i live in mexico city, and i can’t find tympan packing or drawsheets for my newly purchased vandercook universal 1. does anyone have any suggestions on how to make my own? a template that i could use to hand-cut would be amazing, and also any suggestions on what type of material i should use (gotta [...]

I’m at wits end trying to figure out why I’m getting slurring problems on my SP20. I’m using photopolymer plates from Boxcar on a patmag base. Everything calipers out correctly to .918, including my roller height gauge. I’ve adjusted the rollers and measured them in several places on the bed. I have brand new rollers [...]

Hi everyone! I’m hoping someone out there may be able to offer me some advice with packing my Vandercook 320G. I’ve got a piece of cold rolled steel, 18 gauge/.050″ to make up for the galley depth. I talked to a few print shops in my area about packing, and one printer I talked to [...]

I’m in the thick of trying to get my Vandercook 320G up and running. This is different than other Vandercooks I’ve printed on for various reasons (it’s completely manual, the metal and rubber rollers are behind the cylinder, etc). I’ve encountered a couple of things so far that I’d love advice with if you have [...]

Hi, I have the press basically back together and I’m starting to get things reset so that I can start printing. Some quesitons on how to do a few things: 1. How can I determine the amount of packing needed on the roller [impression cylinder]. 2. inking rollers that are on the oscillating roller group [...]

This question comes via email: Q: Is the Vandercook letterpress capable of printing forms larger than type high? I have a woodblock that I’ve carved, and it is about 1/8″ higher than the type. A: It is possible only if you have a press equipped with an adjustable bed (e.g: 219 AB, 15-21, Universal I [...]

I have an Vandercook No. 2 press. Very simple no inking. For packing, the number on the cylinder says .105. This seems to be a fairly thick packing. I have some sheets I received from NA graphics but this adds up to .055 including a mylar outer sheet. Any comments on what else I could [...]

I’m teaching a workshop at Northern Kentucky University where they have an SP-15. It’s been many years since I have used this press. We’re having a problem with the tympan paper coming undone at the back. The ratchet that holds the tightening bar in place appears to me to be set backwards, at least it [...]

The top sheet that we have on our Vandercooks is 7 mill mylar. I notice that Talas has rolls of both the 7 mill and 10 mill mylar. Although I don’t see any impact on printing quality the 7 mill will show indents when we’ve run a particularly large edition. I was wondering if anyone [...]

Alot of cutting and creasing in the UK seems to be done on Heidlebergs – I haven’t got one of those, so my question is this: does any one use their Vandercook for cutting and/or creasing and if so what do you use? For cutting I assume you would pack/protect the cylinder from the die [...]

Can anyone give me some tips or point me towards a good resource for learning how to change the tympan paper on the roller of the good ole’ No. 4?  It’s worn down quite a bit, and it also needs a bit less packing as the impression I’m getting is too deep.  Thanks!