Is anyone familiar with balancing the cylinder on an SP-20?  Our 20 never seems to print well and we’ve balanced the base & made sure the rollers are seated properly to no avail.  I’ve asked around locally & balancing the cylinder came up.  Any instruction would be greatly appreciated–a step-by-step breakdown would be even more so.

Thanks!

I have a No. 1 proof press, serial # 6327 that I picked up a while ago to print woodblock and linocuts on, plus I would love to do some small edition work, as I learn. Two questions-
In reading through some posts and books, I see the impression cylinder has an under-cut. How do I determine what the undercut is? I looked on the cylinder bearer and bed bearer, but saw nothing.
The second question pertains to registration (I have looked at the posts regarding this), but in using a frisket, secured to the bed bearer holes, won’t the frame get stopped by the ink tray? Is there another way to accomplish this, that I have missed?
Any help is greatly appreciated. My book on General Printing should be arriving soon, so maybe these and more questions will be answered.

I recently acquired a Vandercook No. 3. There is still a tremendous amount of cleaning to do, but I have it to a point where at least all the oil holes are un-clogged and the parts that are supposed to move, do so smoothly. I also have brand new rollers on the press. (Polishing all the pretty brass will have to wait until I have a printing lull…or an intern.) I’ve printed a few small projects on the press so far with decent results. But then last week I ran into a serious problem – there is one thin stripe, the width of the press, that doesn’t ink (at all) when the roller height is adjusted properly. I’ve diagnosed the problem, more or less, but can’t figure out how to fix it.

The stripe of non-inking is caused by a small ‘bounce’ of the entire carriage. The bounce occurs where the trip/print rack (bar on non-operator side, with gearing at the top) comes near to the top of the rear trip wedge. In other words, when the cylinder reaches the very ‘print-most’ position. There is no bounce when the cylinder/rollers travel in trip position.

Yesterday I thoroughly cleaned the large trucks [bearings] and rails at the bottom outside of the press. (The cylinder gearing and upper rails are also clean.) And while I had the bumpers plates off, I noticed that the position where the stripe was occurring was the only place where these trucks [bearings] weren’t in contact with the rail (I could freely turn them). I am not sure how it would be possible, but it seems to me that the problem might be that the trip/print mechanism is slightly off. The trip mechanism comes out on the operator side and has a pin that rotates as it goes from trip to print. There are also two screw pins that look like they are the ’stop’ points for this motion. However, when I return the cylinder (and it should be fully tripped) it hasn’t actually quite reached the ’stop’ pin. I feel like it needs to trip just a little bit further and ‘print’ just a little bit less. (Like the trip gear needs to be turned slightly with respect to the rest of the trip mechanism.) But all of the parts appear to be held together with taper pins, making the likelihood that it would be a little bit off very unlikely.

Sorry for the ridiculous level of detail. Anyone have any ideas?

I’ll attach some pics of the relevant parts of my Vandy 3.

After much successful use, I had to move my Vandercook 4 proof press. In putting everything back where it is supposed to be, I have encountered a problem (actually several problems, but I fixed the sheared drift pin on the gripper foot lever as well as the sticking and bent grippers). After much scouring, I didn’t see a reference to the newest problem. The form roller that makes contact with the ink drum will not move. When the ink drum is rotating, the roller makes contact, but stays stationary. Thus, no ink can be distributed. I am not sure if this is a consequence of my having removed the cylinder to make the press lighter for moving. Is it possible that I did not index the cylinder properly, so that he gear teeth are misaligned? In general, the press does not look out of alignment, but I could be one or even two teeth off without knowing it. The other possible culprit seems to be the clutch assembly. I had problems inserting the bottom frame form rollers, they did not want to seat properly. The roller clutch trip was engaged, and in the way. I cranked the press a bit, the clutch disengaged and the frame dropped into place, but still no movement as it contacted the ink drum.

Any suggestions would be gratefully accepted, I want to get printing again soon.

I just replaced the rollers on my SP-15 and am having trouble printing the first time out. The rollers were purchased from another press owner, but were new and unused, still in original NA Graphics packing and boxes. This was the first time I’d changed the rollers but didn’t encounter any difficulties with changing over the bearing blocks, gear, etc. I’m using a boxcar base and photopolymer plate which I’ve printed from successfully before. The problems I’m having are–

a. The image has a fine darker line of ink around most of the outer edges. I’ve tried 3 different paper stocks and all show the same problem.
b.The front roller has a consistent pattern of blotchy, darker areas of ink, looks sort of like skid marks. The back roller looks normal.
c. After I adjust the rollers to proper height and run just one or two impressions, then recheck roller height, both rollers have shifted. Usually back roller moving up and front roller moving down, both consistent from side to side. I’ve made sure the screws on the blocks are made tight with allen wrench each time.

I never encountered this particular problem with the old rollers. All the oscillation and roller movements look normal to me, but apparently something is off. Any ideas would be most appreciated, thank you!

Vanderblog stalwart Eric Holub sent these photos of the cylinder trip rack on his 325G to help Kyle van Horn solve his alignment problem. The first pair shows the rack in trip (whole assembly, then close-up) and the second pair shows it in print (whole assembly, then close-up).

