The Vandercook Universal that I bought last week bears the number 21258. Could you tell how I can find out what year it was built? And would you like to add it to the census?

My sp-15 started squealing today; I deduced the noise was coming from either the motor or the ink drum assembly – inspected the motor oil reservoir and topped it up without overfilling. Moved onto the ink drum assembly x 20613 and on removal found the ink drum shaft to be very resistant to rotation. I’ve [...]

This will likely be of interest to owners of British-built Vandercooks: Chip Coakley (the Jericho Press) emailed me with the serial number on his No. 4 made by Pre-Press Ltd. and to let me know that its original brass bearing blocks had British Standard Whitworth interior threads. When he bought replacement blocks from NA Graphics, [...]

I am selling my Vandercook SP15 proof press. I have had it for about 5 years and purchased it from a man whose family had run a long time print shop in the Atlanta metro area.  The serial # is 23805, inspected by H. L. Keller. This is a wonderful press but for the type [...]

We have a Uni III and have recently noticed a few metal particles on the Kimwipe after wiping down the bearers. Not a a significant amount, but a few very small flakes. We print fairly regularly with the press, and do not seem to have any issues. How concerned should we be? Also, is there [...]

Okay, so it a simple 2 color business cards. A newbie could do this is an hour. But Nooooo. Using polymer plates, we ran the black, then matched up the red plate PERFECTLY on the Boxcar Press base. And guess what? Nothing lines up. So we adjust the plate on the base and run another [...]

Raymond Louis Pelland (1893-1977) was a draftsman and design engineer at Vandercook from at least 1935 to 1947. His name appears on many assembly drawings and on four U.S. Patents including the large 4-color 604. (His first was a tie stitching machine for a previous employer). During World War I, Pelland was a private in [...]

I have a Vandercook #2. It’s a very simple press. No inking and no grippers. The only parts that move as the cylinder goes down the bed are the roller bearings. I can move them with my hands but they are sticky. The press had been in a barn for a long time when I [...]

Hello all – In the middle of a big job this weekend, my Universal 1 Power started making a persistent new noise –something between a chatter and a squeak. The noise occurs as the carriage is moving, a little more on the return. The noise occurs whether the motor is driving the carriage or whether [...]

Can anyone help identify these unattached parts that came along with my Vandercook 2 acquisition? #1 appears to be a scraper of some kind. The “blade” looks replaceable & is not sharp. #2 is a thin gauge painted metal plate with a bit of a lip or maybe paper guide along one edge, and a [...]