Taking apart a Golding Pearl
I recently bought a beautiful Golding Pearl #8 from Mike Anton (aka. Golding guru). The press is complete with no missing parts, however the press is caked with years of gunk and multiple pant jobs. This press deserves to be completely stripped, sandblasted and repainted, however I don’t want to screw anything up taking it apart. Does anyone have a manual for this press? Briar press and boxcar press don’t seem to have this manual in their collection. Can anyone help me out?
Lucky you! I am sure its a wonderful press if it was in Mike’s collection. Here is a link to some Golding info on my website: http://www.perennialdesigns.net/?page_id=414 I am another Golding enthusiast and have tried to put as much Golding information together in one spot as I can. It has the parts list for the Old & New Style Pearls. I think that’s about the best you will find. I don’t believe there was a manual for the press. You can always take pictures before disassembly of course. I suspect if you study your press a bit it will not be too intimidating. It really is a simply press with not many parts. All the presses on my site have been completely apart, inspected, cleaned, painted if necessary, oiled and reassembled. I am picking up my own Pearl No. 3 this week to add to the collection.
Don’t sandblast with real silica sand. You will turn your cast iron press into Swiss cheese. If you insist on blasting, use walnut shells or similar shells. It only takes a second or too of exposure.
I have found that Purple cleaner (sold at PepBoys and Walmart) works wonders on old caked grease. You should allow it to soak for a few minutes, but NOT for hours or it will remove everything down to the iron. Use rubber gloves.