Comments on: Buying a Vandercook

By: Paul Moxon, Moderator

Paul Moxon, Moderator — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:36:34 +0000

If I didn’t makes mistakes I’d never learn anything.

Fortunately, the UK has lots of letterpress printers and enthusiasts who’ve probably made the mistakes you just haven’t got around it yet. Some of them there are Vandercook folks who’ve joined this forum and many more are on the lists I mentioned in my previous comment, but also on British Letterpress.

By: Alistair

Alistair — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:28:02 +0000

Paul, thanks for your advice. My experience with Vandercooks and other proof presses is 15 years old (from time at college) for the last couple of years I’ve been printing on a small Adana. My inexperience is slightly paralising me, for fear of ending up with something unusable, but I’ve found a press and if the price is affordable I think I’ll go with it. In terms of up-keep it’ll be a case of learning on the job, unfortunately I live in the UK so the shipping from NA will be high!

Thanks again for your advice, Alistair

By: Paul Moxon, Moderator

Paul Moxon, Moderator — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:51:21 +0000

Many replacement parts for the most common models are available from NA Graphics: bearing, belts, gears, nyliners (bushings), paper guides, rollers and cores, screws, etc. Other items, such as the feed board, can be fabricated one off. It's the larger components such as the steel oscillating roller that is prohibitively expensive to make and difficult if nearly impossible to find. However, if they can be had you would find them though ebay, Briar Press, the Photopolymer List, Letpress, or last but not least, this forum. As to untreatable wear, the bed, bed bearers, and under rails are a single casting on all models except the SP series (which are bolted on and can be replaced). Therefore excessive wear on any one of these surfaces is for practical purposes untreatable. The face of the impression cylinder if damaged can be ground down and built back up, but at great expense.