4 comments have been posted on “Friction Fingers”.

1. Casey McGarr commented:

   October 30, 2008 at 6:49 pm

   Thanks everyone that has commented. I have been emailing Eric off list about different solutions. I appreciate all the time you have taken to help Eric, thanks.

   Casey
2. Eric Holub commented:

   October 21, 2008 at 3:34 pm

   If you can’t get the friction rolls, you can improvise sheet guides. However, they don’t really hold the sheet against the cylinder the way a hand does. They just keep the sheet from slapping against the press or the form. A cylinder brush works much better, but that only works on a cylinder that does not reverse direction, unless you can find a way to lift the brush on the back-stroke. I realize on a 32-28 you can’t safely hold the tail of the sheet against the cylinder with your hand. But if you can use the frisket or tapes, the friction rolls are not needed.

   Anyway, on my 325 there are spring fingers that support the sheet under the cylinder as it approaches the form, similar to those on many Vandercooks. But on the 325 the sheet has a tendency to hit a shaft directly in front of the cylinder, and I made a set of sheet guides similar to those on a Chief 20 or Heidelberg cylinder. Just a C-block with a set-screw, and a spring fashioned from creasing rule. This sticks straight up and guides the sheet as it heads down. I also added some strippers from a Baumfolder perferator section for a similar effect.

   

   But like I said, none of this really holds the sheet firmly against the cylinder. The sheet can sag into blank areas and change register and print-length. High furniture can minimize the sag; and I have cut pieces of binder’s board to fit into some of my mammoth furniture, layering them until they are base-height (for plates) or shoulder-height (for type), taping them securely into place.

   One really must be careful using any fingers. Most Vandercooks I’ve looked at had damage to their grippers from mislocated fingers, which scar the gripper head over time when not placed in between grippers. The worst damage was with a set of neglected friction rolls, which really chewed up the grippers on a 219.
3. Fritz Klinke commented:

   October 17, 2008 at 11:29 pm

   I’m working on it.
4. Paul Moxon, Moderator commented:

   October 17, 2008 at 4:51 pm

   I don’t have a manual for the 32-28, but I suspect that the part number may be the same as on the 219 New Style called the Friction Roll Assembly (X-3477). If so then there may by more of them out there then you thought. Fritz?