Kelsey chase base interest

I have contacted a couple of foundries capable of reproducing the elusive Kelsey chase base. I’m posting this to see what interest there might be in purchasing a base. This is not to make a profit but to try and get them made affordable. Please reply to this with size and what you might expect to pay… and if the planets align maybe we can get this done!

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John, this is an exciting possibility. Just to clarify, you are talking about the bed, correct?
Do you or your sources have any interest in casting corresponding chases as well?

I have a 5x8 Model N with old style handle, a 3x5 Model M with old style handle and a 9x13 Model F with old style handle. All are in need of the bed and chase.

I’m not sure what we’d pay for the beds, but it wouldn’t be worth the effort unless I knew I could get chases for them as well. To some extent, the chases are just as elusive.

Thank you for starting this discussion,
Dennis

Although I have been a bit “off the radar” during this past year, - due mostly to a major move of operations from the barn where I had worked for 30 years in to a new, downsized shop - in my own building, on my own property, the new shop is set up and I have begun fabricating the Excelsior Chase-Base again. Getting the Richlite accurately milled to size has been a challenge, but until we can get that detail worked out, we are making some for now using other materials.

Note: Table top presses do not exert so much pressure that an expensive aluminum base is needed. And, our Chase-Base - which ever material is used - is guaranteed to perform as described.

I am also casting and machining new replacement chase BEDS for the Kelsey Presses. We have only made a few chase beds so far and are still working on improving the manufacturing process- for quality control as well as end-user cost, but the new chase bed is no longer a dream - it is a reality.

for the Excelsior Chase-Base: http://excelsiorpress.org/reference/Excelsior_Chase_Base/index.html#Exce...

No page yet on the new new Chase Beds, but it was announced on Jan 18 - see: http://www.excelsiorpress.org/blog/blog.2018.html#jan

Again, i must apologize to the letterpress community that I have been moving so slowly on these two important projects, but, frankly, I am getting older and moving more slowly than in the past and I have had to deal with the loss of our main print shop - after 30 years.

My landlord died; his widow sold the farm and the new owners are sticking to the local land-use ordinances which describe my barn as “for storage only” - so it is. The barn is still filled with type and presses and more collected over the years, but all work is now being done in my new shop, and, quite frankly, getting set up here has taken a lot longer than I had hoped…

And, damn! it was cold in here this winter… Next year, the radiant heat in the floor will be connected and keep us working in here all winter - outdoor temperatures notwithstanding…

But do stop by the site, or contact me. I will do my best to help you with your Kelsey (& other) presses and parts.

- Alan