Hi – I am missing the friction fingers (X-21714), and I want to understand the function. Also, the UNI I parts list has a friction spring (X-21715) listed. I am guessing that this was dropped on the UNI III as it does not appear in my UNI III manual. or is the Vandercook technical writing team again doing […]
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Rollers stop spinning
Hello, we have an SP-15 used by college students in a typography studio. A problem occurs with the rollers when you move the carriage over the the bed. To start the rollers ink up fine and evenly, but as you begin to turn the carriage handle all of the rollers suddenly stop spinning. They seem to […]
MorePresses stored in Barns
Three colors down on a four color job. My latest Vandercook, a Universal I with all the whistles and bells, including power cylinder, is chuggin’ right along. During the washup the oscillator locks up. Well @#$%^! a broken crescent in the worm gear. It’s been a long time since I removed one from a Universal […]
MoreUniversal III P just stopped
First, I’m looking for someone in the general vicinity of Delaware that can troubleshoot and possibly repair an automatic Vandercook Universal III. Know anyone? If not, is there some kind of electrician I might try contacting. Obviously, I need more than someone to hook up a 3-phase here. We were running our III the other […]
MoreSP-15 Ink Drum Squeak Problem
Hello, I am hoping someone will have an idea of why my press has developed an extremely loud, shrill squeak that is emanating from the ink drum/vibrator assembly. The noise occurs each time the drum [oscillator] travels away from the operator’s side of the press, primarily when the rollers are engaged at feedboard position. The […]
MoreUniversal III Register Rack Question
We are cleaning up a newly acquired UNI IIIP, and have noticed something which is disturbing. Under the register rack (X-2831), is a shim that looks approximately 2pts thick and resides nearest the feed table. A smaller shim is at the end nearest the floating rack. We are assuming that these have been put in place to solve a […]
MoreSP-15 Trip/Print blocked
We’ve been working on cleaning up our SP-15 in the new UAFS Letterpress Shop. I took the motor cover off to clean a large pile of old ink next to the drum roller. After putting everything back in place, now the Trip/Print lever is stuck in PRINT. Doesn’t matter if the cylinder is in home […]
MoreNo. 4 squeak
Our #4 has a squeak that appears to be coming from the ink drum. In attempting to find the source of the squeak, we have noticed the ink drum is VERY close to the operator side of the press(less than an ink knife blade). I did a little careful cleaning with a utility blade and […]
MoreCleaning up a #3
Hello Vanderfolks. I am in the process of finally getting my old #3 up and running again. A lot of dust, dirt, a little rust and the paper clasp pins don’t open. Looks like I have mostly cleaning and lubricating to do. My question is really simple. For those of you who have been through […]
MoreI locked up my Uni I
I was running some small posters yesterday on my Uni I AB. Things were going smoothly until the powered carriage was moving towards the end of the bed and got stuck midway. It just stopped. I run it pretty slowly so it wasn’t a very sudden stop it just was rolling along and then wasn’t. […]
MoreSP-15 Form Roller Imbalance
Hello Vanderfriends, Would love some to get some thoughts on a roller issue. First I should mention that I am working with new rollers and a press that is new to me so I unfortunately don’t have a frame of reference for past performance. I’m experiencing an imbalance with noticeably heavier ink coverage on one […]
MoreUNI-1AB
Good Day Vanderbloggers, I have recently acquired a “fixer-upper” UNI-1 needing everything related to the inking on the press including the drum, oscillating roller, rider and assembly, the form roller blocks, levers etc. I am looking for a parts machine (long shot) or will begin to fab what I need. I have contacted the usual […]
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