miehle No. 4

I am trying to find some information on what the current going rate is for this press. The only Miehle presses I can find selling are the verticals. does anyone know of a miehle cylinder press that has sold lately? are these things so big most places just give them away if someone is willing to take it off their hands?

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The No. 4 Miehle, is the smallest (I believe) of their handfed flatbed line. Not sure if this size is called the “Pony” but the compact size of the press makes it the most desireable of the handfed Miehle flatbeds.

Miehle also made a “Horizontal, which later morphed into the Miehle 29, one of, if not the original modern automatic feeding flatbed cylinders. It is also one of the first presses to introduce “stream feeding”. However, this is a completely different critter from the handfed series presses.

So far as value? Given their size/difficulty to move, they don’t tend to fetch much when they come on the market, and many have been lost to scrappers. If you are not afraid of the size/weight of the machines (figure 8000 lbs for the No. 4), you will have a Uber Vandercook and there would probably be very little you couldn’t print with such a machine.

If you are buying, figure paying near scrap rates for it—though scrappers will probably not pay full rate, since the press would have to be broken up and hauled to the scrapyard. Still, figure spending at least $1000 in good will to keep the press from harm (if the seller isn’t hard up for money) plus rigging costs.

If you are really serious about letterpress, and have sufficient type for use on it (lots of wood or Ludlow), I would certainly recommend you consider such a press.

If you are selling, let us know where you are and there may well be somebody who is interested in the machine, but the rigging premium will keep the price down.

For more information, I recommend the Bill Elligett letterpressprinting.au site’s page on Miehles—though the rest of the site is of interest too.

http://letterpressprinting.com.au/page24.htm

Michael Seitz
Missoula MT

The No. 4 Miehle was not the smallest hand-fed cylinder, that was the Pony with a bed measuring 26” x 34 1/2”. The Number 4 had a bed 29” x 40” and would deliver a sheet size of 25 1/2” x 39 1/2”. Overall width is 7’ 7” and length is 11’ 1” and it weighed 13,000 lbs in it’s original crates. You could probably subtract 1000 lbs. to get the actual weight. Price is whatever you can get for it if you are selling, and whatever you feel like you want to pay if you are buying. 10+ years ago I bought a Pony for $2000. with another $1000. in shipping. I also put in 300 hours of cleaning and adjusting, another $300. in parts, and $1700. for new rollers.

Paul

These are great machines. They are also big heavy machines. We had a Pony up until last fall and it was terrific. We obtained a Miehle Model 00 which tips the scales at around 30,000 lbs. as well as a Kelly B and for the sake of floorspace we deacquisitioned the Miehle Pony. The big expense, aside from moving (think wall removal, forklifts, etc to get it into its final resting place), will be for new rollers. There are a bunch of them on these presses and they do not come cheaply (Paul mentioned $1300 which sounds about right).

We just got the rollers recovered for the Model 00 and I don’t even want to tell you what those cost. If there are already decent rollers on the press you are ahead of the game. You really have to see the machine you are considering getting and try to evaluate what its going to take to get it running properly (new tapes, large tympan paper, etc.)

As for for price I have no clue. Our presses are at a non-profit museum and much of what we get is donated. We even manage to get great deals (read free) on the shipping “sometimes”.

Where are you located????????????

Many of the old flatbead presses were converted for diecutting and their inking systems may be non-existant anymore and the cylinders could be chew-up. You really need to see the press before taking the plunge.

Rick

well, it ended up being a little bigger than my husband and I thought we could handle. it’s awesome though, i wish i could move it and had room for it! If anyone is interested, just contact me and i will give you the man’s information. he is located outside Tulsa Oklahoma.

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