Craftsmen Imperial 5x8 - Cast Iron vs. Aluminum?

27
on 13 Jun 12 (04:58)

I have two Craftsmen Imperial 5x8 presses — one is cast iron, and the other is aluminum (I think, it’s much lighter than the other one, definitely not cast iron whatever it is).

Does anyone know the history of these presses? Is one more valuable than the other? When were the aluminum/non-cast iron ones made relative to the cast iron ones? I’ve been searching these forums and online, but I haven’t been able to find any information.

Thanks in advance!

27
on 13 Jun 12 (05:43)

Oh, the cast iron one reads “Boston, Mass” and the aluminum one reads “Millis, Mass.”

toddspresstime
on 13 Jun 12 (22:02)

Very little to no documentation on antique letterpresses. C+M Curtis+Mitchell was also from Boston Mass, established 1847 There Columbia press looks like the craftsman imperial. I always thought Craftsman copied it maybe they made it for them. The cast iron is a better and stronger press.

dickg
on 14 Jun 12 (01:51)

Craftsman Machinery is still in business, they may still have some parts available for their presses. they started out in Boston then moved to Millis. You should contact them, their info is in the yellow pages on this site.

Sherwin Marks
on 15 Jul 12 (19:23)

Please contact me and I will be happy to give you a full explanation.

Sherwin Marks
Craftsmen Machinery