Universal I’s [and other v-cooks?] have an optional dust cover which is, because of the design, often broken. They seem to break at the same point – the transition from dust cover to attachment tab. I believe that the dust cover should have been made without the cutout in the center, which would have prevented [...]

As the process of getting to know the press continues to unfold, I’ve been putting together some notes on various discoveries & lessons learned. This post is concerned with adjusting the height of ink rollers. While these notes may appear overkill for a relatively simple process, some may be as ignorant as I was about [...]

An article in Sunday’s New York Times online edition ‘Retro Printers, Grounding the LaserJet’ features a photo of our own Eric Holub. —PM

Friends & relations alerted me to this story on yesterday’s ‘All Things Considered.’ And I quote: “Douglas Wilson of Springfield, Mo., lets us listen to the sound of his 1949 Number Four VanderCook Proof Printing Press. The hand-feeding process makes for some rockin’ rollers.” For all of us on the Vanderblog, this 2 minute piece [...]

Scott Fisk, designer, educator and vanderblog consultant, just bought a Reprex, a 1960s era down-market flatbed cylinder proof press. Its overall condition is quite good and it should prove to be serviceable. Its mechanisms, however, may seem a bit peculiar to most Vandercook operators. For example the reservoir drum, while driven by a chain, also [...]