Posted February 6, 2010 by Paul Moxon, Moderator 32 views 3 Comments 
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Categories: Customization, No. 4, cylinder eccentric
Goudy said: “The old fellows stole all our best ideas.” Proving it again is this No.4 with a custom-made hand activated gripper bar, similar to the idea for a No.3 discussed on this forum Summer ‘08 (archive links here and here). The pedal and chain linkage are still intact, but don’t work, I was curious to see it I could fix it, but this modification suits the new owner. Besides, I had more urgent issues to address: adjusting carriage bearings, installing new clutch pins, and freeing up the cylinder eccentric that shifted with difficulty at each each of the bed. My thought, confirmed by a call to Fritz, was that with lubrication it would work itself out after a couple hundred strokes. The owner reports today that it indeed shifting easier each time.
See also that the crank handle is at 10 o’clock instead of at 4 o’clock. It may have been installed this way because of a crude repair weld near the collar and the hole for the taper pin was drilled out off-center. When correcting the position I was not able to pass the bolt substituting for the taper pin all the way through.
Posted January 23, 2010 by Sallie B. Moore 76 views 1 Comment Print
Categories: 215, Rollers/Gears
hello everyone,
i have a 215 ready to print – soon as i figure out how to adjust the height of these rollers. i don’t have a manual, any other press i’d used have knobs at the ends of the rollers but this model doesn’t have anything so obvious. looks like maybe a hex key at each end of the rubber rollers? anyone know?
thank you,
sallie
Posted by Paul Moxon, Moderator 85 views No Comments Print
Categories: 2009 Centennial, Museums, Rocker
Here are some photos from my December visit to the Museum of Printing History in Houston, where I spoke about the Vandercook centenary and consulted on their recently acquired circa 1909 Vandercook Trip Action Proof Press, commonly known as a “rocker.” It had belonged to a company in Cincinnati whose owner said that his grandfather purchased it new. Vandercook’s first model, the rocker was built in four sizes, this one with a 17 × 25½” bed was the second largest. (I’ve seen two others: one in private hands and one at the Museum of Printing in North Andover, Mass.)
I had my first look at this press the day before my presentation. The heavy cylinder was stuck by an odd appliance wedged on the bed labeled “Miller Holdtite.” With some help I pushed the cylinder back to remove it. I didn’t know its purpose but was certain it’s unrelated. I posted a photo on Briar Press where David M. MacMillan says its a “Workholding Vise” and uploaded a pdf of a 1927 Miller catalog.
While there’s rust on the legs, this press is well preserved. I saw planing stripes on the bed telling me it has seen little use. After removing the old packing I found a pristine cylinder face free of rust, grime or any discoloration—astonishing given its age. With assistance from curator Amanda Stevenson and volunteers Gordon Rouze and Steve Sylvester, I cleaned and oiled the rails and bearings, and repacked with a Mylar drawsheet making it ready for a public demo the next day.
After my slide talk most of the audience joined me at the rocker, where I demonstrated its operation and invited them to pull a proof. Printing on a rocker is more akin to using a hand press than it is to cranking a later model Vandercook. The printing form must be inked by a brayer and the paper laid over. An operator needs to lean in over the cylinder, grasp the high side arm handle with the right hand and pull back. The cylinder—actually a curved segment—is heavy, and the operator feels the momentum as it tips forward, and so at the mid point over the form must be ready to grasp a shorter left side handle to help complete the cylinder’s travel until it reaches the end stop. The cylinder will then shift into trip and should be rolled back to the original position before removing the printed sheet. All in all, a vigorous workout. Practice is needed before a fluid motion is obtained
Touted in 1909 as a leap forward in proofing, the rocker is not suited for the kind of production work most Vandercook operators expect. But with its heavy and deep undercut cylinder, it makes an excellent press for hand printing or relief printmaking.
Photos by Amanda Stevenson and Linda Haynes.
Posted January 21, 2010 by john christopher 38 views No Comments Print
Categories: 2009 Centennial
I’ve just put my contribution on flickr and thought it would be great if others could upload theirs to show the great un-washed masses what a super project it was…
Posted January 15, 2010 by Nicholas Wilson 187 views 6 Comments Print
Categories: 219 NS, 219 OS, Equipment, Motors, Moving, Press run, Presswork
Hello!
I have two pictures (pictures below) of a piece that is grinding on my vandercook 219. There are fine metal shavings under the press after about an hour of running. I see no way of adjusting this to lift it up.
Any suggestions?
Pictures:
Nick
Posted January 14, 2010 by Terrence Chouinard 303 views 5 Comments Print
Categories: Motors, No. 4, Power Carriage, Universal series
Dear Vandekin
I am in Memphis cleaning & repairing two Vandercooks, a 4 and a Uni III. The operator of the III tells me the motor jumps (or rather jolts) itself randomly during a press run and there appears to be a little bit of slack in the chain. I tested it out and sure enough it happened for me while I had the press on cycle & run modes. Having experience this problem myself while similar presses power Universals I always lessened the problem (if not got rid of it entirely) by adjusting the carriage speed and/or making sure my ink wasn’t drying out on press.
