D&W American No. 6 - Looking for info
Hi Everyone,
I just picked up a D&W American No. 6 6” x 9” tabletop press in pretty decent condition. She seems to just need some de-rusting, oiling and standard TLC, but since I can’t find anything about this press online, I can’t be sure that’s all she needs.
Do any of you know anything about this press? I’ve seen info on the American No. 8, but nothing about the No. 6. What were the years of manufacture? What rollers can I get to fit on this? Any and all help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
James
If you did not get roller cores and trucks with the press, the easiest way to proceed with the roller question is to measure the center-to-center distance between the upper and lower roller hooks on one side. About 1/8 inch less than that distance is about the max diameter of rollers the press can handle. I would round down to the nearest 1/4 inch. Then measure across the press from the outside to outside of the roller hooks and add about 1/2 inch — that can be the length of the roller cores. Carefully measure the inside diameter or width of the opening of the roller hooks, and that is the diameter of your cores. Assuming standard measures, I suggest getting drill rod of the correct diameter, cut two pieces to the correct length, and send the cores to Ramco Roller (listed here on BP) along with a request for a set of roller trucks to match. The length of the rubber on the rollers should be the diameter of the ink disc.
With care those rollers will last as long as you do. You can probably clean up the press with steel wool and kerosene.Oil it up well and use it. Best of luck with it.
Bob
A quick addendum: If you can find something like a dowel rod that fits into the roller hooks (doesn’t need to be tight), slip that in and open the press wide (you’ll probably have to cut the dowel to fit between the sides of the press). Then measure how far it is to the closest press part below the dowel rod. You will probably have found that the roller hooks are about 1-1/4 inches apart, so a max roller diameter of 1-1/8, or 1 inch. Be sure that you have more than 1/2 inch (roller radius) clearance below the dowel rod, or the rollers will touch those parts of the press when it is fully open.
Bob
Thanks for the info, Bob! I actually do have the cores with what look like Morgan expansion trucks rust-fused to them (along with a good amount of crumbling rubber still attached). The trucks have a diameter of approx. 1.5” and the cores are 13.5” long w/ 0.25” diameter. I figured I could go the route of getting them repaired, but was hoping that maybe there were some pre-made rollers available in case the cores were damaged or rusted beyond repair. I’ll definitely look into Ramco.
Thanks again!
James