Category: Troubleshooting the press
Later topic: Good Electrician in Chicago?
Earlier topic: Does anyone own a Kelsey 6x10 MODEL X?

Uneven impression on my Craftsman “superior” press.

Hello-

I have cleaned off my Craftsman Superior press, and when i ran some prints on it this evening, i noticed how the print seemed to have a deeper impression towards the bottom and lighter closer to the top. It got a little better when i added packing near the top, but still wasn’t as strong an impression as it could be.

Would it be a smart thing to adjust the top two bolts on the bottom side of the platen?

Is it bad to add packing behind the chase as well as behind the tympan?

This press is green in color and it holds a 6.5 x 10 chase. From what i have read it seems that it is aluminum and not cast iron….when i bought it a few years back it looks like it hasn’t really been used…

This press seems to be a bit more temperamental than my Offical map press….

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Best-
Don

Log in to reply   2 replies so far

There is another discussion going on about how to set the impression which should answer some questions.

It might be worth mentioning that you typically don’t want to be putting packing under a chase because you are changing the relationship between the type and the inking rollers. This would contribute to the rollers applying ink to the sides of the type which is to be avoided.

Having said that it can be necessary on occasion to put a piece of tissue or the like under individual pieces of type (especially wood type) to adust for a piece that is worn so that it is below .918” in height.

Heavy impression at the bottom denotes that you are over packed in the packing on the platen. Best thing you can do is start from the beginning and make sure your rollers are set right at .918 (type high) for proper inking.
When inking is right, next thing you want is to set the platen(with NO packing) to the bed (100% paralell to the bed of the press where the chase goes). Space between the platen and the bed should be about .968 allowing for packing. Start with less packing and build up to where you get a good impression. The press you have is a good one and if set right should give a good impression.