HICK’S BOBCAT PRESS, MODEL 1 & 2
These presses are made in the style of a 17th Century army field press and based on a 17th Century British manual on the printing arts. The base has type drawers built in, making it easy to transport all the supplies with the press. It was built in the old-fashioned way. The press is made of Honduras mahogany with a sheet steel lined coffin and cast bronze hardware. Richard Hicks hand-cast the bronze hardware and decorative features himself.
Hicks (1922-2012) was a prolific craftsmen and woodworker who built around 30 presses that are now held in institutions and private collections throughout the world. He built his first Bobcat press in 1975 and continued the work until his death in 2012. The work was slow moving due to a wound he sustained in WWII, but it brought him a great amount of joy.
