Cleaned And Pressed

I finished the restoration of the etching press last weekend but couldn’t get my camera, the Sony dinosaur with 3 ½” floppy disks, to work until today. I’ve actually been doing some letterpress printing in between but more on that later. I’ve got a few Before And After photos below as well as some detail shots. The Before is on the left and the After on the right. The quality as usual is poor and in some cases doesn’t do the cleanup job justice. For example, the face of the large cylinder on the bottom was completely covered with paint, which it should not be for use. It is now completely clean. The same is true for the bed and the cylinder, in addition to which they were both covered with rust under the paint. They are now down to bare metal again. In fact, all of the bare metal and bronze bearings that you see were once covered with paint, dirt, and grease.

Speaking of grease, I found on this press what one often finds on old machinery: grease in the oil bearings. If any of you have old machinery that requires regular lubrication remember that the engineers who design machinery design bearings for a certain type of lubrication and that you can’t just decide on your own to change it without consequences. Bearings designed for oil have channels and reservoirs and oil holes and are sized to work with oil. Bearings designed for grease are specially designed to do so and have appropriate grease caps attached, etc. Some people put grease in bearings designed for oil thinking that the grease will last a long time and they won’t have to oil it. This is completely wrong, especially the idea that greased bearings require no attention. Except for the first day or so, the grease will not keep the bearing surfaces coated with lubricant and the bearings will wear. That was the case with this press. Remember that bearings designed for grease will have cups with screw caps or grease nipples like the universal joint bearings on your car. The cup type will have grease in them and periodically the caps must be screwed down a bit pushing more grease into the bearings. In the case of nipples, a grease gun is used to pump more grease into the bearing. Bearings design for oil will either have open holes or caps with hinged lids. More rarely, there are oil cups with glass reservoirs that can provide a constant drip of oil and there are a few other types of automatic oilers. But the average printer will not likely encounter these. The thing to remember is to identify whether or not the bearing should get grease or oil and then use the correct lubricant; don’t substitute one for the other. If someone else has done so clean out the bearing completely and then use the right lubricant.

NOTE: In the above After photo of the press, that brown thing hanging down that almost looks like an extension of the cylinder blanket is actually the window curtain that just happens to be lined up with and the same shade as the blanket.

Two of the bed’s guide/support rollers were broken and have been replaced with new, machined copies. Most of these rollers were rusted or otherwise frozen but everything was disassembled and cleaned and now turns smoothly. Etching presses use felt blankets, usually three long ones of different thicknesses on top of one another. They perform several functions including soaking up sizing from the wet paper, pressing the paper into the incised lines of the plate, and helping the cylinder push the bed and plate through the two rollers. This particular kind of press has a D-shaped (half) cylinder and the top blanket is attached directly to it as the photo above shows. The other two felt blankets are held in place at the rear of the bed by the bars and thumbscrews shown in another photo below and pass under the cylinder. I removed those two for the photos. The blanket on the cylinder gets a lot of wear from pushing the other felts through the rollers and is therefore usually woven felt in contrast to the pressed felt from which the others are made. I was fortunate to have a piece of used woven felt that was once the cylinder blanket of an old galley proof press. It was filthy and is still stained as the photo shows. But I cleaned it by hand with Woolite and it is now clean and perfectly serviceable, if dark in color.

The above photo shows the air piston that helps slow the bed down on its automatic return to the forward position. I described in a previous post how that aspect of the press works. I had to make a new leather cup washer as the old one was almost completely destroyed. It was surprisingly easy to do and is basically the same kind of mechanism found on old hand-operated water pumps. There is also a rubber bumper directly above where the piston goes into its tube. The rear of the tube has an adjustable cap with a hole so that the amount of air exhausting out and thus the speed of the bed’s return can be controlled. Pretty clever, eh?

In the above photo if you look carefully towards the bottom center you can see the counterweight that pulls the bed back to the forward position. It is suspended from a leather belt that runs over a pulley on the rear support roller shaft. You can see the brown belt in the photo of the air piston. I made the counterweight from a large slug/cylinder of brass I had laying around. It’s about 3” in diameter and 8” long and weights about 25 pounds. I wrapped it in leather with a large wooden dowel so I could easily attach a screw hook for a D-ring on the leather belt.

In one of my previous posts on this press I described the mechanism by which the felts are automatically held up and out of the way. I did hook things up so it would work but the felts I have, scraps I had laying around, are not quite long enough for this to work too well, though it did work. When I’m able to replace the felts I’ll hook it up properly.

A few other things I did: I made a new arm for the wheel. One had gone missing sometime in the distant pass and a wooden replacement had been fabricated for use while it was a display piece. Fortunately I had a length of 1-inch bar stock and the correct screw-cutting die on hand so after some grunting and groaning and plenty of smelly cutting fluid the job was done. Cutting a 1-inch diameter thread by hand is not that easy. I also made wooden runners for it. I also decided to place pieces of leather between the upper cylinder’s bearings and the iron pressure pads. I’ve seen this and read about it in a number of places and it seemed a good idea. Supposedly it provides a slight amount of give and avoids undue strain on the press. Maybe. But it certainly doesn’t hurt.

I’m very happy with the press and am making some more test prints. I can’t wait to incorporate what I can do with it with my letterpress work. And I’ve got so much printing to do now, both letterpress and intaglio, that I will be quite busy. No more restorations for a while!

