Hello Vanderbloggers!
We are in the midst of Open Studios and I planned a few projects to print on my Vandercook 3 (which is sorely underutilized in our shop), and of course, half way through, my grippers have stopped acting normally.
The spring that fits in the hole of the gripper cam thingy seems to be a little too wimpy for the job. It getting bent instead of staying where it is supposed to be and thus the grippers will not open when they are supposed to. I guess it’s kinda like it’s getting stuck in ‘trip’ mode.
I need a quick fix for this- I would like the press to be working again tomorrow so I can’t wait for a new spring to come from NA Graphics. Any ideas? I’m not as familiar with Vandercooks as I’d like to be (I’m a Windmill operator by day) so I’m not sure what can be done, or if this might be something other than the spring.
Thanks Paul. I fussed with it a while, the spring is definitely warped (wider in some places than other.) What ended up working for me (at least temporarily!) was I put a bit of steel wool in the hole and then put the spring over it, so it’s essentially longer but it also seems to stay straighter.
It is a light gauge wire, but it sounds as if yours is a bit too long. You could clip a small amount off one end. If you cut too much you could stretch it out with two pairs of pliers.
A spring with similar amount of tension will work even if it’s slightly larger in diameter. Then you’ll need to crimp one end to fit into the hole on the cam.
Barring this, You should be able to find a comparable spring at a hardware store or even a big box.