restoration

Cleaning

 :: hecate and mushrooms ::

I've started the process of cleaning up my new-to-me Vandercook No. 4. I'm still a bit in disbelief. When I started cleaning it I kept having to remind myself - you're not at work (I work in a university print shop) you're cleaning your very own press.

 :: clean rollers ::

The cleaning process is a real rabbit hole. There's hard dried ink lurking everywhere and it does not want to come off. It's very satisfying though when you finish one area, like the rollers, and move on to the next one.
 :: ink and paint composition ::

I'm also learning more about the press as I clean it. When I got home and removed the tympan paper. I found prints with the press name The Stone House Press, a fine press in Roslyn, New York run by Morris A. Gelfand.

I found this photograph of Morris.


:: Morris A. Gelfand ::

Thank you, Morris. I will treat your press well.

:: results ::

InPRESStigator!™

You know what? Fixing a press is not easy, especially if you're unfamiliar with the inner workings of the type of press you're trying to fix. I've used Vandercooks for years, and feel confident tinkering with one, because I know how it's supposed to act when it's working. But this press...

my press where it sat for 30 years unused

Is a riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a vest. Recently though, I've made some more progress, and more importantly, I'm gaining confidence. I'm also coming to terms with the fact that this press will never look perfect, but it should work.

A few months ago, I found out that my press has some parts that weren't manufactured by Chandler & Price.

my press, ink disc bracket

My ink disc bracket is made up of three parts, two arms that bolt to the frame and one that lays over top, like a post and lintel. On a C&P, this is all one piece.


my press, ink disc lever

Another mystery was how come the ink disc lever, the mechanism with a little hook that turns the ink disc, was much smaller than a C&P's. It worked, it just didn't look like it was supposed to.

Lastly, there's the gripper cam.

my press, gripper cam

A C&P's gripper cam

Well, as you can see, one of these things is not like the other. I knew these parts weren't homemade repairs, because they had serial numbers on them, but I didn't understand where they could have come from.

So I did some research and found out that around 1887, Chandler & Price was not the only press manufacturer around. There were many regional manufacturers building nearly identical generic presses lumped under the description of old style Gordon jobber presses. The article George Gordon's Dream Press is a great resource if you want to learn more. I plan to buy A Catalogue of 19th Century Printing Presses by Harold E. Sterne when I have some extra dollars too.

Now that I knew that, I searched for images of "gordon jobber presses" and started finding some presses that had parts that looked like mine! Like this one, an S&L old style jobber press with a three piece ink disc bracket.

three piece ink disc bracket

And most striking, I found the Old Reliable. The Old Reliable was only manufactured for one year, 1888, and then the patents were sold to Chandler & Price.

Old Reliable

Chandler & Price Old Style

The two press's look nearly identical! So what I've come to realize is that my press is a mutt. The main frame and platen is from a 1887 Chandler & Price. The flywheel, gripper cam, ink lever, and ink disc bracket...not Chandler & Price. They could be from any number of regional press manufacturers that were around back then. I'm so glad I figured this out, because now that I know that there's plenty of other mystery presses out there that are working. Will it work even though it's a mutt? I think so.

Delavacation.

This week, I've had the chance to spend some time in Delaware with my family. I've been going on walks, going to thrift stores, sleeping, and just acting like I'm on vacation. A Delavacation. It's been really nice.

nice ice

Yesterday afternoon, I went for a walk with my Dad in Alapocas Woods, by the Brandywine River, and looked at the ice. By the way, what do you call a bicycle with an infinite number of wheels? An icicle. That's my math joke. I made it up when I was twelve.

pretty pretty board shear

Last week, Mike and I put together the board shear, and it works like a dream! I will no longer be cutting book board by hand, and this is good news. Cutting book board by hand was by no means impossible, but it did feel like a chore. The board shear will make it far more pleasant and quick work.

This brings to mind a quote from Books, Boxes, and Portfolios by Franz Zeier, my philosophical and technical advisor.



Again and again in these pages I demand precision, but far be it for me to discourage those who are truly unable to work with a high degree of exactness. Creative freedom, however, should not be confused with sloppiness... An object made with love and care can be a thing of beauty, a whole, even when it is imperfect, by contrast another one, although flawless, can leave us untouched and strike no sympathetic chord.


Is that a press?

Is that what I think it is? A Chandler & Price Old Style 10 x 15? Sans flywheel? Why it is! Yes, for the first time since its purchase and dismantlement, the C&P is back on its own four feet and looking like a press again. Sort of. We still need to reattach the flywheel, drive wheel, and other important things.

Upon closer inspection, we also realized we're missing some nuts. 30 years of sitting in a basement unused will do that. I keep picturing the previous owners doing something like this:

- I need a nut for this bolt.
- Just get one off the press.

We should be able to get replacements at any hardware store. Otherwise, things are looking pretty good so far. The mechanism behind the ink disc needs some work but the platen looks great, as do the gears and the rails. Not bad for a 120 year old machine.

Pretty exciting stuff, people.