Playing Tag

I’m about 95% finished with restoring the Kelton intaglio press. Later I’ll post more about the adventure of cleaning and adjusting it, which turned out to be a bigger job than I had at first suspected. This was mostly because after it left its useful life as a working press it lay somewhere getting rusty before the next owner applied black paint to every surface whether it was dirty, rusty, greasy, or was supposed to be painted or not. They then used it for a display piece which is also what the next owner intended for it when he got a lobby. Since this lobby never materialized, I now own the press. The net result is that many things were frozen and a lot of paint had to be removed which revealed a lot of rust that had to be removed. In the end it was fine but time consuming.

Anyway, I was so anxious to try something I had never done before, namely intaglio printing, and so much wanted to see whether or not the press actually worked that I threw caution to the winds. After final adjustments Sunday afternoon I had things just together enough to pull a proof. The problem was that I had virtually nothing that one needs to do this; nothing proper that is. I had no intaglio ink, copper plate, tarlatan rag, hot plate, or blotting paper. And I had only watched some Youtube videos and read about the process in a few vintage books I downloaded free online. But fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

I did have a few scraps of felt and some 100% cotton paper however. Also some rubber base letterpress ink and a couple 2” diameter brass key ID tags that had been stamped with numbers. Into one of these I made some scratches to try the drypoint technique. The end results can be seen below. Keep in mind that I didn’t wipe off the (wrong) ink properly and that punched numbers are not the same as etching or engraving; also that I wet the paper too much and didn’t blot it properly; and top all of that the fact that I was rushing a bit to get it done after a long day. They may be some of the worst intaglio prints ever but in the above context didn’t come out too badly for some quick test prints. I certainly got a thrill from the “accomplishment” and the knowledge that the press actually worked. If you look closely you can see my backwards initials in the little scratched box in the second photo. These lines are extremely fine and it surprised me how well they showed up.

I’ll detail in another post the last stages of the restoration and have some photos of the restored press as well as a few more things I learned about it.

Sign Of The Time

The time in this case is somewhere in the latter half of the 19th century. I found a little time capsule in the Kelton copper plate press today. But let me lay some groundwork.

Presses of this type, especially older ones, needed the lower roller adjusted to come into contact with the underside of the press bed. This was done quite simply using shims under the bronze bearing blocks. Any hard, stable material will do, thick and thin pieces being used as required. Wood and paper were sometimes used but these materials are dynamic, expanding or contracting with changes in the humidity, and therefore not the best. A possible exception would be oiled paper such as tympan that is both hard and stable. Steel, iron, copper, and brass were all more appropriate choices.

I had disassembled the Kelton as much as possible with the exception of the lower roller. I was able to remove the bearing blocks and shims but removing the roller itself would require taking the main frame completely apart. This wasn’t necessary as I could clean everything with the roller in place and supported by two pipes. I cleaned the bearing blocks today and the shims and it was here that I made my discovery.

The press has been moved at least four times in its life including from the factory to its first owner. Adjustment of the roller would have taken place after that first move and I think I know enough about the subsequent life of the press to state that no one has likely changed this initial adjustment. The roller is very heavy and holds the shims in place quite securely. By the time I got it the shims were pretty much glued in place as well with the gunk of the ages and the paint one of the previous owners had sloped on to make it shiny looking. Further examination bore out that they were certainly very old.

On both sides they consist of small steel plates, a few brass pieces of two different thicknesses, and on one side two pieces of oiled paper, possibly tympan. While the steel plates were for the most part unremarkable, one of them contained some evidence of the craft for which the press was intended. An example of this craft in action can be seen in the circa 1860 illustration below of the press room of the American Bank Note Company in New York City.

Copper and other plates used for intaglio printing have a bevel filed at the outer top edges, sometimes at a 45-degree angle but more often one less steep. The purpose of the bevel is to keep the otherwise sharp right angle of the edge from cutting into the paper under the great pressure exerted during printing. Anyone who has seen an intaglio print will likely remember that the edge of the plate is visible at the outside of the image. Even today plates do not come this way from the factory but the printer files the bevel himself. What I found on one of the steel shims was this hand-filed bevel.

The plate is 1/8” thick, a standard gauge for printing, and approximately 1 ¾” by 2” though not a perfect rectangle but a rather accurate parallelogram. As you can see from the photo, there are two holes drilled into it and it has numerous scratches in it. On one side the bevel is a fairly consistent 1/16” wide while on the reverse the edge has only been filed slightly, a distinct bevel but just enough to remove the sharp edge.

I can’t explain the reason why this small plate was prepared as if it was to be used for engraving or etching a print on it. Perhaps it was done for practice. Or perhaps when making a shim for the press the force of habit took over when removing the sharp burr at the edges. I do plan on reusing the original shims now that I’ve cleaned them and if further adjustments are needed simply adding to those. But I’m tempted to replace this one with a new piece of steel.

The stories this press could tell and in some ways is telling, eh?

Look Out! Here Comes The Spider-Man.

If Peter Parker had wanted to be a print maker of a more ancient variety, he may very well have chosen intaglio as his medium. Had he done so he would have needed a copper plate press, sometimes called a spider-press because of its large spoked handwheel. I don’t spin webs of any size or catch thieves just like flies but I am in the process of restoring a vintage copper plate intaglio press. Eat your heart out, Spidey.

This press was built by the M. M. Kelton Company of Brooklyn, NY sometime from the 1850’s through the early 20th century. I haven’t been able to pin it down closer than that and have found little direct information on these presses. However, by doing a lot of internet research, piecing together tidbits of information including that gleaned form vintage photos and etchings, and disassembly and studying the press as part of its restoration, I’ve learned quite a bit. For one thing, this style of cast iron mass-produced press was used extensively by bank note companies as well as the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing throughout the latter half of the 19th century. One of the largest users in my own area was the American Bank Note Company which had a printing house in Brooklyn, NY in addition to it’s headquarters in Manhattan. Brooklyn is of course where my press was made. Below is a photo of the ABNC’s now closed Brooklyn plant as it looks today.





