First crack at Heidelberg Windmill 10x15
hello all - i’m starting an apprenticeship on a heidelberg 10x15 this tuesday. just wondering if the board might help me hit the ground running with some recommendations on learning materials you may have found useful (book, dvd, blog, anything really)l. I did download the manual from the boxcar site. currently the shop is not using photopolymer. is there a good thread where I can check out the pros and cons? the boxcar base with photopolymer looks to be a lot easier than the magnesium plates the shop is currently using. loads of questions, but i’ll leave it at that.
thanks!
Learn packing for and feeding different types of stock (caliper and finish), using both types of lay gauges, feeding envelopes, using the ink fountain and most importantly if you intend to own a machine where all the oil points are including those which are not so obvious. If you have time, learn how to use the rider roller (no big deal - just need a form that requires it) and making adjustments to the ink train as well as cheater bars and other feed accessories.
Re: plates, that really is not important in terms of learning the machine. In the end everything is type high. The only difference in terms of printing is photopolymer is a bit less forgiving in terms of roller height.
Aquire yourself a copy of hints for the pressman its only small book but its invaluable.
get into your head the golden hint that if you have too much impression at the bottom of the platen you need to remove packing and increase impression on the lever ,if its heavy on the top of the platen you reduce pressure on the impression lever and increase the packing . Keep that in your head and you are a mile ahead . I will watch with interest as everyone else will .
I second the comments from both phasetwo and Peter. If you are close to another Windmill printer, I’d suggest asking for a private lesson. Each printer has his or her own style/bag of tricks that may be useful to you, perhaps even more valuable than reading a book.
Also, I’d add that it’s good to remember the maxim, “One thing at a time.”
Beyond basic safety precautions, the first step I took in learning the Windmill was mastering the automatic feeder system. If you can’t feed, you can’t print.
Watch how the suction and blast work on different kinds of stock; also observe how the angle of the suction bar, addition of sucker feet, and press speed all affect the pick up of each press sheet.
Once you understand how the press looks and sounds when it’s feeding correctly, you’ll be ready to set your impression, ink up and print.
Inking and printing the form could be a whole other discussion thread, so feel free to ping with any more specific questions.
Above all, congrats on learning this beautiful press!