Adjust cylinder and rollers on Vandercook 3?
Hi all, the cylinder and everything attached to it on my Vandercook are no longer level with the press bed, leading to the rollers inking unevenly and presumably other issues as well. As you can see in the attached photo, one of the bearing units (front side) is no longer making contact with its surface. I know there is a way to adjust this…and so I am asking you. Any thoughts?
Cheers,
Roger
Whoops, here’s the image.
48BD37C0-EF7E-4A3B-96C7-33FA8629EBFF.jpeg
Although not familiar with this press on a farley they have an I think it is called an eccentric shaft, try placing screwdriver in slot then undo the lock nut turn the screwdriver and see if the bearing moves up or down, if it does adjust to the position you want then tighten the lock nut, worth a try, good luck,
John
To adjust this steady roller (to use the Vandercook term), do as John suggested, but make sure it isn’t too tight against the rail. It is correct when, with minimal effort, you can turn the roller by hand while the carriage is stationary. This adjustment isn’t as precise as for the carriage bearings that roll on the under rails.
For carriage bearing adjustments on this model, roll carriage—in print mode—to the center of the bed and onto a .003” shim (a feeler gauge is ideal). Loosen the smaller lock nut and shift the bearing by tapping against the side of the triangular adjusting plate. It can be removed and recentered if the slot has run out for the lock screw. The carriage bearing must make contact with the shim. Retighten the lock screw. Check all bearings.
Impression test. Lockup long lengths of type-high rule or photopolymer (approximately two picas wide) in the bed parallel to, and 6 picas or more from, the bed bearers. (two rows of spaced large sorts will also work) Pull a blind proof on thick paper and examine the impression in raking light. If it appears heavier on one side, then the impression bearings need to be adjusted.
I’ve mentioned in the other thread that we are looking at a No 3 and actually it doesn’t have these steady rollers at the front. If you look at the sales details on the Vandercook website you can see they are clearly missing on the earlier model. I wonder if not having them was a serious issue and why they might have added them?
James