I acquired a Vandercook Universal III P AB with tower and power in 2019 when I moved to Rochester, NY. The press came with original paperwork from 1970 and was kept in pretty great condition all around. We used the press to print covers for the P22 chapbook series in quantities of 1500 (2-color.) This went well, and the press continued to work for short runs through the start of the pandemic. After a couple of years, the press started slowing down after about 50 impressions. The solution was to either help the carriage along by pushing it or letting it cool down for a few hours. This made printing 150 pieces for the APA bundles a bit of a chore. The slowing was fairly consistent. Various Vandercook owners had various theories as to the culprit. Several people thought it was an electric issue: Possibly the micro-switchers that regulated the carriage braking or possibly a fuse. Or possibly the motor or possibly the clutch.
John Henry (of Henry Gauge Pins fame) had a similar issue with his Vandercook Uni III P and mentioned it was fixed by washing out oil that may have gotten into the clutch. John graciously visited my studio during the 2025 APA Wayzgoose and made good on his offer to help me out. His suggestion was that oil may have gotten into the clutch since the clutch assembly was near one of the oiling points. He did some washing out with mineral spirits without removing the clutch fully and suggested that once it dries out, it should work again. The next day, I came to the printshop ready to see the press run like a champ. The clutch was, in fact, spinning, and the carriage was not moving at all. My theory is that there was oil in the clutch but also decades of gunk from oil and dust, etc. The task out with mineral spirits likely made the gunk just a thinner lubricant.
I tried to adjust the sling tension on the clutch mechanism but it wouldn’t budge in either direction (later realizing there is a set screw that shoud have been loosened)
One of the people in attendance at the open house, in addition to John, was Lee Asbeck. Lee is a machinist with great insights and ability. He and his wife took a Ludlow workshop from me many years ago at the Western New York Book Arts Center. Lee casually mentioned there was a broken part, and he could weld it. He did so as a volunteer service to the center without any fanfare: a stand-up guy!
After I realized my press was now unusable, I enlisted Lee’s help to figure out what was going on. He proceeded to take the clutch apart and clean each ring one at a time. There was a fair amount of gunk in the rings; he carefully placed them in the order they came apart. After we cleaned up pretty much everything that could be cleaned, we proceeded to put it all back together. The spring adjustment ring was not moving even after the set screw was removed. It seems the set screw was made of steel and damaged the threads of the shaft. We cleaned up the assembly with WD-40 and re-tapped the threads, allowing the threaded ring to adjust the spring tension. In putting everything back together, there were a couple of slight misalignments where everything wasn’t quite lining up, but eventually, it all came together. A couple of tests with adjusting the spring had things in good order.
I could not have managed this on my own, so thanks to John Henry and Lee Asbeck for zeroing in on the problem and helping me print large runs once again!