New user here… The printmaking studio I volunteer at has a V. No. 2. I cannot find, feel, or hear a trip mechanism on this press. Is there none? I’d love to make a tympan/frisket arrangement, but I can’t imagine keeping registration on impression both directions. I’d be grateful for enlightenment! Thanks very much.
MoreCategory: Impression Cylinder
SP20 Drum cam damaging cylinder?
I noticed that the drum cam (especially on the non-operator side) is looking worn. There’s corresponding wear on the cylinder. Does this indicate I need to adjust the screws on the support arms per page 11 in Paul’s book? If so, I’m a little unclear what screws I should be adjusting. thank you!
MoreUniversal I carriage “skipping”
Well, after 25 years of printing on Vandercooks, I encountered a new problem today. There is a 1/2″ strip across the whole sheet that is not printing with the correct impression. It is illogical, but it seems that the carriage raises up just for that line of type and then goes back down. The press is […]
MoreNo. 4 Print/Trip Assembly
I just started working with a friend’s No. 4 press. It prints great and seems like a really solid machine. The machinery used to lower the impression cylinder from trip to print during the print stroke then back up to trip for the return to the feed table seems very different compared to the SP […]
MoreFabricating Replacement SP-15 Impression Cylinder
I’m considering grabbing an SP-15 press but, like many presses out there, getting it into running order will require some TLC. The press bed, cylinder rack, bed bearers, under rails, gripper pedal, trip latch & rail along the bed, steel cabinet, and feed table all check out and seem to need nothing more than heavy […]
MoreAbout to embark on cylinder carriage adjustment-Universal III AB
The symptom: The top of the bed has less impression. At first I thought maybe the adjustable bed could be at fault, but a level revealed it pretty even from top to bottom center, but the operator side corner top appears to actually rise, in complete contradiction to my problem of less impression at the […]
MoreSetting Impresion Bearings
Hello All, I’m having a grand old time trying to set the bearings on my Challenge 15mp and it’s been over two weeks of adjusting, proofing and re-adjusting. The main issue I’m finding is that my carriage shifts once the rear impression bearing comes in contact with the rail, causing the rollers to rise and […]
MoreNo. 4 Carriage Return Issue
We have a No 4 (S/N 8655) that seems to take more effort lately to return the carriage to its resting position at the feed table. There is no problem leaving the feed table in trip or in print. Returning to the feed table seems fine in both trip and after printing an image until […]
MoreAligning Vandercook No. 4 Cylinder Carriage
Hello Vanderblog, I am working on getting my recently acquired No. 4 (Serial No. 14509) working and have a couple of questions about how to go about removing the cylinder carriage and getting the gears to line up correctly again. To give you a little backstory, as far as I know, this press belonged to […]
MoreSP-15 Cylinder Carriage Bearings Issues
I undertook the arduous task of adjusting the 6 cylinder carriage bearings on my SP15, after still experiencing uneven inking and impression with newly recovered rollers. Thanks especially to Gerald’s comprehensive “Adjusting Cylinder Carriage Bearings” article, without which I never would have undertaken the ordeal: https://vandercookpress.info/vanderblog/articles/lange-adj/ And with Fritz’s recently found comments within Paul’s “Common […]
MoreVandercook 03 – Impression roller and bearings
I am wondering about the impression roller (I don’t know if this is the right name) on this press. I’ve noticed that mine is a bit damaged, with some traces of scoring. I am worried this might cause uneven impression. Is this a roller that can be recovered or is this not a replaceable part? I […]
MoreDurometer spec for Vandercook 05 impression cylinder?
I’m getting the impression cylinder recovered on my 05 proof press and am hoping to find the original Vandercook specification for the durometer on the Vulcanized rubber coating. Mine is probably still sporting the original rubber which is very hard and not very pliable at the moment. I heard durometer 70 somewhere… Can anyone provide […]
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