Trucks not turning - Craftsmen Superior

it don’t look like you have the trucks on right, maybe turn them the other way, they are keyed so they lock onto the roller shafts, its hard to tell from the pictures.

Both sides of the truck are notched, so they go on either way. One side of the truck has a narrower width for snapping on the roller shaft and I’m not certain which way they should go.

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Make certain the roller ends are well lubricated. Oil the ends of the trucks which might rub against the saddles as well. It could be you just have too much resistance to rolling. Make certain you don’t have any oil on the part of the trucks which run on the rails of the press, and make certain the rails do not have oil on them.

It looks in the photos as if the trucks don’t fit too far on the shafts of the roller, but they seem to align with the rails fairly well, so they seem to be the right way around. is there pressure on the trucks as you put them in the roller saddles? there should be a little bit of free play end-to-end of the rollers in the saddles.

John Henry

Thanks, John Henry. Home from my “day job” now.

Okay, I’ve oiled the places you mentioned - roller ends, ends of trucks that might touch the saddles, and also the saddles. Keeping oil off the truck surfaces and rails. The trucks still do not turn from the bottom of the press where they rest. This new photo shows where they begin to turn - before they clear the top of the rails and all the way up over the ink disk, then until they come back down to the rails. Obviously, the problem would be that would mean they’d drag across the plate instead of roll over it. And, yes, there’s free play for the roller ends as they sit in the saddles. Of course the springs keep tension on the saddles to keep the rollers from falling out.

Any other thoughts? Should I try taping the trucks. Perhaps that would add a little traction to the trucks as they move over the rails. Everything moves very smoothly with the exception of the trucks not turning through half of the lever pull.

Sorry, image didn’t attach with the last comment.

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You have to be a little smarter than your press to help it do its work. Not a lot smarter, but some.

What makes the trucks and attached rollers roll? The trucks must make good contact with oil free rails. Cut a strip of copy paper for a feeler gauge between the truck and rail. There should be enough contact and friction to turn the truck.
It is a bit difficult to tell well from the photo, but the trucks look like they may be on backwards and are only making contact for half of their width.
Think how the press was designed to work. Then you can help it do the work.

Get some ink on your shirt.

Well, apparently I’m not smarter than the press. The trucks make full contact with the rails, which are oil free. The strip of copy paper doesn’t slide between the trucks and the rails. There’s no lack of contact - no space left between them. I cut a strip of 100 lb. cover stock and laid it across the rails. The trucks turned a little sooner on the way up with that stock in place. Still, the trucks slid across the lower part of the rails instead of turning. I’m trying to think how the press is designed to work and it seems there should be enough traction to cause the trucks to turn since they turn freely through part of the ride.

A little further searching and found this link to a blog by Alan Runfeldt: http://excelsiorpress.org/blog/blog.2011.html. On page 11, he discusses a problem on the C&P Pilot that sounds exactly what I’m seeing. I’m going to try cleaning off paint from the inside of the saddles and grinding down the pips on the roller shaft to allow the trucks to move in further toward the center and gain more clearance from the saddles. His description made it easier for me to visualize what the problems could be. I’ll post the results when I have the chance to try this.

A little further searching and found this link to a blog by Alan Runfeldt: http://excelsiorpress.org/blog/blog.2011.html. On page 11, he discusses a problem on the C&P Pilot that sounds exactly what I’m seeing. I’m going to try cleaning off paint from the inside of the saddles and grinding down the pips on the roller shaft to allow the trucks to move in further toward the center and gain more clearance from the saddles. His description made it easier for me to visualize what the problems could be. I’ll post the results when I have the chance to try this.

Don’t grind the “pips” off! Maybe dress them with a file so the trucks will engage them. The tab (pip) on the roller shaft should go into the notch on the truck so that the roller and truck operate as a unit.

Oh, no, wasn’t planning on grinding them off - just lightly grinding with a file. As you say, dressing them with a file. I think the slightest bit off the top will help the trucks fit a little further onto the roller shafts.

Success! I probably didn’t really need to use the wire brush inside the saddles but figure it can’t hurt to get rid of all the paint inside the saddles. Not sure why they were painted there.

I filed the pips (that first raised piece where the truck groove slides on to) just a bit until the trucks moved farther in on the roller shafts. Suddenly, no binding and the rollers are turning freely throughout.

Thanks for the help getting me thinking in the right direction.