inhibiting rust on ink disk
Hi, I’m new here and am restoring my first table-top press. It’s all cleaned, derusted, etc. except that I’m not sure what to do about rust on the ink disk. I removed it, but since it’s the bare metal it obviously returns within a couple days. On the smaller pieces (nuts and bolts and whatnot), they’ve been cleaned with “The Must For Rust” or coated with some WD-40 both of which are inhibiting the rust from returning, but I’m not sure how to handle the ink disk since I don’t want to coat it in something that would later interact with the ink.
What do people usually put on their ink discs to keep them from rusting? Thanks in advance for any advice!!
You will need to put something on the ink disk like, wax paste furniture polish, Putz Pominade (ms) or WD40. and then clean it off before you print. I am in the Pacific NW and rust starts to form before I am done cleaning.
We have the same problem down here on the GulfCoast….. bare metal rusts as soon as you clean it off. To prevent it, we use paste-wax. Virtually any paste-wax will work, but the easiest to use is Turtle Wax for cars.
Once you start using the press, residual mineral spirits will generally keep the disk from rusting. That is assuming that you use oil-based ink and mineral spirits to clean it up, of course. However, if you use water-based ink or soap/water based cleaning procedures, then rust will always be a problem.
I haven’t ever had any rust issues with presses that are actually used regularly. A bit of oil on the bed, bearers etc., and solvent residue on the ink disk has kept them clean. The only exception is when someone puts their drink down on the bed of one of my Vandercooks. That drives me crazy.
Is there really a time when water based ink and soap and water wash up is necessary?
Daniel Morris
The Arm Letterpress
Brooklyn, NY
Daniel….. not in my opinion.
Thanks for the comments from all! That’s very helpful. I do have oil-based inks right now, winking cat, but if I use rubber-based will what you said change? Or is rubber-based fine assuming I’m using a solvent cleaner?
Which brings me to my next question, as far as rust goes, are there any non-solvent based regular cleaners that will do the same (inhibit the rust while cleaning the ink, etc)? I’m not opposed to using mineral spirits, as that’s what I’ve done at the studio I’ve been printing in for the last year. But I was intrigued that many people said they use Simple Green as a cleaner. I know there are plenty on this board who might disagree with the choice, but I’d prefer to limit my exposure and be a little more environmentally friendly as well, IF it’s possible and makes sense.
I know Simple Green is water-based so I suspect that won’t help the rusting situation, and by the very nature of solvents (and rust) I would guess that there aren’t any other options. But thought I may as well ask!
Thanks again for the advice!
Please consider the following if you are thinking of using Simple Green as a cleaner:
http://www.thegoodhuman.com/2007/07/30/think-simple-green-is-a-good-eco-...
rachmc….. While I am VERY environmentally oriented, with solar panels powering my shop, and a policy of using recycled materials, I still use mineral spirits in my shop.
Because of my interest in Green matters, I’ve researched and tested virtually every “environmentally friendly” clean-up method put forth on the Internet in the last ten years. That includes crisco/veggie oil, Simple Green, water micible solvents, and many different variations there-of. My conclusion is that none of them are significantly better for the environment, and none of them are as effective at cleaning rollers and presses. Some of them are actually harmful to rollers and machinery, especially the soap / detergent based ones.
Remember, just because something is water soluble does not mean it’s better for the planet. Many of the “water based” cleaners being sold are simply emulsions containing the same chemicals that environmentalists complain about…. and since they are thought to be “cleaner” they are often discarded into drainage or sewer systems, which is even worse.
According to the EPA, the amount of VOCs emitted from small letterpress shops is so insignificant that they don’t even monitor it. They do however feel that some emulsion-based cleaners pose an environmental problem and are studying them now. In light of that, I’ve decided to stay with mineral spirits…… like I’ve done for many years.
winking cat - thanks so much for the information! You’ve convinced me to stick with mineral spirits, as I definitely don’t want to harm the machinery/rollers, and if it doesn’t make that much of a difference as far as health and the environment, it probably doesn’t make that much sense.
I do have another question about Crisco I’m hoping you can answer. At the shop where I was trained, they use Crisco on the rollers as an initial cleanup, and then follow-up with the mineral spirits. Is this also not recommended? Can you explain the reason they might be doing it that way and if I can just get away with using mineral spirits alone, or is there something else I should use in the cleanup process in place of the Crisco?
I’ll follow up by saying that I was trained on Vandercooks, so my tabletop is my first foray into platen, so I’m still learning what applies or not - thanks again for everyone’s comments and help!
Using Mineral Spirits after Crisco would not pose any problems….. but what would the Crisco gain you, other than to perhaps loosen the ink a bit? A drop or two of mineral spirits will do the same thing. It doesn’t take much at all.
Our proceedure is to blot off the ink with waste paper, and then do a final clean-up with mineral spirits. If you do your intial blot-off thoroughly, then the solvent use is minimized.
Great, thanks so much again for your recommendations!! Much appreciated :)