Another photo shows these presses in operation and there are dozens, maybe hundreds of them churning out paper money, certificates, stamps, and all manner of financial documents. These presses were not designed for artists but for production. The top cylinder was in fact only a half-cylinder, its cross section appearing as a D-shape. The bed had a weight attached to the back that in conjunction with a pulley kept the bed in the forward position. When turning the handwheel an adjustable cam on the right side of the cylinder engaged with an adjustable mating cam on the bed which started the bed through the two (upper and lower) rollers automatically. Intaglio presses use three felt blankets laid over the paper and plate in order to cushion the pressure and press the paper into the incised plate to pick up the ink. On this press, the top blanket is attached to the top cylinder and a bar at the rear of the bed holds the other two blankets that extend along the bed under the upper cylinder.





Additionally, there is an iron frame above the press with a cross bar on which is a pulley. The blankets attached at the rear of the bed are held together at the front end where a rope is attached that goes over this pulley and on the end of which is a weight. When the press is at rest the bed is in its forward (start) position and the front end of the blankets are held up in the air out if the way so the plate and paper can be laid on the bed. Then the handwheel is turned, the bed is engaged and goes between the rollers making the print at which point it is automatically released merely by continuing to turn the handwheel. The bed automatically returns to its forward position and the blankets are automatically drawn up out of the way so the proof can be removed. Anyone who has operated an intaglio press will recognize the time saved with this arrangement. While not necessary for artist’s proofs, it’s a definite advantage for meeting production deadlines.





The press is not large but it is heavy. This is partly because the upper cylinder is solid, and even though the lower cylinder is a hollow casting it is very large and has thick walls as you would expect on an intaglio press because of the pressure exerted during printing. Modern presses have rollers about the same size top and bottom but it was common in the 19th century for the bottom roller to be much larger than the top as is the case here. Altogether the press weighs between 300 and 400 pounds, though that’s just an estimate. In practical terms it will print a plate up to 8” x 10”. The presses most recent use was as a display item in a print shop in Long Island City, i.e. Queens. It had been coated in black paint right over any dirt and rust so it would be nice and shiny. It needs to be completly cleaned and adjusted, the paint taken off where it shouldn't be, and some minor repairs made but otherwise nothing major. I suspect it came from the ABNC in Brooklyn when they closed that plant which is not too far away from its display post.




I have several letterpress printing projects that are a priority at the moment but I’ve begun the restoration process on this press and hope to be able to experiment within a month or so. I’ve never done intaglio before so it will be interesting. Besides limited edition proofs, I want to use it to produce artwork for my letterpress journal and also for artistamps that I can perforate on my Rosback perforator. I’ve seen some examples of work that is a combination of intaglio and letterpress so there are a lot of options, even if I don’t have radioactive blood.

Extra! Extra!

Let me first apologize as so often before because of the poor quality of the photos below. I'm left with the ancient Sony digital camera that records on 3 1/2" floppy discs. Enough said. But I figure they must still be worth at least 750 words.

I live in Hunterdon County in central New Jersey and while today there is only one local newspaper, the Hunterdon County Democrat, at one time there were a dozen or more papers published in many of the little towns that make up this area. The largest town in the county was and still is Flemington, today about a 45 minute drive north from Trenton.

Peter Haward was a teenage immigrant, later one of Flemington's leading citizens. In his diary for October 11, 1802 he recorded: "In Trenton I got the Newspapers at the Printing office, & left at sun-rise, rode to New Market & left a package at Benj. Johnson's, then at Price's tavern, arrived at Flemington at 11 o'clock, delivered packages there, had dinner, then to Pittstown, left papers there, then to Mr. Exton's, left one paper, then to John Maxwell's in Bethlehem [Pennsylvania], arriving about sun-set, left two packages of papers there, returned to Mr. Exton's, having ridden 48 miles."

The first local paper was the Hunterdon Gazette, originally The Hunterdon Gazette and Farmers' Advertiser. The first number was published on March 24, 1825. It was a one-sheet, four-page paper with four columns to the page. By the 1880's there were numerous competitors, many openly aligned politically as was common in the 19th century; some independent; some of a religious character; and even some amateur efforts like The Amateur Sun and others published by boys of the Jersey Blue Amateur Editors' Association. Another was The Jerseyman published by H.E. Deats who described his paper as "an Amateur Journal devoted to airing the pet opinions of the Editor and others."

One of the regular local papers was started in 1880, The Milford Leader. Living in Milford, NJ as I do, this paper has a special interest for me. The "Leader" was an independent paper meaning it was not aligned with a political party or local interest group, at least not in an overtly partisan nature. Most independents strove to give balanced coverage even as they maintained a character of their own given to them by their editors. The proprietor of the "Leader" in 1890 was George B. Corson and the editor Samuel H. Bast.

The Hunterdon Democrat, today the Hunterdon County Democrat, had its roots in the election of Andrew Jackson to the presidency. The Gazette was a Whiggish paper and most of New Jersey had gone with the democrats in the election of Jackson. So the county officeholders were determined to have a paper that would "hew to the official line". Over the course of the next 100 years many of the small local papers failed and the Democrat bought out the others. In 1949 they purchased the Frenchtown Star and the Milford Leader, merging them into the Delaware Valley News. The Democrat ceased publication of the News two years ago and is now the sole surviving local newspaper.

The photos below show the original press used to print the Milford Leader; a "turtle" used for transferring chases from stone to press; and the last issue of the Leader from 1949. Some other misc. bits and pieces of the printing trade are also present. All are on display in the foyer of the Democrat's office in Flemington.

