Hello all,
I made the first adjustments to the lower two eccentrics on either side of the carriage today, gaining a much more even impression across the width of the bed. Special thanks to Gerald Lange, Fritz Klinke, and others for their very helpful posts/articles here on the Blog re: this topic.
The remaining issue, which I am not clear on how to resolve, is unevenness of impression down the LENGTH of the bed. When running a test sheet through, the impression “fades” slowly away down the length of the sheet. Can this be remedied through further carriage bearing adjustment, or is there a different adjustment required?
Thank you in advance for your help.
Emily Hancock
St Brigid Press
Thanks very much, Eric. After further adjustments and testing with ink, the issue is much improved. I will re-check now following your advice regarding both print and trip strokes. All best, Emily
You REALLY NEED to be inking as you do this. If bearings are adjusted without checking roller-to-form contact on both print and trip strokes you are just jumpimg into the briar patch. When the bearings are set correctly the stripe on the roller gauge will be the same in either position.
If your bearers are worn nothing will adjust that. You should also make sure all the packing is unbeaten and full-length. And be sure your lock-up is solid, not rising anywhere.
Hi Thomas, and thank you for your reply. I have not inked up the press, only testing with blind impression to see the evenness of impression. The depth of impression is fading a little bit along the length of the forme. It is heavier at the beginning (“ABC,” etc), and slowly, evenly lightens to the end. I adjusted the carriage eccentrics to level out the impression from side to side, across the width of the press bed, but I am not clear on how to even out the impression along the length.
Hello Emily, what is exactly fading, the depth of your impression, or the strength of your colour? Your form seems to be taking up the whole length of the bed… If the depth of your impression is identical from the top to the bottom of your form, then your problem might be that the circumference of your rollers is too small for your form. Have you tried inking twice, before printing, that is: once you ink (trip mode), second time you print? I also think that you should have the quoins along the long side of the bed. This way, you will never be able to print with a correct registration.
Hello Emily, what is exactly fading, the depth of your impression, or the strength of your colour? Your form seems to be taking up the whole length of the bed… If the depth of your impression is identical from the top to the bottom of your form, then your problem might be that the circumference of your rollers is too small for your form. Have you tried inking twice, before printing, that is: once you ink (trip mode), second time you print? I also think that you should have the quoins along the long side on the other side of the bed. This way, you will never be able to print with a correct registration.
Thank you. Yes, the majority of my work is with handset metal type, some with wood, and a small (growing) percentage with block carvings. This particular test forme is composed of 20-line wood type in excellent condition (I believe many of the letters have never been used), and fills most of the press bed.
I will post a photo shortly.
Please describe your test form. From your website I see you use handset metal and wood type.