I was operating my Vandercook 320 and all of the sudden, the metal rollers began rattling out of control either while in print or trip mode. The rollers are shaking about so much that they’ve even been tossed off of the rubber roller carriage at times. I’ve tried oiling the press, tightening screws, but nothing seems to be working. In all other senses, the press seems to be operable, but the shaking is loud and I’m sure impairing inking. Please help!
By main metal roller, I believe you mean the oscillator. If so, the should be lubricated with Vaseline instead of oil. Vaseline is used because it is thicker and will not drip onto the rubber form rollers and thin the ink. No need to feel silly, we’re all here to learn and help one another.
Well, turns out the solution was rather simple, and I feel quite silly for having to admit it. While I regularly oil other parts of the machine, I neglected to put oil on the axle of the main metal roller. So, all it needed was a little lubrication, and things went back to normal. Thanks for all the help!
I think Paul is on to something here. I have had rollers act like this when the ink sets up a bit. Since roller that oscillate have to slide across the ink film on the rubber rollers in order to travel at a right angle to the rolling, the ink must be “loose” enough to act as a bit of a lubricant to facilitate the movement. If the ink is too tacky, it can limit the sliding motion.
Does the noise stop when you are cleaning the press (with solvent on the rollers)?
John Henry
Ceadr Creek Press
How long had the ink been on press? Oil-base ink will dry quickly. And both oil and rubber-base can become sludgy from fluff (paper dust) when printing sheets like Lettra or Hahnemuehle Biblio, etc.
This may be totally not applicable, but on my 219os I had a problem where the crescent holder was tightening up due to a worn set screw. When the crescent holder would get too tight, it would start to push the crescent too close to the worm gear, and wouldn’t be tight enough for the oscillator to totally freeze up, but would cause just enough friction that the entire assembly would trip up, shake and rattle, and the upper assembly, with it’s metal rider rollers, would rattle. Is there any chance that your crescent holder is too tight?