New Rollers/Trucks - do these trucks look right to you?
I just purchased a press that is in excellent condition however, I am having trouble getting an even impression and so I am trying to narrow down the issue.
The rollers and trucks are both new but the trucks do a fair amount of moving around and that just doesnt seem right. They also tend to run a little to the left and they are not all the exact same size - one is a little larger.
Anyway, here are some photos - do these look ok to you? Anything else look out of sorts?
PS - the grippers I put on chewed up my tape in the photo so I removed them now! I will get some new tape on ASAP.
Thanks for your help,
Brandi Powell
Link to photos of trucks:
It appears from your photos that the rollers are touching each other——not good; that means that the rollers were cast oversize and perhaps the trucks are wrong for the press if they are not original to it. The rollers and the trucks need to be the same size (diameter)—you need to use a type high gauge and check to see how the rollers are touching the type—-they should barely touch….if the rollers and the trucks are not correct you will never be able
to get the press to operate in the proper fashion giving you a quality print…..if the trucks are ORIGINAL to the press the rollers should have been cast to exactly that size—-ALL
four trucks need to be of the same diameter; good luck!
The truck diameter looks to be larger than the roller diameter. They need to be the same or the rollers are going to lift the trucks off of the tracks, or if the trucks stay in contact with the tracks the rollers are going to turn faster and skid over the form.
It also appears that the rollers are too short in the first photo. You must be getting a lot of side to side motion. The trucks need to center on the rails and pretty much stay there through the stroke. Are the trucks adjustable sideways?
Ok, there is a space between the rollers about 1/8 inch - it isn’t big but they are not rubbing so that is good. I have a receipt here from Tarheel Roller and it appears taht the Rubber Rollers, Cores and Trucks are all new.
SIZE - I dont have a type gauge yet (it arrives on Friday) but I measured the round part of the rollers with a firm piece of paper and marked it and the trucks are all 4 1/4 smaller around than the rollers - is that right? linegauge - you were saying they should be the same size?
linegauge - I have no idea if they are adjustable sideways. They kind of seem to be but they dont lock into place they just move around on their own.
I added a photo on the page of the rollers and trucks removed from the press so you can see if they are movable or not?
On a press with the rails type high the rollers should be 1/16” larger in diameter than the trucks (see Mills’ book Platen Press Operation). This translates to mean that the rollers will press into the form 1/32” to transfer the ink. If the rails are not type high then the rollers and trucks can be the same diameter since you’ll need to tape the rails to bring them to the correct height anyway. I believe the rails on Pilot presses are type high and from the photos it looks like your rollers are slightly larger than the trucks. I’m guessing therefore that Tarheel made them 1/16” larger than the trucks which would be correct.
Rich
Front Room Press
Milford, NJ
http://frontroompress.com
http://frontroompress.blogspot.com
Boxcar Press has an excellent video on setting rollers. Takes a while to load, but it is worth the wait.
It’s in the BITS section (Boxcar Institute Training Series)
www.boxcarpress.com/letterpress/index.html
www.boxcarpress.com/community/letterpress-training-video.html
linegauge - great video - I had actually watched all of these and ordered an original copy for myself!
I just purchased some of that 3M tape today and then my roller gauge will be here on Friday. I also purchased some washers that seem to hold the trucks in place - that tip was in another thread that I found in searching the forum.
I plan to give this another try once my gauge comes on Friday!