Cleaning Vandercook SP15

Hello!
I just acquired a Vandercook SP15 in a pretty decent shape, although the ink drum and the other metal cylinders seems to be covered in dried ink. Does someone know how I can clean them up properly?

The rubber rollers and everything else is fine. It even came with the original dust cover, original manual and a little fabric bag for small extra parts, with Vandercook printed on it.

Best,
Ola

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olali, for dried ink on metal surfaces I’ve used the gel
paint remover. I work on one roller at a time, paint a stripe
of gel let it work then wipe, you need to wear gloves and eye protection. best james

Strong solvents (acetone or MEK) are good for removing hardened ink films from steel and metal parts. Make certain not to get the strong solvent on plastic parts, rubber rollers, or painted surfaces, however. Make certain you are in a well-ventilated area, and not near flame.

If you haven’t attempted removal as yet, start out with less volatile solvents (mineral spirits or press wash) and feel free to use a very fine steel wool or plastic abrasive pad. You don’t want to put scratches in the surface, however, so be careful with the use of anything that might scratch the surface.

If there is any rusting on the surfaces, fine steel wool and oil or kerosene can remove it.

See cleaning and oiling instruction on the website http://vandercookpress.info/vanderblog/

Lubricate well before using the press.

John Henry
Cedar Creek Press

Scotch Brite sponges (the real ones and not the imitations), brown and green and WD40 is what I used to clean 10 years of dried ink of the metal parts of a Korrex proof press recently. I spray the WD40 on the sponges, keep them wet and go slowly slowly, first the brown, followed by the green. No steel wool…

image: dirty.gif

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Thanks for the answers! Wow Thomas, they look like new. I’ll try with that method.

And another thing, the press is missing the washup tray. Is it necessary, or can I live without it? I guess it could be difficult to find a new one…

would be easy enough to find a fabricator to fold one up from sheet steel………………….

Jonathan: I thought of that first, but when I found out how it looks like and how it’s supposed to work with the washup blade I thought it might be difficult to get that part right… Or do you suggest to just make a simple tray without a blade?

You can probably get by without a tray, but like Jonathan said, it’s not too complicated to get a tray made, once you’ve got the correct dimensions. And you being in Sweden, it would preferably be in millimetres. I see what I can find out for you, two of my friends have the SP-15.

I’d have to say that I don’t usually use the washup tray on my Vandercook (although I do if I have to do several quick ink changes in short order). It is very easy to clean the rollers and drum with rags and solvent.

I find the washup tray to be just something else to clean.

John Henry