I posted back in 2015 about a sad Hacker #4 that was being donated to the San Jose Printers’ Guild. We have spiffed it up a bit and have used it every year since then to print posters at the annual Bay Area Printers’ Guild and Wayzgoose. Since the press only had holders for two […]
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Hacker press – what parts are missing and what can be done?
I was contacted by someone with a couple of presses he wants to find new homes. One is a Hacker. I haven’t seen it yet, but he said it was missing some parts and sent a few photos. There are 3 rollers that need to be recovered, but probably no other parts of the ink […]
MoreHacker #4 Restoration
I have completed the restoration on this Hacker #4. Here is the history as I know it: 1. The press was purchased 1/31/1929.( A date on the bed said Apr. 12. I assume 1928) The company that bought it was Grey Ketterer & Hansen, Inc. It was later sold to Columbus Engraving Corp. 2. The […]
MoreWhat Durometer for Form Rollers for Hacker (or Vandercook)?
I am in the process of purchasing a Hacker 4, and would like advice on what durometer measurement the form rollers should be for printing mainly type or photopolymer plates. Perhaps the durometer would be the same for a Vandercook press. Any advice would be welcome.
MoreMissing Hacker #4 Part
I am restoring a Hacker #4 and I am missing a part. It is a bar that connects the cylinder to the bed trip lever. I have a picture of the part on another Hacker, and mine without it. If someone out there has the measurements of this part and can post it here, I would be thankful! […]
MoreHacker 4 Manual?
I am in the process of buying a Hacker 4 proof press. I’m not new to letterpress printing, but I am new to cylinder presses, and having the manual for this press would really help me learn to use it. Does anyone have a manual, or know where I might find one? Thanks!
MoreA.F. Wanner
Andrew Franklin Wanner (1855–1935) was a typefounder and the proprietor of A.F. Wanner & Co. a printing supplier and press manufacturer in Chicago. Today the company is remembered as the original maker of Potter and Poco proof presses. It was also one of the earliest selling agents for Vandercook. In 1867, Wanner moved to Chicago […]
MoreHorace W. Hacker
Horace Wardner Hacker (1879–1968) was the founder of the Hacker Manufacturing Co. in Chicago, which made plate gauges, and test presses that featured reciprocating beds with stationary carriages. Hacker held 14 U.S. Patents for various gauges and press mechanisms (and four later patents unrelated to printing). Like R.O. Vandercook, he was a proponent of pressroom […]
MorePatent Pages Premier
Terry Chouinard sent me this advertisement he saw in the BBS Specimen Book (No. 25) for a “Vandercook Gordon Press Vibrator.” He asked if Vandercook made any other equipment for production presses? Good question. After all, their presses were marketed as pre-press equipment. But nothing in the catalogs I’ve seen references anything like the Gordon […]
MoreHacker No. 4 Proof Press
Does anyone know of any surviving examples of the Hacker No. 4 proof press, as pictured in the “Other Brands” link – in museums, private collections, or in use? Thanks, John
MoreOther Brands
As a result of publicizing the gains of the Vandercook census, owners of other brands of cylinder proof presses have volunteered their data and have also alerted me to the existence of additional owners. In particular the “Asbern”:https://vandercookpress.info/vanderblog/asbern/ and “Challenge”:https://vandercookpress.info/vanderblog/challenge/ censuses have begun to take shape.
MoreReciprocating bed on a Vandercook?
In this photo from a Vandercook & Sons exhibit at the American Photoengravers Association convention there is a press shown with a reciprocating bed. Is this in the era of the Hacker buyout, or did Vandercook make a press with a travelling bed? Daniel Morris The Arm Letterpress Brooklyn, NY
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