Happy New Year all –

I have a question for the masses – I’ll try to keep this concise. The shop I work in has a 325 that has forever seemed to have issues. We solved it various ways – extra packing being one, realizing it needed a bed plate was another (that helped!). We also know that when it was moved into the space, it was disassembled and moved (whereas most were hauled up intact).

Whilst printing some large pages recently, I decided something was truly wrong with the press. With some encouragement from my usual support, I disassembled the Trip/Print rack assembly. . .

Hello! I’m new to the wild world of Vandercook ownership…and am hesitant to take apart the cylinder without first getting advice. Here are the details:

(1) I bought the press a little over a month ago, and noticed that the carriage was getting hung up (as if it had to scale a small hill) about 5 inches out from the feedboard. The press’s owner was not a trained printer, and had definitely neglected to oil the press in the 5-10 years she’d owned it.

(2) Upon loading the press into the moving van, we dropped it. It fell back to a 45 degree angle on the back side–after which we noticed that the carriage was binding at that point–about 5 inches away from the feedboard. However, the fall didn’t impact the bed or carriage, only the lower portion of the cabinet.
I’ve posted photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/maydaystudio/VandercookTripArm

The press is now installed in my shop, and I’d like to start cleaning, oiling, and making repairs. My question for you: should I go ahead and take off the carriage plates to investigate the problem? I am fairly mechanically competent, and have a manual with diagrams. Or is this something I should hire a repair person for?

Thanks for your help!

Kelly
May Day Studio

A couple of months back, I took off the gear racks, one side at a time and cleaned off 40 years of ink, grime and paper dust. All are back on in exactly the same position and tightened down with hex head screws. Nothing was dis-assembled from the roller carriage. Now, when the carriage in on impression and not tripped off impression, (the other lever), there is an space of 1/8″ between impression cylinder and type-high. Anyone have any ideas what may be wrong? This press is in a college setting and has been used since I worked on it.

I’ve been working on and off for several months cleaning a Vandercook 4 that I purchased this summer. The press had been unused and in an Iowa garage for 5 years.

My problem: the cylinder carriage moves easily down the track in trip mode, but gets very tight in print mode once the cylinder trip rack (hope I have this name correct, I’m using a diagram from a different Vandercook manual) is in its uppermost position. I can print, but I’m really pushing, not rolling, the carriage. Once the trip rack is down again, the carriage rolls back easily.

I’ve cleaned and oiled and re-cleaned and oiled everything that seems related in the area, but to no avail. The upper roller (across the cylinder trip rack from the cylinder trip gear) rolls freely before the trip rack lifts, but not after, but I don’t know if that’s a problem or not.

I’d appreciate any suggestions for things to try.

Thanks! Sara S. in Iowa

Dear Presspersons, I have done some printing of wood and lino cuts and set so much type as would be barely noticeable under your fingernail. But in spite of this relative inexperience I have purchased a #315, sn 5562 to replace/compliment my #0. I have disassembled every moving part, cleaned and lubricated, re-packed the bearings, etc. In the attached photo ( see link below) I am preparing to perform an “in place” cylinder bearing lube job. The carriage was not on the press when I purchased it, so I have not had any reference for its proper installation and no manual. So, there are questions. Some of them have been answered by Paul and some I solved myself. I have shown the answers so far. They are all subject to comment and change. Please comment as you see fit. First, not knowing what to call some of the parts, I have put labels on the photo at Photobucket so you will know what I am talking about. 1. What is the function of the set screw to skid plate interface? If the carriage bearings are properly adjusted, running the setscrew up the ramp of the skid plate only causes the carriage to jam just before hitting the bumper. 2. What is the correct adjustment for the rollers? I have assumed that the rollers should ride against the upper rail surface, holding the cylinder bearer against the bed bearer at all times except with some small (perhaps .001-.002”) clearance. Paul’s answer: the clearance should be .003” 3. The cross bars have minimal clearance to the spring stop bodies. The paint has been scraped off the stops and bars due to years of interference between these two features. The stop bodies are 1.25” high. The undersides of the cross bars are only around 0.030” higher when equalized, but when I try to adjust the rollers as in #2, the clearance vanishes. Am I missing something, or do I need to modify the stops? The answer so far: the transverse lift bar can appear to be properly installed but have inadequate travel and lift if the carriage bearings do not position the carriage high enough when the bar is installed. This also affects trip cam position and clearance at the bumpers. 4. I have assumed that the clearance from from the cylinder face to the bare bed should be: 0.918 + 0.040 packing +0.050 galley = 1.008”. What I actually have is around 1.031 = 0.965 from bed to top of bed bearer + 0.066 from cylinder bearer to cylinder face. Is this press designed for something I am unaware of? Should the nominal packing be 0.063 or should I use a 0.073 plate on the bed to make up the difference? 5. On this machine the paper is fed into the lower left of the cylinder while the carriage is on the operator’s right and prints as the carriage moves left. If Fred Astaire knew the Vandy shuffle, maybe I need help from Ginger Rogers. It seems obvious that it has to be this way, but am I missing something? How common is this? 315, 317, 25?? 6. Does anyone have any manuals or drawings for this press or for the #317? And, yes, I used the ones posted on Paul’s page to time the cylinder. Very nice! 6 1/2. Do you have any warnings or general guidance as I continue with this project?

Sincerely,

Russ
Wood and Metal Craft
woodandmetalcraft.com

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.