The Return Of The Native

Well, it's been one of those months when not much has gotten done around the shop in terms of printing, my day job has been extremely stressful and tiring, and so finding a real need to relax I helped some friends move thousands of pounds of iron, wood, and lead. Oh, yeah.

The first such adventure was helping my friend Sarah Smith of Smith Letterpress move her recently acquired C&P 8x12 press, a Challenge paper cutter, imposing stone and bench, and misc. items from Alan Runfeldt's Excelsior Press in Frenchtown, NJ to Long Island on a Saturday the second week in June. Interestingly enough, this paarticular press was my first press which, as readers of this blog may remember, I traded for a 10x15 last Fall. I can't say how happy I am that Sarah now has this press.

The day started out fine as we used a small U-Haul box truck with a pullout ramp to move everything. It looked like we might avoid the rain but no, after traversing the Lincoln Tunnel, Manhattan, and Queens, we ran into some wetness just before arriving on the north shore of the "Big Island". It was then we found out that the layout was not quite what we had thought and the truck had to be parked somewhat further away from the storm cellar entrance than we had anticipated. But we had come well prepared with plywood and 2x6's and as you will see from the photos. Good thing we had recently watched Bridge on the River Kwai.

Photos are posted here: http://picasaweb.google.com/funkedude/PressMove?feat=directlink

When all was safely in the basement we were treated by Sarah's very gracious, easy-going and companionable parents to massive, juicy, marinated and delicious BBQ'd steaks and accessories. I took advantage of an offer by Sarah's mom and took an outdoor shower that was extremely refreshing. We sweated and we grunted and we ate, and then we had a long drive back home. All in all it was a very satisfying and enjoyable adventure.

Adventure No. 2 started on Friday morning the 24th about 9:30 and ended Saturday morning about 5:15. The mission was to travel to Clinton, Conn. and retrieve a Heidelberg platen press, a Golding jobber, a paper cutter, cabinets of type and galleys, and misc. treasures. The shop was once owned and run out of the basement of Alan Duran who began printing privately about 30 years ago. He recently passed away and the house is being sold. His son and grandson wanted his equipment to go to people who would preserve and use it and carry on Mr. Duran's legacy. They contacted my friend Alan Runfeldt of the Excelsior Press who in turn found a man in West Virginia looking for a Heidelberg. It was arranged that he would come up with a trailer and pick Alan and I up and then continue on to Conn. where we would pick up the equipment. We would stop back at Alan's shop and unload everything but the Heidelberg which would continue on to its new home father south. Alan will make the other equipment available for sale to help others building their shops and provide funds for his Excelsior Press museum.

Here are photos of that move: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shawfamilypublishing/sets/72157620540304943/

Fortunately the shop was in a basement that was at garage level and we only had to demolish a short section of wall to make room to get everything out. The wall was somewhat makeshift and will be easy to replace if necessary. Once again there was plenty of rain and we just missed a tornado. But though extremely tiring and taking nearly 24 hours from start to finish, it turned out well and we all have a few more things for our shops and to pass on to others. Mr. Duran's family was very personable, only to be expected of members of a Bluegrass band of course, and provided labor, coffee, pizza, and plenty of moral support. I even got a vintage oscillating fan from the garage sale pile for my shop!

All in all it was an eventful month even it it did keep me out of the shop. Now it's on to pending projects.

Keep On Truckin'

As some of you may know, I haven't done as much printing as I want to do because my old 8x12 press had two problems: I only had Morgan Expansion trucks with worn-out tires and I had rubber rollers that were not only slit badly in some places from perf rule but slightly concave in the center and slightly hard from age. I could print with them but mostly only small forms and even then they had some problems. I couldn't afford to replace either tires or rollers so did the best I could on a limited basis and spent a lot of time organizing and setting up the shop in general knowing that would pay off later.

I posted here how I recently traded in the 8x12 Old Style for a 10x15 Old Style that I restored. In this case I had steel trucks but the rollers were all bad and again, I couldn't afford to buy new ones. Fortunately my friend Alan recently loaned me three rollers from one of his presses, two of which I have and the other I mistakenly left in his shop. I had adjusted the platen for a standard packing as I've described in an earlier post and all that remained was to compensate for the fact that on this press, as on many older presses, the rails were manufactured less than type high. In the case of Chandler and Price, 1/16" less. This weekend I was determined to get the press printing so I could begin some of the projects that I've been wanting to do.

The steel trucks I got with the press were 1/16" oversize from the standard that came with the press when new, meaning that they were 1 3/4" diameter. They are actually stamped "oversize" on the sides. C&P offered oversized and undersized trucks as options according to their early catalogs. The rollers that came with my press when I got it were therefore 1 5/8" diameter so they would be type high. My friend Alan has a 10x15 New Style the rails of which were also 1/16" below type high. He had been using the rollers he gave me on that press which are 1 3/4" diameter and, since the steel trucks he was using were the the normal diameter trucks C&P supplied with the press, 1 5/8" diameter, he had taped both the trucks and the rails to bring them to type high. So in order for me to use his rollers with my trucks I would only need to increase their height by 1/16". I decided to do this by taping the rails.

I know there is special tape sold to do this but of course that costs money. I thought long and hard about what kind of tape I wanted to use. My friend had used duct tape with good results but I decided to try something different. I bought some metal tape at the hardware store, the kind used to tape the joints of metal ducting; basically metal duct tape instead of cloth duct tape. The metal is very thin and easily cut. I decided to use this because I thought it would provide a firm, smooth surface that could be more finely adjusted because the tape is so thin.

