Daniel Mellis, Author at vandercookpress.info

Uni I motor has trouble starting

My Uni I’s motor for the ink drum has trouble starting. In the past occasionally when I turned it on, it would not turn and would softly hum, but turning it off and on again would restart it. Now it mostly won’t start turning, though if I manually push on the drum it will start. […]

Press Part Manufacturing, Gripper Bar Lever, Feedboard and Dead bar

I recently manufactured some press parts: a gripper bar lever for a No. 3 inspired by several posts on this blog, a new feedboard for the No. 3, that gets bolted onto two wooden side posts, and a dead bar for a Uni I. The No. 3 is actually for sale now as well. The […]

Press Moving Dollies

I recently made some dollies for moving presses and type cabinets. They are designed to work with a toe jack, which is also shown in the pictures. Essentially you jack up the press onto pieces of 2×4s, going one level at a time, then when you are above the height of the dolly, you lift […]

No. 3 Gripper Bar Lever Fabrication

Hi, I have a No. 3 (Old Style), and I am planning on fabricating a gripper bar lever for it and I wanted to see if anyone else would want one as well. The more that are made at one time the cheaper they should be, but they definitely should be under $100. The idea […]

Feedboard Fabrication for No. 3

I have a No. 3 old style with a missing feedboard, and I am planning on fabricating a new one. I am posting here to see if anyone else would be interested. My No. 3 has two steel blocks which bolt on to the end of the press. Each block has three 1/4-20 threaded holes, […]

Clutch Drive Adjustment Instructions Position

I have a powered Uni-I, and my Clutch Drive Adjustment instruction plaque has come off, can someone tell me which way it should be mounted on the drive side cover? Should it be right side up when on the operator side, or on the drive side?

Vandercook Dollie Design

I’m going to build a couple of dollies on this plan for our studio so we can move stuff around with a toe jack. This is designed for our Powered Uni 1 with adjustable bed, so it’s not necessarily universal, though it should also work with the No. 3. The procedure is to first block […]

Auto washup setup for Universal 1

I’m setting up the wash-up tray for my school’s Universal 1. I’m not sure of exactly where to place two rails that form the fixed support for the tray, and I’m also not sure if the moveable support for the tray has all the parts. Also I have two long pieces of steel with triangular […]