Warped?
Is it possible for cast iron or cast steel to…warp?
My Sigwalt Ideal No. 5 is skewed to the left; I had to take off the tympan bales (I am now using rubber bands and a little tape) because on the left side, they interfered with the closing of the platen, which sits decidedly off to the left. The rollers also are off—the pair of trucks on the right seems to track pretty well, but the left-hand team is more than halfway off the track.
The press works just great with the workaround, so I can’t really complain. But if there were a way to fix it, I probably would. I’ve tried loosening and tightening various widgets but cannot find anything that affects this skewed-ness…am I missing something obvious? For any ideas, thanks!
While not common, it is possible for cast iron to warp, especially if it’s been in a fire. BUT I’ve never seen a warped Sigwalt before. What I have seen though, is a press with badly worn shafts that had a similar skew to it. That’s the first thing I’d check.
Is it possible for you to post a few pictures of it?
I don’t think this one went through a fire, so maybe it has worn shafts (what are they?). I will try to take some pix; what exactly should I try to get in the photos? Thanks very much!
Hi!
I have a Sigwalt Ideal #5 also. I was wondering if mine was skewed but working on those big bolts that adjust the platen straightened it out. This is probably the first thing you tried! It took a surprising amount of adjusting and I think what confused me was that some of the parts were replacement and I was eyeballing the length of exposed bolt and only later did I realize they were different.
Lynn