I measured the length of the rails and then cut the tape into 24" lengths, slightly longer than needed. The roll of tape is about 2" wide so I cut these lengths to the rail width of 5/8" on my 26" paper cutter. The knife went through like butter and because of the thinness of the metal and the buffer between each layer the adhesive and backer provided I don't think it affected the edge much. In any case, the knife is almost due to be changed anyway.

One by one I laid the strips on the rails. I started with 10 layers per rail and then started checking the height with a straight edge laid across both rails and a type high gauge as I added more strips one by one. When I got it just about right with the gauge I put the rollers on the press and used them with the type high gauge for the final adjustments. I stopped when I could feel a bit of pressure on the gauge from the rollers. In the end it turned out that the left side required one more strip than the right. As I was making the final checks, I ran the press for a bit to press the tape down well and avoid movement through compression later. I was pleased with the end result. Since the tape is metal it doesn't stand out like a sore thumb; it's smooth and hard; and should I need to make adjustments later it will be easy to do so. It was also inexpensive: the roll cost about $3 and I have enough left for at least two more presses.

Of course, the proof is in the pressing. Today I locked up my business card form and inked up the press and pulled some proofs. I was very, very happy with the results. The photos below will show the reason. I used my standard packing only with no makeready. Now a small form should probably need little to no makeready anyway but the fact that it inked and printed so well right off the bat was very encouraging to me. This is especially true after my experiences up to this point with the limitations of my old trucks and rollers. I was also pleased that my platen adjustment seemed to be just right. Naturally when I print a larger form problems may show up but I'm certainly satisfied at this point.

The top photo shows a proof pulled on a lightweight bond paper. I used Strathmore 100 percent cotton laid paper for the proof in the middle photo. I had difficulty with that paper before with my old press so wanted to try it again now. Needless to say, it looks really good. There is a speck of something on the R in my name from the scanner. I decided to try something larger so locked up the cut shown in the bottom photo which is about 3 1/2" x 6". Again, there was no makeready and I thought it came out pretty good, a nice even print at least. The cut is damaged on one corner so there is a break in the border at that point. I'm also afraid the scanner added some bands of color to the photo: oh, well. These photos may not show the details sufficiently so I'll probably post them to Flickr where they can be enlarged.

Now I need to pick up that third roller and then start on my projects.

Pedal Power

Those of you who noticed that the photo of my new press in my last post showed the motor speed control pedal just sitting on the floor, and you know who you are, can rest easy in the knowledge that a base as shown by the photo below has been installed. The wood is the same as the runners: hickory. You may recall that I made my composing bank out of hickory that we had laying around at work and the same is true here. It's overkill for this application but it was available and is certainly strong and good-looking. You'll notice I ran a cove moulding around the top edge of the runners to add a bit of detail.

Transfiguration

Here it is in all its naturally lighted glory. It was a lot of work but I'm pleased with the result. Everything is running smooth and easy. I didn't keep close track of how long it took but I would estimate at least 30 hours.

The platen was out of adjustment so I took care of that too; I'll have to make a final test once I get rollers and pull a few test proofs. To make the initial setting I set a machinist's sliding wedge gauge to type high with a micrometer. I then stacked up a pressboard, three sheets of bond and one sheet of tag and had them slightly hanging over the edge of a table. I placed the gauge on top and took a reading of the total thickness with the micrometer. This gave me a reading of about .945. I wasn't really concerned with the actual number but with getting an accurate reading of a standard packing and the height of the type combined. I reset the wedge gauge accordingly and then clamped it in a Vise-grip for a handle. Then I used it to set each corner of the platen so the gauge slides in snugly: easy in and out but no play.

On my old 8x12 I tried at first the standard four-corners lockup with large sorts to adjust the platen but this didn't work well for me. I adjusted it a second time using the above method and it made a dramatic, positive difference in the impression. It did so well that I never had to make another adjustment other than standard makeready. I used this method because those were the tools I had. I chose the packing I did because that is what is recommended in the standard works, with slight variations. I substituted bond paper for book and I left out the cover sheet. I did this to allow for a bit more adjustment with the packing when dressing the platen. I'll see what a few proofs look like and experiment with different packing and then make any final adjustments if necessary. I don't want or intend to adjust the platen often. I want to have it at a setting that is as versatile as possible for whatever I may want to print.

An interesting discovery is that this press, like my 8x12 and other older presses including Pearls, has rails that are lower than type high. I've never yet discovered a reason why the presses were made this way and have not been able to come up with a reason myself, but it seems this was fairly common. What this means in practise is that the rollers and trucks must be different diameters, in my case the trucks need to be 1/8" larger than the rails. This of course flies in the face of the standard view that rollers and trucks must be the same diameter to prevent slurring. Personally I don't believe this view is correct. I think the usual argument from physics/mathematics is wrong. In fact I think physics/mathematics proves just the opposite, that the relationship to the axis at any given point is the same. Clearly some presses were made so only rollers and trucks of a different size would work. If slurring and imperfect work was a necessary result these presses would have ended up in the Ancient Press Graveyard long ago and clearly they were. Some Pearls especially seem to garner high praise for even fine halftone work. What does seems obvious is that some presses, mostly older, use rollers and trucks of a different size and most newer presses use the same size. I don't think it matters in terms of the work produced, only in terms of what will work on a particular press, even the rational for these differences has been lost in the dim past. In any case, I will use 1 5/8" rollers with 1 3/4" trucks like the printer before me did for over 20 years and the printers before him did with this press.

