The Hand Platten press was, as the name suggests, hand operated and not very dangerous to the operator unlike some of the other machines. The ink was put onto the circular area at the top of the press and the ink then dripped onto the silver area where the type set was located. The operator then pulled the crank to pull the two silver plates together so that the paper and the type set would touch. After a few cranks, the lettering would start to appear. This is probably the slowest press of its time but the results were high quality. This platten press is still used today by a volunteer who visits the museum periodically to do demonstrations.