Trucks grinding - rollers coming loose!!! Help!!
I have a 8x12 new style Chandler and Price press. I was printing for a couple hours today - over 300 impressions, at least - without any hitch, problem or mishap. Then, all of the sudden my rollers came loose and came flying off the press. Upon closer inspection, it looks as though the trucks are rubbing against the the metal hooks that hold them down and are starting to actually wear down (fine dusting of metal shavings all around). My rollers are brand new and the trucks are solid metal one from the previous rollers that were on the press. Is this common? Or, is something terribly amiss? How can this be fixed? Not sure if it matters, but I am only using two rollers, rather than three. Is that the problem? Any suggestions would be more than welcome and appreciated.
Thank you in advance!
Two rollers should work just fine, the metal dust is definately not good. You need to keep the ends of the rollers beyond the trucks well oiled or this can happen, also the trucks should lock onto the rollers, when you use two rollers they should go into the top two hooks (saddle) and if you need a third then you use the bottom one. The rollers should not come loose and fly off the press, sometimes if you let the press sit for a while the ink can start to dry on the disk and when the rollers hit the disk the hang up and get pulled out of the press, there is a pin that goes thru the saddle that helps prevent this, if a roller comes out and falls into the press it can cause serious damage.If the saddles get too worn they can break off, try oiling every day, Good Luck Dick G.
Here is the oiling chart, in case you did not have it! http://www.kadetstationery.com/downloads/CandP_New_Series_Oiling_Chart.p...
Another point is that the oil holes for the saddles may be filled with crud, even covered with dried ink, and not obvious. Do some probing with an awl to find the holes, and clean them so they can be used for oiling. Once you find the holes they can be reamed out with a drill bit (used manually, not in a power drill), and a pipe cleaner can help maintain them once opened.