Hello Vanderblog,
I went to look at a Reprex proof press today. It hasn’t been used in about 20 years and it’s pretty dirty, there’s an oily goo all over the ink drum and the bed of the press, but it seems in pretty good mechanical condition. I’m considering buying it but have some questions about the inking system.
I’ve looked through all the Reprex images & manuals available on this blog and took them with me to help identify the press model.
The press I looked at has an open cabinet, is motorized, and has a foot pedal for the grippers. Unfortunately, I forgot to look at the date stamp.
This is the first Reprex I have ever seen in person, but in all the pictures of Reprex’s I looked at, there is a larger metal roller sitting above and between the rubber form rollers. This one has two rubber form rollers and on top of that, there are two metal rollers. There is a round bar above this that connects to a lever that lifts the rollers.
My question is, is there a metal roller missing from the inking system, or is this the way the way it should look?
Can anyone identify what model press this is?
Thank you, any advice would be appreciated.
Sincerely,
Marianne
I wonder if it is complete. All the rollers shown are full-frame-width, and so cannot be oscillating rollers. Unless there is an oscillating drum below, the rollers simply revolve without the oscillation needed for ink distribution. What mystifies me is that any oscillator above those metal rollers could not be metal-surfaced. Hard against soft against hard is the rule in ink distribution, never hard-against-hard or soft-against-soft.
The rollers are likely to be 2.5 or 3 inches in diameter, hopefully a Reprex owner will provided an answer.
Thank you for the input, John. I am planning on buying the press. Now I wonder, how will I figure out the diameter of the form rollers?
It looks like this press, if indeed it has 3 form rollers has two small distributor rollers, each positioned between a pair of the form rollers. This is quite similar to standard cylinder press arrangements. It would be my opinion that the press is complete and requires no additional parts. Most of these presses only have two form rollers, so this would be a real plum. It actually looks to be in good shape other than an inch of dust.
I think you’ll find that it should be able to be purchased for much less than a comperable Vandercook, as there is a tribe of Vandercook afficianados, as the Vandercook is so much more available. None of the Vandercooks (of which I am aware) have the three form rollers rollers, however, so this makes this a desireable press.
John G. Henry
I wanted to add a correction. After looking at my photographs again, especially the first one, it appears that there are three form rollers beneath the two steel ink distribution ones. As someone pointed out, this is very similar to a Korrex.
Thanks Paul, So if it’s a No.1, it looks like it is missing a top ink distributing metal roller. The owner said he thought the press was complete and in working order. What’s the chances/cost of replacing this piece?
Marianne, looks to be a No. 1 Reprex with power ink distribution. I will alert other Reprex owners to your post.
See the second page of the sales sheet is below.
https://vandercookpress.info/reprex.html#reprex1