Would it be crazy to purchase this….?

Your missing the grippers, but that’s not a big deal, the good news is you have a chase, they are hard to find, rollers are missing but that is not a deal breaker. It is not terribly rusty, it should clean up fine. Dick G.

dickg,

How much would kltutas be safe to spend on the press to purchase? Since table top presses have been selling for high prices and this press is missing a few parts would -K be cautious at from buying if it hit a certain dollar amount?

Casey

It’s hard to put a price on this stuff, i got my 6x10 for $0, it didn’t have a chase and needed some welding, i made a chase from plywood then sold it for $300 about 3 years ago. I tell everybody instead of spending big money on a table top press go for a 10x15 c&p, they print much better than a table top and can usually be had for a few hundred dollars. Dick G.

First, don’t expect to get it for that price, with 6 days to go. Second, it’s a Kelsey. If you don’t try to print anything very large or with deep impression it could be a good starter press. Cleaning it up enough to print with should be pretty easy — steel wool and elbow grease and quite a lot of careful oiling. If you could get it for two or three hundred dollars it would be a good buy, especially after you’ve cleaned it up. Rollers will probably cost in the range of $150 to $200. You can make grippers if you can’t find a set somewhere. Plan to mount the press to a sturdy table so it doesn’t jump around while you’re printing, and have some fun!

Bob

The roller hooks and springs are missing too

Girl with a kluge, good catch, now we will have to change your name to include heidleburg and kelsey also. The picture of the press in the ad shows springs, the press itself does not have springs. Dick G.

The roller hooks are not missing. If you look in the picture this Kelsey has the lever arm setup for rollers. I have been told that this provides superior inking but I have no first hand experience.

Thanks everyone for the comments! I’ll keep you updated. If I wind up with this press I’ll probably be back for help getting it going.

-K

joelanich, good eye. Here is a couple of pictures from the Briar museum

left side of press

kelsey X 9.20.JPG

This is the 10x15 os

ExcelsiorOS1015.thumbnail.png

The press for sale on Ebay is a model “Q”