hello! i’ve attached a couple of short videos and images of the problem i’m experiencing as printing today on my universal 1. basically, as the vibrator oscillates, it is actually pulling the core of the front form roller out of its bearing block on the right side, so that the roller is coming in contact with the rail on the left side. the person who was printing didn’t notice at first, and the left edge of my roller got shaved against the rail. :( now, we’re working around by lifting the vibrator each time, to make sure the form roller core is all the way in its socket, then pulling a print (obviously very time consuming). has anyone had this problem, or have any idea how to fix?
when i take the form roller off, i can easily slide the sleeve off, as shown in the images. i tried stuffing the sleeve with teflon tape, but it just gets torn up. there is no way to adjust the ring to be any tighter.
i appreciate any help! (and excuse me if i’ve gotten some terminology wrong, still learning.)
Vandercook specified 2 methods for these–“staking,” and that is basically what Eric described, but use a cold chisel and a hammer. It should take only 2 stakes on each side of the bearing on the outer ring. The other method was to use locktite, and Vandercook must have bought this stuff in 55 gallon drums. Surfaces have to be clean and free of oil for loctite. When staking, put the bearing and ring on a steel surface, and we use the anvil on a bench vise, and make sure the body of the bearing block is clear of the striking surface. Otherwise, the ring will be at an angle and you could break the spot weld that holds the ring to the bearing block body. You won’t hurt the bearing as the outer ring of the bearing is hardened steel. Don’t weld or solder–not necessary, and the bearing should fit the ring without having to press it in unless the ring has been deformed and is out of round. I have put together and repaired maybe 100 of these. The entire assembly new is about $144.00 (x4=$576.00)so treat these carefully.
Fritz
No worries. Hope you resolve your issue and get back to printing!
A very common way of locking the ball bearing assembly into the loop of the bearing block is to do a series of strikes with a chisel to get a very slight retaining lip. Some of this is clearly visible in your photo, may just need to be reestablished. Soldering is a possibility too, but you don’t want to get much heat into the ball bearings.
ah! missed that. yes, thank you ron. i appreciate all the help on the vanderblog, you guys totally rock. xo
Don’t forgot Ron! ;)
thanks so much, daniel. i will try this, it sounds like the right thing to do.
Make sure you use Loctite “Blue”. The benefit is that it is formulated for this purpose. Superglue/glue is not.
I would not use anything permanent that will not allow for easy removal with the application of heat. These bearings need periodic replacement due to wear, etc. I believe you can still purchase the bearing blocks from NA Graphics, but they are pricey. As with all other components of a Vandercook, treat them like gold…
thanks so much. what is the benefit of loctite? (meaning, i have superglue, would that be the same? is it ok to glue it for real and not be able to take it off again?)
That collar should be a press-in fit on the bearing. If it isn’t staying in place, I would suggest you clean it thoroughly and press it back in place with a little bit of blue Loctite.
DGM