Hi again, thanks for your input. Here are some more pics of the unit and parts not attached. Is this unit too far gone for restoring? (keeping in mind I have never had anything to do with this!) I don’t even know how it works! Please forgive my ignorance. I might yet give it a go and learn how to use it and find something worth printing, or my I might try to sell it. If you know anyone interested, please let me know. Anyway…these are the pics
Box of type bits
So there you have it…A currently unloved, decommissioned ‘The British’ 4C Mk2 serial 6453/4. Is it worth the effort of piecing back together for a novice? Is it better off in the hands of a true enthusiast?
finn
Agreed. The drum and speed reducer would be the most expensive components. I must say it’s interesting to consider what’s possible with what Finn does have or could have fabricated at a modest expense. Whatever you do, Finn, please let us know. If you decide to sell, you are welcome to advertise it here, but if you are not familiar there is also letpress (https: //listserv.unb.ca/cgi-bin/wa?A0=LETPRESS) and briar press (http: //briarpress.org/) both of which reach a worldwide audience.
Yeah, the trip mechanism is not complete, but of all the things missing here, the flippers and rail strike me as the easiest to remake; or perhaps a lever could be fixed to the eccentric shaft for manual control. A mechanism to do what the missing gripper pedal linkages does might be improvised too. But providing a new ink drum would be a major effort, and without that the capacity of the inking system is very limited.
The trip wedges and safety bar (both missing) on which the cylinder cam rides would be necessary for the cylinder rack to shift into trip.
The census shows one other British No. 4 in Australia and one in NZ, but there are over 300 in the census worlwide. Some of these parts should fit a Chicago built No. 4 as well as the 215, No. 3, 15-21 and early Universal Is.
I think by the sound of it I might just put the unit up for sale. I guess on ebay, however…is there anyone here interested?
It looks like there are the critical parts for impression trip: the gear rack is sitting there on the bed, though the cover plate is not. And the inking rollers and distributor are mostly there, but I guess the ink drum and motor are gone. Ink capacity could perhaps be slightly improved with an ink plate, but hand-inking may be the path to follow here. Or maybe an additional top roller with crank, like on a No. 3.