. remove finished product from shaft sh-7.
28. close shaft sh-7.

legal notice: gnome workshop is not responsible
for any damage done by using the gwpp model 1000 c.