2011 PIU Printer's Ride

On Wednesday, August 31st, the Printing Industries of Utah hosted their second annual Printer's Ride. Some folks from Lorraine Press attended, and here's their report.

Everyone first met up at the old paper mill at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon ready to ride. This is the site of the first paper mill in Utah that produced paper suitable for printing on. 

The second stop was at Intermountain Rigging and Heavyhaul. Here the group was shown equipment used to transport printing presses and other heavy equipment. The hydraulic lift in the photo below can hoist up to 400,000 tons!

Third on the ride was Rocky Mountain Recycling. Here the intrepid motorcyclists were given a tour and shown the large amounts of recyclables Rocky Mountain processes. In the picture below, you can see recycled paper and aluminum (plates and cans). The second picture below shows a carton of compressed Styrofoam. Each one of those blocks contains enough uncompressed Styrofoam to fill a train box car.

And then the fourth stop was at Graphic Ink. These talented people produce some of the inks that we at Lorraine Press put into our presses. Below, you'll see the Graphic Ink representative giving a tour, one of the mixing blades used to mix ink, and a mixer full of soon-to-be magenta ink.

The next set of photos shows some yellow ink being mixed in a mixing vat, and then being milled to further grind the particles in the ink substrate. 

Then the fifth stop was at Media One. This is the place where our local papers are printed. To help you get the scale of this place, here's a model of one of their presses. I don't know if you can tell from this photo, but there are to-scale little men on the black platform in the center of the model. This press takes up a lot of room.

The newspapers come off of this press cut, folded, and ready to go out. Talk about automation! The photo below shows some of their shop floor. And the one below that shows the ingenious system of carrying the finished newspapers across the shop. Pretty neat stuff.

And last, but not least, the riders took sustenance at the Bohemian Brewery and Grill. 

It was an interesting, informative, and fun ride. Everyone is invited to attend next year's Ride, so if you are interested, be sure to keep an eye out for next year's Printers Ride on the PIU events calendar.