Help! One of the arms that hold the rollers has broken off from my Kelsey 5x8!

Betty- DO NOT PANIC…… Your Kelsey is repairable. I’ve repaired about a dozen of those arms in the last decade or so and all of the presses were saved.

You have two options: 1. You can call NA Graphics and see if they have a replacement part. ( They may or may not have one) This would be the best solution.
2. Failing that, you can take the broken parts to a good welding shop that fixes engine blocks and have them repaired. I would have them brazed if it were mine, but welding would also work. Just be sure that they are good at what they do. You don’t want some hack who makes Bar B Q Grills trying to weld it up.

Thank you so much winking cat press! I will contact NA Graphics now!

if na doesn’t have the part you might try excelsior press in new jersey, alan has lots of parts for kelsey presses. good luck.

I have contacted NA Graphics, they are not sure if they will be able to help me out, but I sent them photos of the damage, and now I need to wait for their response… I also tried calling welding shops that specializes in cast iron welding, but they were reluctant to weld old cast iron, saying it wouldnt be strong enuf to operate after all anyways. I AM EXTREMELY SAD…

Betty,

Try contacting Alan at Excelsior Press [[email protected]] or Lou in Rhode Island who restores Kelseys [[email protected]]. I have Alan’s phone number, but not on me so I will be back on tonight to post it. I bought my restored press from Alan/Lou and they are very knowledgeable on Kelsey’s. Hope you find a replacement soon!

Elisa

http://excelsiorpress.org/forsale/kelseypartsandrepair/index.html

Betty…. that’s why I prefer brazing. That particular part is not under a lot of stress, so it’s not a problem to repair.

Chin Up….. this is still not a disaster. Between us all, we’ll come up with a solution.

Alan can be reached at (908) 627-2730. He may either have a part or can get a new one cast through Lou.

Some old cast iron is difficult weld but not all. Also, it’s likely your Kelsey is not all that old in the usual meaning of “old press”. Even if it’s from the 40’s or 50’s that would be considered “new” as compared to a Pilot or Sigwalt from say 1900, which would probably have the “old” cast iron that might be difficult.

Anyway, check with Alan, he;ll definitely be able to help you.

Rich

Front Room Press
Milford, NJ
http://frontroompress.com
http://frontroompress.blogspot.com