Category: Letterpress for beginners
Later topic: C&P Old Style
Earlier topic: Meaning of single phase 220volts???

Locking in the Chase

Hi There,

Anyone know a good resource on locking form in the chase or can share some hints? I’ve got a font, a chase, furniture and quoins. I’m having some trouble with locking and wondering what I’m doing wrong. Is there a strategy to this?

Thanks

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lovelyduality,
Hello fellow printer,

I have been in letterpress 65 or more years. What trouble are you having locking up a form.

I take pleasure in helping printers especially beginners. Email me with the problem.

SAL

PS What press do you have.??

Go to David Rose’s web site and buy one or two of the books he recommends. Polk, Cleeton or Mills, for example. Each cover lockups in detail and lots and lot more besides. http://www.fiveroses.org/intro.htm#Manuals

Hi Sal and Arie,

Thank you for the quick response. Great resource (fiveroses). Before I read the above post, I went to flickr to see if I could pull up some lock up pics - and I actually did! Got a few ideas there and I was able to lock up my form.

The main issue I was having was just having the form (two lines of text “Happy Birthday” stay in place while I turned the keyes. I played with it a bit more and finally got things to where I wanted them to be.

I just bought an Adana 8/5 from Don Black Linecasting and I’m so happy with it. Really easy to use :)

Thanks again!

Sounds like you needed to have furniture blocking the ends of the form to keep it from sliding when you tightened the quoins.
Just be cautious in choosing your examples. There are good lockups to be seen on flickr, and also some very bad ones!
A look at a standard reference book such as has been mentioned would be a good idea.

On the Boxcar website they list several press manuals. Go to the link: http://www.boxcarpress.com/flywheel/
and click on the Kelsey manual—that little booklet gives you step by step instructions with illustrations on how to lock up your form.