Sigwalt 5 or ? chase needed

I have recently aquired a Sigwalt 5 (shipping was a serious gamble that by some absolute miracle turned out fine) but it needs a chase. Are there any other models of presses that the chase would work? Would anyone be kind enough to send me a picture of the back and/or sides of a Sigwalt 5 chase because I am a little unclear on how they stay in. Is there a grooved slot in the sides of chase that rides down onto the pins on the sides of the press bed? Or…is there a source for 6x9 Sigwalt chases out there? I have a small aluminum foundry and was thinking if I could find one I could cast some up. Any help, information or advice would be much appreciated.
Cheers,
Connie

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A Sigwalt #5 Chase is held in place by two small lugs cast into the side of the chase that slide in behind those two pins. They are sort of wedge shaped so that they hold the chase firmly against the bed. ( I would send you a picture, but my digi-cam is not working at the moment.)

Thank you for the info. Now at least I know what to look for when I scour the net for pictures of these presses.
Cheers ;o)

Here’s a picture of a Sigwalt chase. At John Barrett’s Wayzgoose a few months ago someone had a whole stack of Sigwalt no. 5 chases. I’m pretty sure he had some left at the end but I might be wrong. I wish I knew who it was who had them; perhaps someone else knows.
(larger picture here). Here’s the chase sitting behind the little pin. Sorry it’s kind of blurry and hard to see…

image: chasepin.jpg

chasepin.jpg

image: chase.jpg

chase.jpg

Thanks so much gillyfish! I’ll put out the formal wanted posts and hope he sees it.
Cheers

Hi Connie,
Did you find a chase yet? I went through the same process. I have one perfect one, one that’s repaired and tends to expand and get stuck and an aluminum one that I bought on ebay that said it was cast from the original forms. The aluminum one is very rough and needs to be sanded down. I wrote to the seller afterwards but he seemed to have vanished. I also have a mystery press I bought without a chase that is similar to a Sigwalt and is supposed to have the same kind of “ears” on the chase as a Sigwalt has. I got a chase without the projections but with the right frame size and drilled holes and epoxied in little sections of rod and it actually wedges into place. Just saying for if you get desperate! I didn’t figure that one out—I got help and encouragement!
Lynn

Hi Lynn,
I did end up getting a beautiful chase just like the one pictured above. I might try to cast some in aluminum if I end up needing more. We’ll see. I am so glad there are such helpful and encouraging people out there with great advice and knowledge on letterpress printing!
Connie