Craftsmen Tabletop - info needed
Dear letterpress community,
A newbie here! Can anyone can help me nail down the model in these pics, I would greatly appreciate it. I understand Craftsmen is still in business and have reached out to them, but figured an answer might come quicker via Briar. Chase dimensions are a little bigger than 6”x4”.
The press is missing rollers - and likely the cores/trucks as well. I’m guessing that Tarheel and others can supply the whole set?
It’s hard to see in the pics, but someone rigged thin strips of metal to replace the grippers. Can these still be found? Or am I better off fabricating some sturdier ones myself?
Lastly, there’s a bit of rust, but overall is in fairly good shape. Thinking of cleaning up the rust and repainting. Other than a tricky disassemble/rebuild, any reason why I shouldn’t?
Thanks for your help,
Jeremy
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looks like you have an older (than mine) Imperial. Everything about yours looks similar except for the roller saddles and hooks.
you may want to contact craftsmen machinery about parts, they don’t make the presses anymore, but they still carry most parts (possibly your grippers) and catalogs for their presses.
[email protected] (508)376-2001
as far as disassembling your press goes, there are a ton of posts on press cleaning/restoring and the pros and cons in the discussion pages, just search “restore”. good luck!