Need help with rollers…. having trouble with 2 things
Hey All! I just got a new press.. a C&P 10x15. its a LITTLE different than the ones i learned on but I’m getting most functionality.
I got the rollers put in. They seemed really TIGHT on the ink disk. I bough the deep relief boxcar (as suggested on the boxcar website) and although I have not inked yet… it appears that the rollers will roll not only over the polymer plate but it is so “tight” on there that it will likey also touch the boxcar base.
Do I have my rollers in incorrectly? Is there a way to adjust the height of the rollers? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
My other question… I learned in my class that at least on the vandercool the rollers should not be ‘engaged” (i.e. resting on anything) or they will misshape. I also worked in class with a C&P but honestly I cant remember! I can’t find a “spot” when I turn my fly wheel that the rollers arent touching anything. Should I ‘store” them somewhere while on my machine but the machine is not in use?
Thanks!
PS. one last thing… On the top of my ink disk there is another roller in a little housing type thing with a little wheel on the side. What is this? I’ve seen some C&P’s with it.. and some without.
You can add tape to your rails to make sure the rollers are only in contact with the polymer and not the base.
You should probably store the rollers off of the press for any long period of time. If you need to leave them on the press just open the press and you’ll see where the roller frame springs have the least tension. It’ll be toward the bottom of the rails. Just make sure you’re not leaving the rollers on the disk—that will flatten your rollers.
The thing on top of your ink disk is probably an ink fountain. It was used for long runs and it could hold additional ink that was transferred to the topmost form roller by the large metal roller in the disk. You’ll probably never use it.
I leave my rollers centered in the empty bed (take the chase and form out whenever the press isn’t being used. This is the position where the springs are least compressed. The rollers should not be touching anything in this position. The trucks will, of course, be resting on the rails, but the rollers themselves shouldn’t.
May be an obvious question, but do you have trucks on the rollers? There should be a round delrin. metal or hard rubber circle that goes on the ends of the roller cores. The trucks are what will give the rollers their proper height.
If you do have them on there, are they for the correct size C&P?
Hmmm… maybe i don’t have them on. I didnt see how they would “fit” into the spaces for the ends of the rollers… Does anyone have a photo of what the rollers should look like from the side view?
Maybe that is my problem hmmmm….
They don’t fit under the roller hooks…. they are maybe .75” wide with a hold in the center to fit over the roller shafts. They ride on the rails which is the raised lip on either end of the bed. I don’t have a picture on my computer right now, but take a look at NA graphics website… http://order.nagraph.com/rollers-trucks-cores.html
if you scroll down to the bottom, there’s a photo of windmill rollers and trucks. C&P trucks look slightly different than these, but are similar in size/shape to the black ones in the photo. They slide over the ends of the rollers, with a key to keep the rollers and trucks rotating together.