Parts of a Printing Press – Wooden Hand Press Labeled

All 19 parts on the diagram

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From the side 9

Tympan A frame covered with parchment. The paper is laid on it, and it folds down to put the sheet on the inked type.
Frisket A thin paper-covered iron frame, cut out where the type prints. Folded over the sheet, it keeps the margins clean.
Forme Pages of metal type, locked together in a frame called a chase. It lies on the stone and is inked before every pull.
Stone (bed) A slab of marble or polished stone, bedded in the coffin. The forme lies on it. It is the bed of the press.
Coffin A square wooden frame fixed on the sliding plank. The stone is bedded inside it.
Ribs Two long iron bars fixed along the carriage. The plank with the coffin slides in and out on them.
Gallows Holds up the tympan when it is turned up off the forme.
Rounce Turning it winds a girth round a wheel. That runs the coffin in under the platen or out again.
Ink balls Leather pads stuffed with wool or horsehair, on wooden handles. The printer works ink over the pair, then dabs them on the type.

From the front 10

Cheeks Two strong posts, one each side, that stand in the feet. Every cross piece of the frame is fixed between them.
Cap Holds the tops of the two cheeks at the right distance apart.
Head A beam between the cheeks, under the cap. The nut for the screw is fixed in it, so it takes the upward push of every pull.
Spindle (screw) A solid iron rod with a screw on its upper end. The bar goes through an eye in it. The screw turns in the nut in the head.
Bar A lever fixed in the eye of the spindle. Pulling it turns the screw and presses the platen down.
Till (shelf) It guides the hose and keeps it steady. The hose passes through it. Also called the shelves.
Hose The lower part of the spindle passes through it. The platen hangs from its corners by cords, so the platen rises again with the spindle.
Platen It hangs from the hose by cords. The screw forces it down on the tympan, which presses the paper on the type.
Winter A massive timber between the cheeks. The carriage rests on it, and it takes the downward push of the pull as the head takes the upward.
Feet Timbers lying on the floor, with mortises that the cheeks stand in.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30 and kept only where at least two independent sources use it. (1) Joseph Moxon, Mechanick Exercises: or the Doctrine of Handy-works Applied to the Art of Printing (1683), in the 1896 reprint, full text at https://archive.org/details/moxonsmechanicke21683moxo : cheeks, feet, cap, head, till, winter, ribs, carriage, plank, coffin, stone, form, chase, tympan, frisket, gallows, rounce, girts, spindle, nut, hose, plattin, bar, balls. (2) T. C. Hansard, Typographia (1825), full text at https://archive.org/details/typographiaanhi00hansgoog , whose description of the wooden press is repeated in The Printer's Complete Guide ( https://archive.org/details/printerscomplet00partgoog ), so the two count as one: feet, cheeks, cap, head, shelves or till, hose, winter, spindle, bar, platten, carriage, ribs, plank, coffin, stone, forme, tympan, frisket, gallows, rounce, girths, and what each is for. (3) Wikipedia, Printing press, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printing_press , with Ink ball and Chase (printing): tympan, frisket, forme, the flat stone or bed, ink balls, rounce, bar, screw, platen, hose. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's machine, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

This is the wooden hand press, a design that stayed much the same for more than three centuries after Gutenberg. It is drawn from the side with the carriage run out, then from the front.

Read the full guide

Pulling one sheet

The printer inks the forme with the ink balls, lays a sheet on the tympan and folds the frisket over it. Both fold down onto the type. Turning the rounce runs the coffin in under the platen, and pulling the bar turns the screw, which presses the platen down. The rounce then runs the coffin out again.

The frame takes the strain

The screw turns in a nut in the head, so the head is pushed up while the winter under the carriage is pushed down. The two cheeks hold them together, and the cap keeps the cheeks apart.

The old books spell platen as platten or plattin, and forme as form.
A modern offset press is a different machine and is not drawn here.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a printing press?

A frame of two cheeks with a cap, head, till and winter; a spindle with a screw, a bar, a hose and a platen; and a carriage with ribs, a coffin, a stone, the forme, a tympan, a frisket and a rounce.

What are the tympan and frisket?

Two hinged frames at the outer end of the coffin. The sheet of paper is laid on the tympan. The frisket, cut out where the type prints, folds over the sheet and keeps its margins clean. Then both fold down onto the type.

What is the platen on a printing press?

The flat block that does the pressing. It hangs under the screw, and when the printer pulls the bar the screw forces it down, pressing the paper against the inked type.

Who invented the printing press?

Johannes Gutenberg, a German goldsmith, around 1440. He brought together the screw press and movable type. The wooden hand press stayed much the same until iron presses arrived about 1800.