As of last Friday, my boss has asigned me the job of putting back together the disassembled Vandercook Composing Room Cylinder we have here in our shop. I have been having a hard time locating pictures of this model. Does anyone have any photos of it, or dare I say, any instruction manuals for it? […]
MoreUniversal III Dead Bar Fabrication
I am about to have a replacement dead bar made up for one of my Universal IIIs and the original I am using as a pattern has a raised center block. Does this block serve any function? Should I include it in the reproduction or would I be wasting time and money? Does anyone else […]
MoreHacker Plate Gauge
I know that Hacker Mfg. was acquired by Vandercook, but this gauge appears to pre-date that merger. Does anyone have any information on Hacker gauges from this era? This particular gauge has two standards (.159 and a .759) which add up to type-high. I would guess it was to be used for checking planed blocks […]
MoreUniversal I Power Brakes
Here’s the beginning of a sad story. How will it end? I do not know. For how shall I begin my query, how shall I transmit my distress? Our trusty Universal I automatic has lost control of itself. This press’s dilemna has been building up ever so gradually year by year, run by run. I […]
MoreDust Cover Repair
Universal Is [and other v-cooks?] have an optional dust cover which is, because of the design, often broken. They seem to break at the same point, the transition from dust cover to attachment tab. I believe that the dust cover should have been made without the cutout in the center, which would have prevented the […]
MoreAdjusting Ink Roller Height [15-21]
As the process of getting to know the press continues to unfold, I’ve been putting together some notes on various discoveries & lessons learned. This post is concerned with adjusting the height of ink rollers. While these notes may appear overkill for a relatively simple process, some may be as ignorant as I was about […]
MoreNew York Times Article
An article in Sunday’s New York Times online edition “‘Retro Printers, Grounding the LaserJet’”:http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/arts/design/10hols.html features a photo of our own Eric Holub. –PM
MoreNPR’s SoundClips: A Hand-Fed Printing Press
Friends & relations alerted me to this story on yesterday’s “All Things Considered.” And I quote: “Douglas Wilson of Springfield, Mo., lets us listen to the sound of his 1949 Number Four VanderCook Proof Printing Press. The hand-feeding process makes for some rockin’ rollers.” For all of us on the Vanderblog, this 2-minute piece ought […]
MoreReprex Once-over
Scott Fisk, designer, educator, and vanderblog consultant, just bought a Reprex, a 1960s era down-market flatbed cylinder proof press. Its overall condition is quite good and it should prove to be serviceable. Its mechanisms, however, may seem a bit peculiar to most Vandercook operators. For example, the reservoir drum, while driven by a chain, also […]
MoreUniversal III toggle base (usefulness for photopolymer)
I have two Vandercook Universal III toggle plate bases with all the toggles and tools and was wondering if I’d be able to use them with photopolymer plates. It seems to me that with metal backed photopolymer plates they might work were it not for the fact that the toggles themselves would print. Are the […]
MorePressure Ink Well
*Was: Unknown device on SP-15…* changed for archiving purposes What is the component you see sticking up on the back corner of the paper feed board? I never see it on any of the posted photos. This image is of an SP-15.
MoreAutomatic frisket…
I recently bought a Universal III with the automatic frisket / paper delivery option. I’m looking for information about the automatic frisket part. What would cause you to use a frisket versus the cloth tapes which is the only thing I’ve ever seen being used? What do you use for the frisket material?
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