Dear Vandekin

I am in Memphis cleaning & repairing two Vandercooks, a 4 and a Uni III. The operator of the III tells me the motor jumps (or rather jolts) itself randomly during a press run and there appears to be a little bit of slack in the chain. I tested it out and sure enough it happened for me while I had the press on cycle & run modes. Having experience this problem myself while similar presses power Universals I always lessened the problem (if not got rid of it entirely) by adjusting the carriage speed and/or making sure my ink wasn’t drying out on press.

Since there’s a wee bit of slack in the chain this Uni’s operator is suggesting that I shorten the chain. My feeling is it has something to do with the clutch and that shorten the chain will be a headache and a waste of time, or worse . . . it’ll do some damage to the press. Anyhow . . . is there anyone out there with some experience with these Universal clutch adjustments and/or jumpy, jolty motors? I’d appreciate any input as I have a couple more days of work here cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.

Also, while I have your attention . . . the 4 is in need of a few parts. I’ve identified all the parts this school will need, but I am without a good reference to the small parts inside the inking rollers (the thin tubes in front and behind the oscillating cylinder). These are small collars (wood? plastic? I’ve never been sure. I had two pair made a local machine shop for m old 4 years ago.) that fit around the inking system roller frame and keep the inking rollers from slopping around and hurting themselves. Anyone have a good reference for these parts?

Terry Chouinard

reporting live from the Bluff City of W.C. Handy, Gus Cannon, Jerry “The King” Lawler, and Prince Mongo.

The press? A Universal 1 manual. The problem? A severe case of an undercut cylinder. How sever you ask? Say your normal depth of cylinder on a Uni 1 is what? .040 inches? .070 inches? This Uni? .160 inches. What packing can fill it? What top sheet can hold it?

What am I using for packing? .020” blue board, .010” mylar, .006” & .002 Vandercook tympan paper. The grain direction of each is doing what its supposed to under the topsheet. be doing, getting around the cylinder and under the topsheet. Trouble is, the packing won’t behave well enough where the topsheet fits in at the gripper assembly. It’s a jump even Evel Knievel would fear, making registration a worry I hate worrying about. Plus after a few impressions the top sheet begins to looked pretty worried itself right at that edge compromising fold where it meets the gripper assembly. Try two top sheets you say? HA! It will laugh at you and call you names if I shared your suggestion with this unruly beast.

Here’s my thought (and now tell me if this is rock stupid, okay?) I buy a diecutting jacket and (time to fess up, I’ve never seen a diecutting jacket for a Vandercook so yes, I am talking out my keister right now) and I put a healthy portion (how about .090” = 4 blue boards & 1 mylar) of the .160” packing under that. Plus the jacket itself would take up some room.Anyone know how thick? .050 inches maybe?

To anyone with Vandercook diecutting jacket experience: Would the jacket be strong enough to strap the packing down from end to end securely? And if it did, would it seem ludicrous to then act as if everything were normal and build up the normal .070” packing with the standard issue .006” Vandercook topsheet?

Why ask such a stupid question? Cause such a press exists and it’s in my care and I’d like folks to be able to use it. Plus . . . aren’‘t those Vandercook diecutting jackets sort of expensive? I’d rather look before I leap into buying one if this idea is buckshot full of holes.

Other than that, gang, any other possible solutions are welcome. Now amaze me with your wit, wisdom and candor. Moxon? . . . that leaves you out.

Dear All

I am considering selling my 2 Vandercooks to my employer. (Read: “I needs the cash!”) As I don’t keep up with recent Vandercook sales & prices anymore, I am curious what any of you might think they are worth.

The first is a Vandercook 4 that has been rebuilt, repainted, and has everything you’d expect to come with a standard issue 4. Delivery tray, brand new rollers . . . .

The second is a 325G that again has been rebuilt, repainted, and has everything you’d expect. New rollers, plenty of tympan paper.

Both are tight and print true. I’d appreciate input from any of you on or offline.

bestus,

Festus

Here’s the beginning of a sad story. How will it end? I do not know. For how shall I begin my query, how shall I transmit my distress?

Our trusty Universal I automatic has lost control of itself. This press’s dilemna has been building up ever so gradually year by year, run by run. I set the press on its slowest speed and it creeps forward to the end and ends with a SLAM! I send the carriage back to the feed table and it ends with a SLAM!

I’ve had our electricians look at it with their meters & professional probes. They did replace a bad switch they detected, but the press still has such a difficult time braking. The increase braking is turned as far as it will go, and no amount of tightening the clutch makes any difference. The two horizontally adjusting bars at the rear of the press are in the same location they have always been, factory-set I assume, and hit the four switch back there at seemingly appropriate times.

What now, what now? I shall ask my Vander-brethren I say to those befuddled electricians. ‘Okay jerk’ says they. ‘Tell us what they say hotshot and we’ll order the part.’ Anybody out there willing to respond with anything remotely resembling the truth will forever have my undying admiration. For you kind sir or gentlewoman are indeed a genius and are deserving of our society’s grandest laurels.

yours in lead, ink & paper and perhaps a bit of leftover New Year’s Eve spirit(s)

teepeecee

Friends & relations alerted me to this story on yesterday’s ‘All Things Considered.’ And I quote: “Douglas Wilson of Springfield, Mo., lets us listen to the sound of his 1949 Number Four VanderCook Proof Printing Press. The hand-feeding process makes for some rockin’ rollers.”

For all of us on the Vanderblog, this 2 minute piece ought to sound very familiar. I don’t know how long NPR keeps these pages up and running, so give a listen here some time sooner rather than later to share a bit of fleeting attention.—Terry Chouinard

[In a previous post I stated that all 4Ts have an cylinder undercut of .070". ---PM]

Just to add my two cents, my 4T cylinder is undercut to .070″ as are the other 4T’s at the Wells Book Arts Center. … I’m curious why a Uni I manual at the Center would have been undercut to .160″? That’s got to be some sort of record depth, but controling that much packing (near 8 sheets of .020″ hard packing) is a headache. —Terry Chouinard