inherited a press…

Hello everybody,

I’ve inherited a Chandler and Price New Style 10x15 Press. It was my grandfathers and before that it was my great great grandfathers. This press has a long history. My GG Grandfather actually was deaf and used to print in a shack in the back yard. The press also survived a fire (some kids lit the shack on fire). Eventually it came into my grandfathers hands and he took care of it for many years.

He used the press up until only a few months before he passed away. This was a number of years ago. Eventually we moved the press into my garage, and that is where it is today.

I owned a screen printing business for five years and just sold it. Looking around it seems that letter press may be something I would want to get into. The press gathered some surface rust, but i’ve got it cleaned off for the most part.

I suppose what I’m most curious about is how to go about cleaning the entire press off and getting it ready for production. At one point in time (70’s) some oil based grey paint was applied to most of the press but is now all peeling off. Additionally there are a few parts missing, notably the wheel on the right side (the wheel used to connect to the motor via a belt) sorry i’m pretty bad a printer termenology!

Additionally I’ve got lots of type. A good bit of it was lost but I’ve saved some. I’ve also got lots of tools.

I look forward to talking with everybody here and thanks for any pointers you can give!

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hello

I’m in the process of rehabilitating several various sizes of these machines right now. first and most important it seems you have already done get the rust off.

next you want to make sure all the moving parts are well oiled. i’m sure you have noticed all the oiling points on the press. it seems i find a new one every time i start on a new press.

third, you can remove the paint that is flaking off with a wire brush or if you want to get right down to it some stypeeze but that gets gooey and messy. as long as the flakes are gone you should be alright. others here might have better ideas on how to remove the paint.

as for the missing fly wheel if you have a foot treadle you really don’t need to worry about it. but if you want to make it motorized again you’ll need to find one. with most of the presses i’ve worked on, if it is treadle operated that extra fly wheel will help with momentum but not much else.

this should get you started on rehabing the press. obviously you’ll probably need new rollers, we’ve used tarheel and na graphics for those you can find listings on here for them. if you have the cores you should be in good shape since this is one of the more common presses still being used. and as for any other parts that are missing
we might be able to help you out as we have i think 2 of these in storage still and no more room in the shop for them…

hope this helps.

tony

Thank you for the information!

The press does not have a foot treadle. The way my grandfather had it working was he positioned the motor next to the large flywheel (they touched). that would motorize the press. By looking around it seems that was a workaround and not the original setup. Lots to learn I suppose.

Can a press have a treadle added? If not I guess I better find a new wheel. The motor is still in good working condition. He was actually using the rollers up until a few years back. I cleaned them off and stored them, so they may be in good enough shape to use.

A treadle can be added if the flywheel shaft has an offset crank in the middle of the press. Reproduction treadles can be bought from Hern Ironworks along with the treadle hook.

Though there’s nothing wrong with the motor setup if it isn’t going too fast for you. I prefer a treadle, but not everyone does.

FYI…The large wheel on the left is the flywheel. The ones on the right would be more correctly called a drive pulley if there’s one or some presses came two wheels that meshed with a clutch mechanism and were called the Loose and Tight Steam Fixture Pulleys. See http://www.boxcarpress.com/community/manuals/cp-newseries-parts-list.pdf for a complete parts list for this press.

Excellent information, thanks for giving me a heads up.

What exactly does the offset crank look like? I’m going to go check the machine and see if I notice anything, but I’m not quite sure what to look for.

Ok, I just checked out the press. It has a U shaped bend in the middle of the press with a section exactly in the center of the bend that is recessed a bit. I’m guessing this is where you hook up the treadle? Seems to be exactly what you are talking about.

Thanks so much for the info, i really appreciate it.

Yes. That’s it.