Dealer

Are there any used equipment dealers that may sell
Vandercooks.

I have been watching Briarpress craigslist and ebay for a Vandercook

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I’ve seen (http://www.a-1enterprises.com/) pop up in google searches from time to time.

They have carried Vandercooks from time to time.

If anyone has bought from them, I would like to know if they are a reputable dealer.

They have a -20 on their site for $1,000 right now…Claiming to be reconditioned, with a complete inking unit. Unfortunately, the telltale sign of a bad/faked/pretend recondition is present: new paint on bearing surfaces/ways/gear rack.

If I had the money right now, I might buy it, knowing that it isn’t ready to print and would need a chunk of work…And probably some parts from the look of it.

Try Don Black in Toronto. He’s in the yellow pages on this site. He reconditions the Vandercooks that he sells, and I have never heard a complaint about the quality of his sold presses. We have one from him and it was recerived by us in like-new condition.

Hicks Bros. in San Francisco often has 1 or 2 on their site. They usually offer new rollers, and do some basic reconditioning, but i have heard mixed reviews about the state of their used equipment. Worth looking at if you are near the West Coast.
http://www.printingequip.com/

I had a very good experience with Hicks Bros. I got my SP-15 from them. It wasn’t billed as “like new,” but was very honestly represented, and the price fairly reflected the press as it was (running great but not looking perfectly purty).

Norman Hicks replaced the rollers and a few other parts that needed it, and he went way out of his way to run some proofs on it for me (with the expert help of Eric of the San Francisco book arts center), so I could see how it printed via e-mailed photos.

AND Norman had the great good sense to badger me into getting shipping insurance, which otherwise I may have been too chintzy to do on my own.

(This paid off big-time after the shipper smashed up the press en route from SF to Minnesota. The insurance fully covered having some new parts fabricated and having the magnificent Dave and Beth Seat come over and get the press running again.)

“Expert”, no, nor am I from the SF Center for the Book, but as a working printer with not enough work to keep me in the shop, I have helped the Hicks Bros a bit with Vandercooks over the last 15 months. I have seen some seriously neglected presses rehabilitated by them, in ways I would not have believed if I hadn’t seen things before and after. A lot of work, some new parts, and another press gets a new home.
Last week there were four on the floor: at least two already sold, and two still in process, including a 32-28. Really Really Big.
Most people around here don’t complain about what they sell, but rather about the things they have but won’t sell! —Eric, SF

Well, Eric, you certainly were more experter than I! :-D

As for saying you were from the SF book arts center: I had called them while contemplating the purchase, looking for someone out there to evaluate the press for me, and asked who was the SF regional god of Vandercooks. They passed along your name, so that’s how you became attached to them in my mind.

Apologies for the error of fact (and thanks again for the help)!

I have tried on numerous occasions to contact A-1 as they supposedly have an office nearby in Fairfax Virgina. I got one email back but never a returned phone call. They always have equipment on the website but customer service or desire to sell the equipment is lacking.

DBurnette abd clayoliff— I worked with A-1 to get my C&P delivered to Boston from their detroit location. They were fairly easy to work with (always very nice on the phone once I finally got them— and they never returned phone calls), and only encounted a slight issue during shipment when the feeding table was cracked. They offered to fix it if I shipped it back- but I never took them up on their offer.