Category: General discussion
Later topic: Wood Type Repair
Earlier topic: Weight of Kluge

Tabletop to Threadlepress Conversion - was this common?

  • Newbie472842
  • on 19 Mar 18 (08:05)
  • Updated 19 Mar 18 (16:45)

Hello dear letterpress printers,

I stumbled over a picture on flickr, which shows an 8x12” tabletop press converted to a floor press with a threadle mechanism.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/desmyter1856/3022120811/in/photostream/
Unfortunately, this seems to be the only picture and there isn’t much to see about the underlaying mechanism, but it doesn’t look like a “homebrew” solution, does it?.

I haven’t found any info regarding a “conversion kit” and if this was common practice to do?
These FM Weiler / Degener & Weiler presses have a weight in the back which I assume is helpful for a threadle press as a “swinging mass”. I find it interesting and actually a nice solution for “upsizing”.
Does anybody here have any further info about this modification?

I do own two of these tabletop presses and they can pack quite some punch, which surely is resulting from the weight in the back. In fact, I got the nastiest bruise on my thumb when the press snapped close while cleaning and I still had my finger in it. They are beautiful presses but of course I’m so curious about the threadle modification.

With kind regards,
Newbie Printer

Log in to reply   4 replies so far

Jens Jørgen Hansen in Denmark came upon a treadle platen press manufactured by Eickhoff in Copenhagen, here is a link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bogtrykkeren/30554924761/in/photostream/

That looks like a very close knock-off of a Golding Pearl of the old style, mounted on a packing crate for lack of the conventional base (though that was also an option offered by Golding, apparently). But I bet the inking wouldn’t be very good with those rollers!

Bob

Wouldn’t be a mod’ just a choice of versions, available as table top or treadle similar to some Golding and Model presses.
The weight saves having to lean on the handle, I did the same as you caught my finger when moving a Liberty table top press, 18 months on still don’t have full feeling and the nail not grown back to as pre-accident.

Good info fellas. If interested, here is a link to a nice example I restored several years ago and now resides in the Museum of Printing in Haverhill, MA

http://www.perennialdesigns.net/?p=4297

John