BIG TIME printing

The highlight of last weekend’s Amalgamated Printers’ Association annual Wayzgoose in Mt. Pleasant, IA was the start-up of the massive Meihle Model 00 press. This puppy weighs-in at 30,000 lbs. and is capable of printing a maximum sheet size of 54” x 38”. The sheet we ran was considerably smaller than this, but was the largest sheet size we had on hand at the time.

This press is the last of its kind in original operating condition. Built in 1907, it started out at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, DC and remained in service there until 1961. It then went to Yellow Springs, OH and printed there until 1991. It was put into storage and arrived at Printers’ Hall last year. A lot of work went into cleaning, re-taping, re-timing, getting rollers recovered, getting power to the press, etc. Last weekend was the very first time in decades the press was inked-up and paper printed on it.

You can see the results on You Tube by typing in: 1907 Miehle #00 at Printer’s Hall.

The very first sheet to come off the press was almost perfect!!!! Only a few feeding wheels needed to be adjusted and we were off and running. What you are seeing is the first color of a two-color poster printed to celebrate the occasion. We ran the press slowly.

I am sure there will be more videos posted to You Tube, but this is the first one so far. We set up a tall ladder near the end of this press to get this angle.

The press will be running again during the Old Threshers Reunion in late August, but more importantly, letterpress printers can also see it action again on September 21 and 22 during the Midwest and Great Northern Printer’s Fair. Come and see and play with the many wonders in our print shop and stay for the Saturday morning swap meet. It just won’t get any better than that.

Rick

Log in to reply   7 replies so far

Oh wow… that is massive. Thanks for sharing.

FYI Youtube link is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiNEqK6wB78

Very nice! That press is about as big as my shop.

That’s really great! It is fun to watch. I hope to see it in person next Fall.

I’m glad I don’t have to clean those rollers.

John H.

Years ago when I was running Hatch Show Print, Williams Printing Company, which was located a block away offer us their 6/0 Miehle. They had run one job a year on it for the past 30 years, which was enough (apparently) to pay for it, and now that the job was ending they were willing to give it away. It was an immaculate sheet-fed press, and the space between the bed access and the feeder was large enough for several people to walk through. It took a 46 1/4” x 69 1/2” sheet, and had a footprint of 11’ 4” x 23’ 3”. It weighed new in the box at a whopping 31 tons. There was no way that Hatch could handle a press of that size, and it eventually went to a box company in Tennessee. It was an amazing machine to see in operation, as is the one at Printer’s Hall. I would love to see it running up to speed with two feeders putting in the sheets.

Paul

Who recovered those monster rollers?

When my parents bought our weekly newspaper in 1965, it had a Meihlie similar to this. My job on Wednesday’s as a kid was to sit on a stool at the end and put my hand between the metal fingers and grab each sheet so it wouldn’t get caught in the return action. Here in Georgia the static would build up and cause the sheets to get tangled. Thankfully, OSHA wasn’t around in those days.

Mike,

The big rollers for the Miehle were recovered for us by S.I. Industries, Inc. They are located at 9983 Baltimore Street NE, Blaine, MN 55449. Their phone number is (800) 235-8996 and their website is www.siindustries.com

They also recovered the large rollers on our Babcock Reliance press several years ago. They did a fantastic job for us and can do just about anything. They have also recovered many hand-brayer rollers for us.

Printers’ Hall recommends them BIG TIME!

Jeremy Rajanen is their sales consultant and you can e-mail him at [email protected]

Rick