Today at work I made a wooden base for the motor's speed control pedal that will attach to the right runner. I'll post a photo of it once it's installed. I'm pricing out rollers at this point. One quote I've had so far is about $450 for three rollers. OUCH! I've since recovered from the shock with only minor relapses and am pursuing my search further. I am hoping to find something in the $200 to $250 range. I'd even settled for a set of good, used rollers at this point. Hopefully I can get a set by the middle of January. They'll be rubber and I'm going to use the original cores that came with the press. Hopefully that will save a few bucks.

I have a few days of vacation tied in with the holidays and will probably lock up a cut, ink it with a brayer and pull a few impressions. I can't wait to be fully up and running and working on some projects. By the way, I'm looking for a spider chase, book chase, and skeleton chase if anyone has any for sale.

It's Alive!

Just a brief and photo-less post to announce that the press is completely back together, clean, oiled and belted to the motor. I turned the switch on about 1 a.m. this morning and like the Miracle of Christmas it ran. This is my first experience with a variable speed press motor so I'm getting used to it slowly. But I had it turning at 15 impressions per minute without trouble, the speed I'm most comfortable with for now.

I still need to make a wood extension platform to attach to the right runner for the mechanical foot pedal that controls the motor speed but I'll do that Monday. I'll also post photos Monday along with the details of the final adventures I had getting things completed. Ahhh. I made my Christmas deadline. Now I just need some rollers! Anyone have any old but usable ones they'd like to donate to a poor printer? They need to be 1 5/8" diameter however. I'll explain that later.

Time To Rearm

The restoration of the press is coming along nicely. I told myself I wanted to have it running by Christmas and I think I'll meet that goal. I'm almost desperate to begin printing on it but for a while at least I'll have to take comfort in the old maxim: patience is a virtue. I need to get my roller cores recovered and I won't likely be able to do that until after the first of the year.

As you can see from the photos I'm at the point where I'm putting the arms back on. I had started cleaning, step by step working my way from the lower back of the base upward. I used my old standard cleaning supplies: 3M green pads; WD-40; rolls and rolls of cheap paper towels; 150 grit sandpaper; and elbow grease.

My goal is almost never to strip things down to bare metal and restore it to factory new. It's an antique and has years of working patina and character that I try to preserve as much as possible. That much being said, I remove all dirt, built-up oil deposits, rust, loose paint, etc. I file off all burrs and make sure all machined surfaces are ready to rub against one another again with only a layer of fresh oil between them. When I find something so worn as to affect seriously the operation of the machine I repair it or replace it. I readjust all settings as necessary.

All of these steps are important, perhaps the last more than any. Over the years modifications get made to machinery, some good and some bad. People who don't know any better make adjustments incorrectly or don't repair things that should be repaired because they don't know any thing's wrong. For example, on the right lower leg of the press bed where the shaft that connects it to the base goes through there is a threaded hole. This is for a bolt that tightens against the shaft so the shaft and the bed casting move together. I wouldn't have ever known this if the presses had not been disassembled and I wasn't thoroughly cleaning them which is when I discovered the hole and asked myself: what's this hole for? The bearing surfaces for this shaft are actually in the base where there are oil holes. But in both this press and my old 8x12 these bolts went missing sometime in the distant past and the holes were filled with crud (sorry for the technical term). This meant that the bed had moved on the shaft when the press was running, at least part of the time. There are no oil holes in the bed casting at these points so the shaft and journals in the bed would simply wear down no matter how much oil was put in the oil holes for this shaft in the base. So it pays to study about and thoroughly go over a machine: know your press.

The press was moved in pieces on different occasions, the bed coming first. It had been laid on a standard furniture dolly and I rolled it out of the back of my van onto my back porch and up through the French doors into the living room by myself. Did I mention it was heavy? It was heavy. The base I had help with and we used the usual 3/4" pipe method to get it off the truck following the same route into the house.

I started on the base and when that was done I pulled and slid it sideways onto more pipes so that it was lined up with the spot where it would finally rest. Then I rolled the bed behind it, cleaned the legs, bed face, and sides as well as the shaft. Then with a bit of heavy-duty fiddling got the holes lines up and pushed the shaft in. Using the heavy tie-down strap you see in the photo as a come-along I raised the bed high enough so that I could get under it enough to lift it up into place. Did I mention that it was heavy? It was heavy.

I tied the bed and base together as you can see in the photo for safety and then finished the cleaning. I made sure the press was lined up where I wanted it to go and then pushed/rolled it back to almost where you see it sitting now. I hadn't yet replaced the oil, grease, and dirt soaked original runners but did that next using some hickory we had laying round at work to make new ones (It's good to be a cabinetmaker). Using the scissor jack from my van and a 4x4 I lifted first one side and then the other, swapping the runners out. The I rolled the press back the rest of the way to where you see it in the photo. I then jacked up the back and removed a couple pipes and then did the same for the front. It ain't goin' anywhere now.

I'll leave the tie-down strap on until I get the drive shaft in and pinion gear and flywheel on. Though the side arms limit the movement, the drive train keeps the bed from simply flopping back. One more arm to go and then the drive shaft, etc.

I described all of this in some detail to show that there is no magic to doing this kind of work by yourself nor is the machine a living thing waiting to attack. Mechanical experience is definitely a plus but common sense goes a long way. You have to think and be careful but if you can't do that you shouldn't consider printing anyway since you're likely to lose some fingers. You also don't need to spend a lot of money or possibly any money to move a press and restore one. Except for the cleaning supplies, which were very inexpensive, it cost me nothing. I used short boards I had in the basement as ramps to get things from the van to the back porch and then up the stoop of the French doors. I also had several lengths of old 3/4" pipe from some pipe clamps but Home Depot has them cheap or perhaps a neighbor has some. The tie down strap I had from years ago from some other move. The jack came from my van. So if you're thinking of getting a press but the idea of moving it and setting it up intimidates you, ask some questions and use your head but you can do it!

