Stripping a Brandtjen and Kluge WFD12838 Letterpress for hand feeding?
Hi all-
Just curious; Kluge folks, and those with knowledge of this press: On ebay right now are several Kluge WFD12838 Letterpress printing presses. This is a “Web series” press that had a feeder which ran from a roll, not a normal sheet fed press.
It seems quite unlikely anyone would put these to use again soon in their original intended fashion. The press I am looking at seems complete, with 4 rollers and even the rollers which pass ink down from the fountain at the top of the press are present.
However, not being familiar with how this press runs (and I am sure I am not the first person to cook up this idea), I am wondering if it is possible to adapt this press to a hand-fed mode by stripping the feeder off and improvising a speed controller for the motor, plus adding/improvising a hand-fed oriented shelf/table.
My query is- does the platen on this machine rotate to a position which can be hand fed? Or is my suspicion that the platen stays a bit more vertical, out of the range of normal hand feeding, the case?
For reference, here’s the press:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brandtjen-and-Kluge-WFD12838-Vintage-Letterpress-WEB-series-D-/131175923367?hash=item1e8ab1bea7:g:EP4AAMXQNo5TWwNf
I took a hand fed C & P 10 x 15 and a 12 x 18 kluge with feeder out of a basement in pieces, that i have not yet had the time to reassemble. They are in New Jersey if you are interested. Also complete i have a 9x13 Gordon and a 10x15 C&P Craftsman both hand fed with motors.
I throw the feeder out of the way on my kluge and hand feed it, only problem is the grippers don’t release the sheet fast enough so you don’t have much time to get in there and remove the printed sheet, I take the grippers off when I can, if I need them I run the press very slow.
There are much cheaper ways to get your hands on a press.
Quite a few of us have many presses for sale at any given time.
It sure looks like a normal kluge, only way to tell really if it opens all the way up would be to ask for a pic of it in that position.
the frame is welded into place where the platen mounts. it does not “rotate open”. there is no real way to make this machine run safely, as a hand fed. it could be done i guess with a VERY slow speed. but i don’t think in the end you would be happy with it. you would have to feed from the side, as to get up on this to feed from the normal position, would risk falling into machine with nothing short of disastrous results.
Keep looking for a sheet fed press. IMHO
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OK, Ericm answered my question.
Guys and gals, thanks for the offers, suggestions of alternatives- as usual the board is creative and helpful. I already have a C&P 10x15 Model N in good working Order. I was looking at this as a question that wouldn’t necessarily end in the answer of me purchasing this press and following through for myself, but rather wanted to know the deal with the web series press/platen toggle.