Restoration of a FAG Control 900

Jules Maeght and Vincent Schmitt from ‹Arte Maeght Editeurs› Paris, France sent me the documentation of their restoration process of their FAG Control 900.

The 05.04.001 was bought in 1968 by Adrien Maeght bought this press as the first owner from FAG Paris. Acording to Jules Maeght they used the printing press mostly to print linoleum. But they also made a modification to print from zinc offset plates. They added a cooling system beneath the pressbed to control the temperature and condensation on the plate.

The press has been in storage and partly disassembled since 1980ies. In 2011 Jules Maeght and Vincent Schmitt started the restoration process. (See the images). The press had some rust and there were some electrical issues. But mostly everything was there. They removed the cooling system and painted the press in a Bugatti blue. Since early 2012 they work with alot of different artists to print mostly linocuts on their FAG Control 900.

See some samples of their artist's work here.

See the registration of their FAG Control 900 here.

Thanks to Jules and Vincent for sharing your process! Well done!