Hello again!
So in the process of getting back in the saddle I also noticed another quirk on my Universal III. I’m not sure if it is a problem per se or if the problem is just me… I noticed that all the prints I have been pulling are consistently cocked out of square a bit in the same direction. In the process of trying to figure out why I realized the feedboard (and as a result, the paper guide) may be a little crooked (photo). I measured the space between the head of the feedboard and the gripper bar on either end: 34mm on operator side 38mm on the opposite. I wondered if it was likely that this detail may have thrown off how I have been feeding paper all this time. The feedboard looks to have been re-attached in a different spot at some point. One of the anchoring screws has been replaced by a machine bolt driven all the way through the feedboard. I assume if it was the carriage which was out of alignment the problem would be more severe?
Any advice would be appreciated even if that advice is stop nitpicking!
You can tape the tail of the sheet to the cylinder as you roll the carriage forward. Use a low tack painters tape.
Thanks for your reply!
It must be something subtle I’m doing wrong repeatedly. At least I’m consistent!
I suppose one way to test would be: Lock up some rule across the bed at top and bottom and move the end guides on the gripper bar all the way back (so they aren’t a factor) and run a test print without using the paper guide, making super sure the sheet doesn’t flag (Kind of wish I had tower and tapes). Then I “should” get a perfectly aligned test image?
Years ago when I first got the press one of the first things I had to do was adjust the foot pedal and gripper mechanism on the left side of the carriage because the grippers hardly opened. Now they open high enough to accommodate something absurd like 8-ply museum board. So luckily feeding the sheet goes smoothly.
I wouldn’t think this would matter at all. The registration alignment is all maintained with the grippers on the cylinder in conjunction with the left side guide on the feedboard. As long as those are set correctly to align the paper with the lockup your printing should work just fine.
One of the changes we made to our Uni III was because the paper coming off the feedboard was hitting a bit too high for the grippers and you needed to push the paper down slightly once it was past the feedboard and not quite to the grippers. We actually took our feedboard off and lifted the back of it so paper would slide off and directly into the grippers. Life became so much easier.