.050” Cold-rolled Steel

I recently purchased a 1910 Potter Proof Press and she’s in great shape. To bring it up to Type Height I need to purchase a .050” Cold-rolled Steel Sheet. Has anyone found a supplier that they can share? All of my online research has found .048” Cold-rolled (18 Gauge), but not .050”. Thanks in advance!

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Could you use a piece of paper under the steel sheet to bring it up to type high. Dick G.

check your local yellow ages for a sheet metal supplier. i had a sheet cut for mine for around $70, they only had stainless steel in that gauge which was fine with me, but a little more expensive.

You could do what Alan says or go with the .048 cold rolled steel and then purchase some .002 plastic sheet from a plastic supply company [distributor]. Some distributors are: Laird, Curbell, Piedmont, Professional Plastics etc.

Thanks all. I’ll most likely go with the .048” sheet and build it up. Also, the distance on from print surface to cylinder looks to be almost double the .050” height. Any clue why?

I used brass, which is available in 0.05” from Online Metals (local for me, but they will ship at some expense).

Steel’s cheaper, but the brass looks prettier!

Preston

Cylinder with or without the recommended packing? You’ll need probably close to .050 in packing on the cylinder including a drawsheet — but I don’t know what the manufacturer recommended for packing-plus-drawsheet.

Also, if you have a large galley you can use that with the type instead of locking up in a chase on the bare-bed-plus-.050-sheet — that is why the bed is .050 low, for proofing in galleys..

Bob

Thanks everyone. Your input has been very valuable. I expect to be inking in the next few weeks…
Drew