A fella in Panama City, Florida has offered this press on the Briar Press classifieds site, but can’t find any info on it. The third picture I found in an article online and is of a similar press, but it made no mention of what it was. Does anybody know?
Daniel Morris
The Arm Letterpress
Brooklyn, NY
I have an Old Style 219. If anyone picks up the press in Florida I will send them photos and measurements of the feedboard
Michael
Yes, that is most definitely a 219os. On both 219os and 219ns the feedboard is mainly wood, but there is a sheetmetal lip, which also has the slot for the sideguide. There are several of each in the SF area (I was looking at a NS just last week), and I could take measurements at some point in the future if needed.
–Eric Holub, SF
Yes, I’d agree that is a 219 Old Style. It appears presses can get just as rusty in Florida as they can in the Nevada desert. I think the rust issue is manageable and except for the feedboard, all the major parts seem to be there, although the pictures leave a lot to be desired. I just looked at the manual for this press, and in true Vandercook fashion, the feed board is not even shown. I may be able to locate the print if someone takes the press on and wants to replace the feed table with a degree of accuracy.
Great detective work, Paul. I wasn’t even looking at Vandercooks because the feed board supports didn’t look like anything I recognised as Vandercook. Do you mean Old Style though? On your page I found this:
https://vandercookpress.info/v219os.html which seemed to be the best match.
The press in the third photo is a 219 New Style. Note the inking system and the cylinder gear cover. However, the one in the Briar Press photos is a 219 Old Style. Note the shape of the cabinet, position of the power switch and two foot pedals. See the corresponding images in the Press Model Index https://vandercookpress.info/models.html . Of course, with the serial number in hand Fritz will be able to definitively identify the one for sale.