Since there’s a wee bit of slack in the chain this Uni’s operator is suggesting that I shorten the chain. My feeling is it has something to do with the clutch and that shorten the chain will be a headache and a waste of time, or worse . . . it’ll do some damage to the press. Anyhow . . . is there anyone out there with some experience with these Universal clutch adjustments and/or jumpy, jolty motors? I’d appreciate any input as I have a couple more days of work here cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.
Also, while I have your attention . . . the 4 is in need of a few parts. I’ve identified all the parts this school will need, but I am without a good reference to the small parts inside the inking rollers (the thin tubes in front and behind the oscillating cylinder). These are small collars (wood? plastic? I’ve never been sure. I had two pair made a local machine shop for m old 4 years ago.) that fit around the inking system roller frame and keep the inking rollers from slopping around and hurting themselves. Anyone have a good reference for these parts?
Terry Chouinard
reporting live from the Bluff City of W.C. Handy, Gus Cannon, Jerry “The King” Lawler, and Prince Mongo.
Posted January 6, 2010 by Mike Dacey 157 views 2 Comments Print
Categories: Cylinder gears/racks, SP series
I’m having some issues with low ink distribution in the first inch or so of my form. I noticed that the area coincides with the first few inches of the cylinder rack which is separate from the rest of the rack and slightly raised with some plastic shims. Does anyone know the reason for that portion of the rack to be raised? I’ve uploaded a picture for reference. Thanks – Mike D
Posted January 4, 2010 by Sara Parr 146 views 5 Comments Print
Categories: Impression Cylinder, SP series
Is anyone familiar with balancing the cylinder on an SP-20? Our 20 never seems to print well and we’ve balanced the base & made sure the rollers are seated properly to no avail. I’ve asked around locally & balancing the cylinder came up. Any instruction would be greatly appreciated–a step-by-step breakdown would be even more so.
Thanks!
Posted December 26, 2009 by Paul Moxon, Moderator 161 views No Comments Print
Categories: Blogging
This site is in redesign. The blog and the older static (html) pages have merged. This will make images and data tables load faster and give you the ability to search key words, categories, and meta tags on all pages. The page hierarchy has been reorganized, some have become sub pages while others are now more prominent.
Press images and PDFs have yet to be reloaded, please be patient.
Posted December 22, 2009 by Kyle Schlesinger 198 views 1 Comment Print
Categories: Motors, No. 4
I recently bought a Vandercook 4 with an engine that doesn’t run. I plan to bring it to a local motor shop for repair early in the new year. Does anyone have any tips for successfully removing the motor and / or any essential information that should be passed on to the mechanic?
Thanks,
Kyle Schlesinger
Posted December 14, 2009 by kelly mcmahon 174 views 2 Comments Print
Categories: Ink drum, SP series
Hello all,
My Sp15 has been put through her paces in the last two days, and tonight during cleanup I noticed that the ink drum is wobbling…or more precisely, the three screws that hold the pulley gear to the ink drum are wonky. The head to one screw is sheared off (and thus the source of the wobbling, I think), and the other two have loosened enough to be rubbing against the retaining block (that holds the ink drum to the body of the press).
The manual is light on disassembly instructions, and the parts are hard to make out in the fuzzy photos. Of course, I’m on a killer deadline this week, but can anyone offer suggestions?
Thanks!
Kelly
(edited to add: I’ve just gone searching through the archives, and found this post. It’s not exactly the same problem, but perhaps I’ll give Fritz a call in the morning.)
Posted December 7, 2009 by Fritz Klinke 171 views 2 Comments Print
Categories: Tower, Universal series
I scanned the assembly print for the Universal IV paper tower the other day for a customer and thought it may be of some interest. Though for the IV, it applies to the other Universals except for such things as tube length, shaft length, and the main spring (same in III and IV). These assembly prints show every part, spring, screw, and special instructions for assembly, many of which will read “file to fit” as a general instruction to the fabricating floor. These are in much greater detail than the drawings in the manuals and we generally have them for all the Vandercook presses and their various assemblies. The original drawing is done by hand in pencil on drafting vellum, and all the callouts are typed in–that’s a typewriter I’d like to have seen that would handle a 17×22 sheet of paper. These vellums could then be run through a Diazo (blueprint) machine to make copies. These are higher resolution scans, so they are on my flickr site at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53177163@N00/sets/72157622951804856/
Fritz
Goudy said: “The old fellows stole all our best ideas.” Proving it again is this No.4 with a custom-made hand activated gripper bar, similar to the idea for a No.3 discussed on this forum Summer ‘08 (archive links here and here). The pedal and chain linkage are still intact, but don’t work, I was curious to see it I could fix it, but this modification suits the new owner. Besides, I had more urgent issues to address: adjusting carriage bearings, installing new clutch pins, and freeing up the cylinder eccentric that shifted with difficulty at each each of the bed. My thought, confirmed by a call to Fritz, was that with lubrication it would work itself out after a couple hundred strokes. The owner reports today that it indeed shifting easier each time.
See also that the crank handle is at 10 o’clock instead of at 4 o’clock. It may have been installed this way because of a crude repair weld near the collar and the hole for the taper pin was drilled out off-center. When correcting the position I was not able to pass the bolt substituting for the taper pin all the way through.
