Similar to Vandercook…

Yea, I saw the same listing. Honestly a closer example of a “super Vandy” (hand inking capability, singe sheet printing, etc, etc, etc.) would be a Miehle Pony.

To be fair, I think you’re ‘starting shit’ lol

He says,
“The cylinder letterpress style would be similar to a Vandercook (except with auto feeding) vs. a platen press, such as a Chandler and Price.”

I find this to be an accurate description- it IS a cylinder letterpress, a common comparison (people know about vandys even if new to letterpress- it’s a popular press), and then he distinguishes it from the other kind of press- the kind with two flat plates………… You know, guys, the ones which come together like a clamshell?

Nowhere do I read that it is hand cranked- he even said, “except with auto feeding”.

Note that revisions were made to the auction title after my post. The original title was:

Miehle V50 cylinder letterpress (similar to Vandercook) - Very Nice Condition

Not trying to start shit… just thought it was funny that anyone would intimate that a V50 is similar to a Vandercook. Clearly trying to get some visibility.

Glad they toned it down a bit to a more reasonable comparison.

Dan Barron, the seller of this press, has one of the best reputations in the business. I’d buy this press if I could. There’s nothing misleading that I can see… not even in the original title. He’s just doing his best to make sure interested parties might find this on eBay (related searches and such).

Brad.

Such ads are misleading and a waste of time — Spam :-)

Hi Brad,

To be clear, I am not questioning the gentleman’s reputation.

This is just sort of like the relationship between culinary fruit and botanical fruit. They are both fruit, but you don’t typically put tomato on your Cheerios in the morning.

We could also say that at Wayzgoose they demonstrated a press similar to a Vandercook.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiNEqK6wB78

In my opinion, it is just a stretch to say these Meihle presses are similar to a Vandercook, without clearly qualifying that they are just in the same family of presses from a very basic engineering standpoint (which the seller has now done!!).

If not, where do you draw the line? Would it be justified for me to advertise one of my Windmill’s or Kluge on eBay as being similar to my J.W. Daughaday Model 2 - they are all platen presses?

I do agree the seller was trying to get people to look the auction. It worked…. I looked. I also respect that they clarified it via the edit late yesterday - this lends much credence to your point regarding the sellers reputation.

Lora,

I can definitely see where you’re coming from. I guess it all depends on the semantics of “similar”.

I see a lot of students who approach platen presses with the same expectations they have of a cylinder press. For this reason I can definitely see similarities between the Miehles (00, Pony, or V-50) and the Vandercooks. When I show students a Heidelberg cylinder or a Miehle I’ll often start with “this functions similarly to the Vandercooks you’ve seen/used” and then go onto explain platen versus cylinder.

Are they the same? No. But I don’t think there is any deception in saying that they are “similar” — from a basic mechanical standpoint if nothing else. Maybe it’s a stretch in this case, but I think the item description did a good job of clarifying his case. If nothing else maybe a Vandercook shopper learned a little something about other equipment that can deliver the desired results. Wishful thinking, I know.

Now when it comes to the auctions on eBay for old offset presses that say “Use with Heidelberg, Kluge, Chandler & Price, etc.”… those seem like simple manipulation of the system.

Brad.

Hi Brad,

I agree. The final description was a big help.

We are in the same place.

Thanks for the feedback and I hope that the seller gets a buyer - we loved our v50.

Nobody who learned to print just on a Vandercook has the slightest idea of feeding an autofed press of any kind, including a Miehle Vertical. It is as big a difference to a new user as a platen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_1mhP_Yhu4&feature=endscreen