Purchasing Heidelberg Windmill

Hey,

So I’ve been talking with a printshop on purchasing a windmill in my area and they want me to make an offer to them.
This is the first time I’ve purchased a press, but I have experience on a windmill. I’ve given the ballpark of $500-$1500 and they are open to that.

It is in working order, hasn’t been used for anything in 2-3 years but they have taken care of it. It has only been used for diecutting for the previous ten years.

I was hoping I could get some opinions on it. The printshop that owns it doesn’t have anyone working there that knows anything about it, and the only thing accompanying it is a box of diecut materials and keys/quoins.

I want to set it up for printing, and I don’t mind putting in time and energy to get it there, as long as it’s in reasonable shape to do so. I also want to take in account the cost of getting it to the printing stage.

Any help would be much appreciated,

-R

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Log in to reply   6 replies so far

First question, have you run any letterpress presses?
And, do you know anyone that can show you how to run the Heidelberg Windmill?
It’s NOT a toy, and will hurt you very fast if you do not understand the working of the press.

I owned one in the 70s. It a great press, but, I had 4 years of letterpress printing before I learned to use it.

Also, you new rollers and that about $1,000 to get the press to print.

Rachel-
Aaron is right, they can be very dangerous, I currently have 3 of them and use them daily. Where are you located? Maybe there is a local printer to you that has one and is willing to give you some lessons.
Pricing is in the range for a good deal, moving them can cost more than purchasing them.
Good Luck-
Jim

Thank you both for your concern, I do have experience on a windmill, as well two hand-fed presses. I am definitely not claiming I know everything about it, or am an expert, however a printer here that I’ve used the Heidelberg with already is willing to continue to work with me.

What part of the country are you located in?

She did state in her original post that she’s used a Windmill before, so cut her some slack.

I would check the status of the ink train. From the photos, looks like a fair amount of rust or something on the large oscillator. You probably also need to buy new ink rollers (four of them!). Check to see if they have the trucks or you’ll need to buy those as well.

You should also probably check the platen to see if it’s been banged up from all the diecutting. From reading previous posts over the years, diecutting tends to beat up on the press.

You can buy rollers for this press from Lith-O-Roll for $118.80 USD this includes core. We have used them for years and they hold up very well.