The moniker “gravity press” refers to models 0, 01, 03, and 099, a group of small tabletop presses that were the simplest ones Vandercook built. The Impression cylinder rolls on the bearers (with bearings riding on the under rails), but are not geared, and do not have paper grippers, an inking assembly nor a motor. […]
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The Vandercook Book is selling fast
Roni Gross says that there are only 22 copies of the Vandercook Book left for purchase. The price is $650 plus $25 for insurance and postage. “When we get down to the last 10 it will go up to $750.” For more information please visit: www.ronigrossdesign.com/thevanderbook or contact Roni directly at rgd6@verizon.net
MoreShamless self promotion
In the spring, I will be teaching my Vandercook Maintenance workshop at three locations in the Northeastern U.S.: April 18-19 in Buffalo at Western New York Book Arts Collaborative April 25-26, in Manhattan at The Center for Book Arts May 2-3, in North Andover, MA at The Museum of Printing Currently, my itinerary allows time […]
More325 Cylinder rack trip/print positions
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).
MoreHappy Vanderyear!
I want to wish everyone a productive year of printing for pleasure and/or profit. Here’s a photo of R.O. Vandercook at a trade show circa 1930 with his ever-present pipe and those spooky deep set eyes. (Courtesy of NA Graphics)
MoreNew User Interface
I just updated the blog software (WordPress 2.7), which promises faster page loads. After loggin in, registered members will see a new dashboard. Please contact me if you experience any difficulties.
MoreHappy Thanksgiving
Be thankful your press doesn’t look like this one. This is a 1955 No. 15 (SN 17885) seen earlier this month in Minneapolis. I don’t know the story behind it and didn’t have the time (or courage) to knock on the door. The only other 15 of this vintage I know of was salvaged by […]
MoreNot so terrible two
Today marks two years of Vanderblogging. Thank you everyone. On the run-up to the Vandercook centenary our forum has continued to enlarge the common store of proof press knowledge. Here are a few stats compared to a year ago: registered users have increased 171% (from 147 to 252), authored posts 190% (from 114 to 217), […]
MoreBritish-built Vandercooks
A perusal of the serial number/model record cards, held by NA Graphics, revealed that Vandercook & Sons exported presses via multiple foreign firms beginning in the late 1920s through the 1960s. Most of them are listed in adverts found in The Inland Printer as well as The British Printer. This data is compiled on the […]
More100 Printers Pledged
We have reached our goal of 100 printers for the Centenary Print Bundle. Thank you to everyone who pledged. Thanks to John Christopher who got the ball rolling. As prints are received I will post jpegs on the Print Bundle Gallery page. I am accepting names for a wait list as it is likely that […]
MorePrint Bundle Gallery Page
Today I created a new gallery page for images of the prints received for the 2009 Vandercook Print Bundle. First at bat: Casey McGarr!
MoreHand gripper lever for a No. 3
Here’s an idea for a hand-activated gripper lever to aid sheet feeding on the No. 3 Vandercook. In the drawing at left, a handle attached to the gripper trip lever is pulled toward the operator, thus moving the push rod against the trip bar which forces the gripper stems to rise. A notable “feature” of […]
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