Press Progress

So I've done a little work on the press recently and thought I'd give you a little update on where we are, what needs to happen next, etc. So I meet with a group of printers at the Printer's Guild at the Museum of Printing History Houston. Some of these members are older guys who were pressmen for a living, or have been doing this a long time, and they are a wealth of knowledge and a great resource. In talking to them about my press the consensus was that I should remove the automatic feeder.

The press I have is a Chandler and Price which was outfitted with an automatic feeder made by Kluge, probably around 1939 (according to the serial number.) The automatic feeder would be incredibly handy in that I could set it up, and let it run, and it would hypothetically be able to do all the printing for me. It would pick the paper up, put it in the press, pull it off, etc. I would not have to hand feed it into the press, which is how a lot of other presses work.

The problem, however, comes in getting it set up. The vacuum pump which runs the suction needs restoration (or replacing), and setting up the feeder is a fickle thing. Unless I was doing large production runs, by the time I got the thing set up and adjusted for each individual job, I'd have been able to hand feed it through myself. I was discouraged the first time I heard this. I sought other opinions and they all agreed. The feeder should go. Unless I had bought a turn key operation in pristine condition, I was setting myself up for frustration. So off it came!

Here is the before.

And here is the after.

There are still some small components that need to come off, but otherwise the automatic feeder is laying on my garage floor waiting to be taken to the scrap yard. I feel like a weight has been lifted! 

So my to-do list (that I know about) to get the press printing is:

remove automatic feeder

re-wire and mount new motor and phase drive

build and mount a new feed table

general spit shine/cleaning/oiling

build caster cart

general supplies gathering (ongoing)

I can't wait to get this thing up and running! 

Whiz Bang!

Ok, I do apologize for the lack of activity.  It's been too dang cold to work on the press as it's currently in my garage!  I did oil the thing up a few days ago.  There are 20 plus oil pots on this beast and I don't think they've been tended to since 1979.  So now that she's glistening like a grecian goddess she's limber and ready to get moving.

So this press is motorized.  Allegedly.  Meaning, there is a motor attached to it, but I wasn't so sure if it worked or not, or being that it looks like it was put on in 1939 and already has some janky wiring on it I wasn't so sure I should even try to turn it on.  My dad, being the handy man that he is came over to help me figure out what I was working with.

Let me preface this by saying that though I "own" a "business" we are in no way up to safety codes, etc. In fact I think OSHA would spit on us, slap us, or hold a prayer vigil in our honor... I'm not sure which.

Dad replaced the on/off switch on the front of the press (which now looks humorously modern and out of place) and we then proceeded to plug the thing in.  I wish I had video of this.  I simultaneously held a fire extinguisher and a broom incase of fire or electrocution and I needed to knock him loose (safety first).

There was smoke, sparks, a rubber burney smell, and it was running really really fast.  We soon realized we were running 220v through a 110v motor.  Bad decision.  We replaced some wiring and tried again.  And Viola!   SHE LIVES!

Untitled from Lori Walker on Vimeo.

I'll probably still be replacing the motor as the burney smell persists, and I just honestly don't trust it.  But she's moving!  Huzzah!

Moving does not equal working, mind you.  There still is a lot of work, some missing parts, some parts that are supposed to be moving that aren't that I don't even KNOW how to get moving... Still feeling in over my head, but definitely feeling encouraged.   The whiz bang of this thing makes my heart pitter patter.