De-pressing

It was a busy weekend and somewhat bittersweet. My old C&P 8x12 OS (1893) press was removed from the shop and hauled away to make room for my new C&P 10x15 OS (1892) that was brought into the shop the same day. I'm very happy to have gotten this press and it will be much more useful but the 8x12 was my first press, I spent a lot of time restoring it, and I liked it quite a bit. Sigh.

The weekend began Saturday morning (of course) when I drove with my friend Alan to northern New Jersey to pick up some presses and other print shop items. Alan does what he calls Letterpress Rescue as part of the Excelsior Press Museum. People cleaning out their parent's house or closing down their print shop often find Alan through his website and ask him if he can come and get their presses and equipment. Sometimes selling the items isn't an option for people and presses are often in the basement or even the attic where scrap metal dealers seldom venture. Instead of them going to the smelter, Alan adds the items to the museum shop or sells them so they will continue their useful lives and help fund the museum.

Thus we found ourselves hauling one C&P 8x12 NS out of a basement and a second out of the garage. In a shed there was some type in cases and about eight 5 gallon buckets of Linotype slugs, leads, and misc. heavy metal. Here's a bit of news: lead is heavy. Both presses had Kimble variable speed motors and were complete and in good shape, though in need of cleaning. Our adventure took the better part of the day and we got home (Alan to Baptistown and me to Milford, NJ) about 5:30.

Sunday morning we were off to the house of Alan's former print shop teacher in east-central New Jersey, a very nice man now 80 years old. Over the course of several weeks we had removed from his basement a C&P 10x15 OS, the press I am trading up to, two 1940/50's vintage Mutilith offset presses, a NuArc platemaker, Challenge paper cutter, type in cases and all the other detritus of a print shop. There was another Challenge electric cutter already in the garage along with a brand-new in the box Spinnet paper drill. Because we had prepped all this previously and had a rental truck with a hydraulic lift gate it didn't take us long to load up.

The next stop was my house where my 8x12 press was waiting on my back porch. On the truck it went and off came the 10x15 and right into the living room. Then back to Alan's shop where we unloaded everything and put it with the haul from Saturday. All in all it was a busy weekend. I plan to begin cleaning my new press this weekend and will hopefully have it running and printing by Christmas. I'm very anxious to move from setting up the shop to printing. The press is very nice and came with 6 chases, a Kimble variable speed motor, and a long and interesting history of job work.

The first photo below shows the two NS presses in front of my OS press in the barn where Alan has his shop, all lined up like soldiers on parade. The second shows a closeup of my old press. The third shows the main frame of my new press after we got it into the living room, otherwise know as my shop. As you can see, it needs some cleaning.

Let me mention that the three 8x12 presses are for sale. I can give you particulars or you can write to Alan directly about specifics and prices through the Excelsior Press website, a link to which is at the right of this blog page. In addition, the two Multilith presses are for sale, one is for parts but the other is complete and running and there are many, many (did I say many?) accessories, blankets, an extra brand-new motor, etc. that go with it. Alan's teacher used it regularly and had large stocks of all needed supplies. Also, both Challenge paper cutters are for sale, they're complete and nice. The paper drill and platemaker with several boxes of new carbon rods and vacuum pump are also for sale. As for me, I'm getting some type, cuts, and ornaments.

So it's not so de-pressing after all, eh?

Soldiers On Parade

Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot

New Kid On The Block

E Pluribus Unum

The many separate parts you see in the photos, once joined back together in a perfect harmony of one, will be my newly acquired Chandler and Price 10 x 15 OS press, built in 1892. This is in fact a trade-in on my current C&P 8 x 12 of the same vintage. The 10 x 15 belonged to my friend Alan's former print shop teacher and since Alan's shop has a 10 x 15 but not a restored 8 x 12 we've swapped.

I had thought some day I would want a larger press so I could print larger forms and feel more comfortable doing some die cutting. But I had not intended to go out actively looking for some time as I'm still getting started on the 8 x 12. But this was a perfect opportunity and I'm very glad it came along. I'm very excited about getting it up and running. The only thing I'll need is new rollers as the original composition rollers are no longer any good.

You don't see the main body of the press because it's still sitting in the garage near the basement we hauled the press out of. Alan took some photos of this effort that he's going to post on his Excelsior Press website. But I'm getting started cleaning these parts so that in a few weeks when we get the rest of the contents of the shop with a big truck I'll have gotten a head start. Last night I managed to get the flywheel off the drive shaft. It was stuck pretty good but by drilling out the key I was able to do it. I also cleaned the feed and delivery boards and gave them a coat of shellac.

Shellac is a great finish. The original boards were finished with it and I used a rag and denatured alcohol to rub them down thereby removing the dirt from the finish while leaving the aged patina. A couple of coats of new shellac will make them as good as new as far as use goes but they will still have all the character of age. Shellac is made from the secretions of the Lac beetle in Southeast Asia (no, I'm not kidding) and has been a common furniture finish for a few hundred years. Usually amber in color (thus "orange" shellac) it is dissolved in denatured alcohol which acts as a vehicle to carry the pigment to the surface. Because the alcohol evaporates quickly you can often sand and re-coat with a half hour. It's an easy finish to use and repair. You can still get it at paint stores and even Home Depot.

