A few weeks back, I wrote about a worm gear with a blunted point that was causing my oscillating roller to stop during it’s run back and forth. I tried filing the point down myself, and while I was able to get it smooth, I was not able to make a nice, sharp point. Last week I took the worm gear with the broken point to a local machinist who ground down the point for me, making it a nice, sharp point again, although much shorter than the other points. He thought it wouldn’t work because of that shortness (and didn’t charge me a cent), but it does work, I’m very happy to report. Another Christmas Miracle! Happy Holidays to all!

I have just done a very quick drawing of the inking system for my Vandercook 215/4. This is for my upcoming book, “Print It Yourself” which is to be published late next year by F&W Publications. The diagram is a very simplified attempt to visually explain (along with a verbal explanation) how the ink gets from the top vibrator roller to the ink rollers on the bottom. I would appreciate it very much if you see anything erroneous here that you let me know. Thanks!

Do any of you #4 Vandercook owners have any side play on your ink drum? That is, when wiping from side to side, does the drum move a little, or not at all?

I am preparing to purchase new form rollers for my 315. They are dented and also concave by 4 or 5 thou ( how much of a problem is this?). The question is, what is the correct diameter of form roller. If someone has the spec on this, it would be great to know. In the meantime, my existing rollers are about 2.9 diameter. But, since that seems an odd size, I thought that the geometry of the vibrator assembly in combination with the form roller shaft spacing would allow me to calculate the correct “theoretical” diameter. The attached drawing shows the stuff I can measure in black. The “theoretical” form rollers are also in black at 3.12 diameter (3-1/8 seems a nice roundish size). The rollers in phantom red are one existing roller and the vibrator shown to be “out of nominal position.”

The .5 dia. vibrator shaft rides in a .625 vertical slot in its carrier. Therefore the shaft is free to float +/-.0625 vertically from its nominal (centered) position. The existing roller being under-size requires that about 1/2 of the available float (.036) is used up.

The problem, as I see it, is that the horizontal beams that support the form rollers are currently adjusted near the top of their travel and, in addition, the rollers are adjusted about as high as they can go in their carrier. (The adjustment is done with a vertically oriented set screw which rides on the shank of the upper hex bolt. The rollers are shown in print position. )

If I purchase the theoretical size of roller, I may have to do a little grinding of the adjustment bolts shanks to get the beams up high enough to achieve correct roller clearance to the bed. Something seems amiss.

If someone has the specs for the rollers, that might help. Otherwise, any advice?

A friend of mine in Union City, NJ has a really nice Potter proof press for sale.

This press would need to be inked with a brayer so it would be most suited for block printing, proofing engravings, monoprinting or printing wood type posters. Asking price is $750. For what Kelseys are going for on eBay this is a steal. The seller is able to sit on it for as much as a month if you need time to remove it from his studio. Let me know if you’d be interested in checking it out or if you want more info.

For more items for sale see http://www.flickr.com/photos/thearm/sets/72157603485488390/.

Daniel Morris

The Arm Letterpress

Brooklyn, NY

I am searching for information on where to purchase Vandercook proof presses in Europe (SP (N°4))?
(I also checked the other Brands section of the site… Are there comparable european brands of flat bed cylinder proof presses you would recommand?)
Thanks in advance! Greatings from Luxembourg

I need to remove the motor that drives the cylinder on a Vandercook Universal III. I need to have the motor rebuilt.

I worked on it a bit today and simply could not figure out how to get it off nor could I figure out how much of I should take to the motor place once I do get it off.

It seemed like one option could be the four bolts at #1. Then you’d have the gear mechanism attched. But if I take the four nuts off the whole thing will not slip through that slot on the backside of the motor because the gear won’t let it slip far enough to get over the bolts that the nuts were on.

The four very long bolts at #3 pass completely through the motor housing. That looks like the path to take but I was worried that if you took that apart some parts of the motor might fall apart.

You can kind of tell I have no idea how these motors work.

Any help anyone can offer?

. . .

Ray Nichols
Wallflowers Press

. . .

http://wallflowerspress.com

The oscillating roller is hanging up at one point in its travels. Fritz wrote that this is probably due to damage somewhere on the worm gear, the center shaft of the oscillating roller. He was right; one of the points on the worm gear was chipped, and that is where the crescent rider is hanging up. I was able to get back up and running temporarily by backing off on the set screw that holds the crescent in place, but yesterday, the roller refused to get around that bad spot. I was able to file the worm gear down a bit, but Fritz is right; the gear is hardened steel and does not go gently under the file. My question is: does this mean I have to get a new worm gear? Does a new one exist?? Can I try filing some more? Would a machinist be able to hone that point for me? Thanks.