Welcome to Howard Iron Works - Printing Museum and Antique Printing Machinery Restoration

Howard Iron Works - Printing and Bookbinding Equipment Restoration and Printing Museum

At any given time, our Restoration Team works on several projects simultaneously. For historical and archival purposes, our HIW photographer diligently takes pictures during the restoration and documents the various processes each machine is being put through. We have compiled the photos in a photo gallery for each machine. We hope you enjoy them.

Click Gallery Index to view other Photo Galleries.

We offer our restoration services to others, and will also complete machines that can be either purchased or leased for use or as beautiful displays

For inquiries about our restoration services, please contact: info@howardironworks.org

Our Adams "Acorn" iron press, from circa 1832, and the St. Louis Type Foundry press are part of our Watkins Collection.

The Acorn arrangement for a hand Iron press is somewhat unusual. Several variants were made - among them the Stansbury (1820), Smith (1822) and Otis Tufts (1831). Adams had made acorn presses for Tufts while branding their own as well. The Adams Brothers did, however, use an opposite direction of the knuckle joint to Tufts, and so were similar to Smith’s design. The Smith press was also used to print the first Book of Mormon, and subsequently was taken over by the R. Hoe Co. who also produced Acorns with the figure 4 and triangulated bar designs.

Through extensive research, we believe our press was made by the Adams Brothers. The name “Acorn” comes from the outer shape of the box which resembles the shape of an acorn. While there are machines of this type in the USA, it’s still considered rare.

Sourced from Logan, Utah, our Acorn press arrived with major cracks in the castings on both left and right side of the frame. At some point, brackets were bolted to the frames which did nothing for its appearance. We undertook to nickel weld the frame and fill the unpleasant holes. Now, the Adams looks just as it did when leaving the Boston factory. As a special treat, we have a forme of the Mormon Bible’s first 8 pages - thanks to the late Mr. Keith Watkins of Watkins Printing. Just as Mr. Watkins pulled proofs for interested visitors, we shall be doing the same.

Featured here is the restoration of the Adams Acorn Press.

Printing Museum and Restoration	800 Westgate Road Oakville, ON L6L 5N2 Tel. (905) 821-0000 Email: info@howardironworks.org Website: www.howardironworks.org	- The Collection - Restoration - HIW Museum - Lease/Sales Program	- Antique Books & Periodicals - About HIW - Volunteering Opportunities - Museum Shop