Proof Of The Resurrection

As can be seen by the incredibly bad photo from my old and indequate digital camera, I pulled a proof on my newly restored galley proof press of the Ludlow slug I made at my friend Alan's shop. That started a sudden urge to pull proofs on all sorts of cuts and standing forms to test out the press. I've very satisfied with the results. It does make a deep impression on the paper, sometimes the surrounding areas that got inked by the brayer get on the paper, and there is sometimes a bit of slurring. But considering that these presses were designed for proof-reading newspaper copy it does a very acceptable job. I'm happy to have it and plan on using it regularly. I suppose I could simply beat a proof off with a hand proofer but not only do I think this is better for larger forms but it's a lot more fun. It's also exciting using such a restored piece of history that must have proofed many a newspaper form over the years.

Wheels Within Wheels

There's been a lot of discussion on Briar Press and the LETPRESS mailing list recently about operating a press safely. One of the important factors to consider is the speed of the press. Without a treadle or variable speed motor, running the press at a slow enough speed for safe operation, whether for a beginner or experienced pressman, is not always so straightforward.

To use my press for an example: It came from a print shop where the printer had over 50 years experience. The press had a 1725 rpm motor which gave 36 impressions per minute when belted to the 24" pulley on the drive shaft. Needless to say, this was much too fast for me and probably even for many experienced printers.

The press had no treadle and an expensive variable speed motor was financially put of the question. The answer was to slow the speed down by the use of an intermediate pulley arrangement known as a countershaft. By adjusting the diameter of the pulleys in this setup the speed of the press is adjusted up or down. In this case, the pulley on the motor is a 2" V-belt pulley which is belted to a 6" V-belt pulley on the countershaft. On the end of the shaft is a 2" flat belt pulley which in turn is belted to a 24" flat belt pulley on the press. The motor, 2" and 24" flat belt pulleys came with the press.

The photo below shows my countershaft. I was fortunate in having an old motor mount with a built-in countershaft but a similar setup could easily be made out of wood and with pillow blocks, a shaft, and pulleys purchased from an industrial supplier, flea market, etc. The wide pulley under the belt is an idler pulley to keep tension on the belt and help it wrap around the small pulley better and provide more surface contact. This is not essential but I had it laying in my basement and it works well. I made the base for it out of wood, the same as can be done for the main countershaft and motor mount.

I've read and been told that 14 impressions per minute is a good speed to start for a beginner, or even slower. My press runs at 15 ipm and as a beginner I'm very comfortable with that speed. I thought I would post this to show a less common but effective, inexpensive, and relatively simple option to run the press at a safe speed.

Press In A Blanket

Here is a poor photo from my inadequate camera of the restored proof press. The one I posted previously was taken by the man I got the press from. I've made a new door for it but I'm waiting for a reproduction latch before I mount it. Other than that it's ready to go.

The first step was to completely disassemble everything which was straightforward. I took it to work and sandblasted the castings. I also sanded the wood parts inside and out, removing the dirt, crud, and old paint. Some of the original paint remained on the wood but had been partly covered by the ubiquitous battleship gray. The wood was in good shape though there were a few interesting surprises, one being that while the bottom of the cabinets is pine, the rest is mahogany. As a cabinetmaker I didn't find that painting mahogany was odd as it has excellent rot resisting properties and is often used for exterior, painted millwork instead of cyprus. But I don't see why this characteristic would be desirable in this type of application. The factory may simply have had some in stock or gotten some at a good price. This happens in the shop I work in from time to time.

I wet-sanded the bed after sandblasting to polish it and the original milling marks showed up nicely. It's a bit pitted here and there but not to the point that it will affect its use, especially since the form to be proofed sits in a galley while using the press. I cleaned the cylinder by hand after removing the original felt blanket. I had some thoughts about trying to clean and reuse the blanket but finally decided it was too far gone. Once the cylinder was cleaned I put a new blanket on it, sewing it by hand like the original. You can see the seam in the photo.

The original color was a dark green similar to the Kelly Green I used here. My green is somewhat lighter and is more likely to have been used in the early 1890's if not the 1880's. I was only somewhat concerned with exactly duplicating the color. If money had been no object I would have gotten a color scan. In any case, it's very close and I like it. I brushed the paint on as I do with most of my machine restorations; it gives a thicker coat and is less messy.

I wanted to pull a proof with it but ran out of time. When I do I'll post a photo here. I'm pleased with the way it turned out and I'm happy to finally have the galley proof press I've wanted.

Proof Press Project

Ah, the joys of alliteration.

Unfortunately I haven't been doing much printing as a result of press problems. I have a Chandler & Price 8x12 Old Style built in 1893. I need new rollers and new tires for my Morgan Expansion Trucks. I can print with what I have but the quality is spotty. But I should be able to take care of both issues by the end of the year, hopefully in time for Christmas so I can put out my first holiday card.

In the meantime there's never any lack of other projects in the shop. From cleaning type cases to distributing type and cleaning and organizing fonts of rule, etc. it's an ongoing project. I recently picked up a Chandler & Price galley proof press. Along with a few other things I've been working on this past week or so I've been restoring it to beauty and practical utility.

My entire shop pretty much consists of vintage equipment and accessories that do not date beyond about 1930. When cleaning or restoring antiques my general rule of thumb is: less is more. Even where more drastic measures are necessary I try and take a minimalist approach. Not only do I like the original, vintage look but also the wear and patina that is usually present. On the other hand, I don't consider rust to be a patina worthy of preservation.

The age of the proof press is roughly from 1890 to 1910 based on the style and remaining bits of paint color. The design of the stand seems to have changed at some point around 1910. But in any case, as can be seen from the photo below of the press as I received it, flood and tempest had taken their toll. The only option was a total restoration including repainting. I started last weekend: details on that in my next post.

Rust Never Sleeps