Restoring a C&P NS 8x12

A friend and I recently acquired a New Style 8x12 that is in disrepair. We’ve moved it, got it bolted down properly, and now the real work begins in getting it running.

It seems to be structurally sound, although a few pieces are missing, broken, or damaged. Right now we are compiling a list of parts needed to send to Dave Churchman; when comparing the press to the part sheet provided by Boxcar, it’s obvious that the press has some non-standard parts.

It came with a working motor, and some kind of foot pedal (not a treadle), that was possibly used to control the motor?

There is also some type of ratcheting roller attached near the ink plate. It has dried ink in it and is marked C&P, but is definitely not a counter. The ratchet is heavily worn down, however.

The throwoff lever is broken off at the fulcrum bolt, but the throwoff mechanism is functioning.

The second lever (horizontal one) shown in the exploded part diagram is missing, and I can’t even decipher its function.

Both feed boards need to be replaced, and the mount for the swinging one is broken off.

The ink plate may or may not be usable, it seems to have some surface rust.

There doesn’t seem to be a brake, and I’m not even sure if one is required.

It’s dated to about ‘55 and the crankshaft is straight, so no treadle.

Obviously it needs new rollers, but all the retaining parts (saddles, hooks, springs) are intact and working.

Besides building a parts list, it obviously needs a good cleaning and oiling. We are perfectly capable of taking it apart, but not sure if that is the best process. Flushing the oil holes with a lightweight oil is what I’ve read as being recommended. For removing grime & surface cleaning, what exactly should we use? I’m assuming water is bad.

I will upload pictures of all the above hopefully tomorrow.

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The “foot pedal” may be part of a speed control (need to see photos), the “ratcheting roller” may be a pony fountain, or the remains of one. The ink disc can be resurfaced on a lathe in a good machine shop. Broken throw off lever should be able to be replaced.

Sounds like a good project!

Depending on the severity of the rust on the ink disk, it may just need to be cleaned up. The disk would need to have huge craters to affect inking significantly. I’ve had good luck with both the (salt and vinegar) and (lemon juice and vinegar) mixtures for removing rust.

The second lever you mention is the steam pulley shift lever. Most C&P presses don’t have these as the steam fixtures were intended to connect the press to a constantly running overhead shaft with a belt. This lever shifted the belt to a loose pulley so the press could be stopped without stopping the overhead shaft (and any other presses similarly connected). You won’t need it, since your motor will be running only this press. Even If you have both the loose and tight pulleys, I’d run the motor off the tight pulley and ignore the loose.

I’s also skip the light oil and just use 30 wt non-detergent motor oil. If you’re going to take it apart anyway, just clean out the oil holes with a pipe cleaner after it is apart. There’s a fair number of message threads detailing taking apart and putting a C&P back together again. Check the archives here and on LetPress.

Alright! Thanks for all the info. Going back to the parts list I definitely identified the “roller” hovering over the ink plate as the N.S.S. Fountain.

I’ve attached pictures of various parts. If someone spots anything that we need to fix please let us know.

image: Ink Plate

Ink Plate

image: Non Standard speed control pedal?

Non Standard speed control pedal?

image: Feed board removed

Feed board removed

image: Under feed board

Under feed board

image: Left side gearing (looks greased?)

Left side gearing (looks greased?)

image: Cam gear

Cam gear

image: broken feed board mount

broken feed board mount

image: Dangerous!

Dangerous!

image: broken throw off handle

broken throw off handle

image: Pony Fountain

Pony Fountain

Your press looks to be in pretty good condition. In the old commercial shop the press may have been filthy every place except where the ink goes and where the paper goes. It was also well lubricated. I learned that if there was not some oil on the floor, you were not oiling enough. Oil is cheap. Wear is expensive. Oil on the floor should be cleaned up. Use whatever is convenient to clean the press to whatever degree of shining beauty you wish. I would not take it apart to restore it to like new condition unless you want a parlor press. Wipe it down well with a rag dampened in paint thinner. Get after some places with an old toothbrush dipped in thinner if you must. Clean the bed well to remove any surface rust and accumulated ink and give it a coat of wax. Auto wax works well. Floor wax will work. Do the same for the platen.
The general rule for machinery is that gears are greased. In the parts manual Chandler & Price listed oil but no grease. Hence they apparently intended the gears to be oiled.

Do you have a chase for this press?
I’m not seeing one and it may be that you have one but it’s not shown in the pics?

Dave

Did you get your press going? That’s an almost ready to print press. You could just bolt a board or piece of iron to the throwoff lever to make it functional. You’ll have to drill holes in the lower part. We can supply you with rollers, etc. Call if i can help 706 540-3284 rick ….

www.letterpressmachinery.com

Sorry for the lack of update. We’ve finished cleaning up the press, wiping it down, cleaning out the oil ports, and have flushed through quite a bit of oil.

Stopped by Churchman’s and picked up a new throw off lever (amazing place, by the way. Dave was very kind and gave us a full tour). The throw-off mechanism is a bit sticky, I’m guessing its been broken for a long time.

We’ve also collected most of the other required “things” for printing, including type, quoins, furniture, etc. Once again Dave was very kind and had a large selection. The press came with about 8 chases (hah!) so we were set on that front.

Fritz at NA Graphics was very helpful with providing us new trucks, rollers, and cores. We are currently rebuilding our bed rails with tape, as this press has seen a lot of wear over the years.

We’re also rebuilding our feed boards and eventually planning to reattach the (working!) original motor. It’s a long term project obviously, but our goal is to be printing by the end of the month. And then the real learning begins!

Another update:

Nick and Robert at Hounddog Press in Louisville have been really helpful, giving us some supplies to enable us to start calibrating our press.

Our press has seen a whole lot of runs, and our rails are excessively worn down. Our rollers are even inking the top edge of our base when using photopolymer. So I guess our first order of business is to build up those rails again.

Secondly, after getting tympan on our platen, and testing the inking of our rollers, we’ve noticed that the bed is making contact with the tympan. Nothing is getting crushed, but the top of the form in the chase is printing onto the tympan paper (and there is no packing at all yet). I guess after we get the inking problems settled, we’ll need to start on leveling out the platen.

After we get the press calibrated, and troubleshoot through everything, we’ll have to start hooking up our motor, and then it’s off to the races!

Does anyone know of a good source for a starter pack of tympan & packing? We’d prefer not to purchase 100 sheet packs in different thickness. We also need a starter pack of inks. I know Alan at Excelsior Press currently has a backlog of 3 months due to his move.

Thanks again for all the help and advice, I’m sure I’ll be back with more questions, and pics of the press in proper working order!

Until you locate a source for classic tympan paper, butcher paper will do nicely.
You will need a couple of pieces of press board. If you don’t find the classic mahogany hard finish press board, a piece of the heavy blue or green file folders from the stationery store will work well. Not the thin manila folder. Additional packing ranges from 20# copy paper to whatever else you find in slightly greater caliper.
Get some ink on your shirt.