Help with Golding Jobber No.6, please.

Hi all; Golding presses aren’t that common over here in the UK, but I have to say this one has been a joy to use. Until very recently, that is. I hope someone here will point me in the direction of a quick fix.

The press was very easy to treadle, and moved very smoothly; just recently, though, it’s become very stiff on the opening stroke, and has a definite squeak to it. I tracked down the source of the squeaking to the left hand of the two long springs in the body (which, if I’ve understood correctly, are compressed on the opening stroke to aid the closing stroke). I’m not certain that this is the reason the press is stiff to open, though - it may be just a symptom, or it may be just fine.

Other notes:
- I run a fair few machines and am pretty fastidious about oiling (though, of course, it’s possible I missed some oiling points). In any case, everything is very well oiled at the moment, and it doesn’t seem to have a made a lot of difference.
- I’ve ruled out the roller mechanism and the treadle by disconnecting them, and I don’t think the flywheel is to blame.

I’d appreciate any thoughts from those with experience of the presses. I’m back in front of it next Wednesday, so I’m gathering all my troubleshooting tips between now and then. Thanks, all.

nick

image: golding_jobber_spring_small.jpg

golding_jobber_spring_small.jpg

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Hello Nick,

John Fahlstrom is a Golding expert in the USA. I would try contacting him. His Briar Press listing is:

http://briarpress.org/22988

Hope this helps,

Geoff

Hi Geoff; thanks for the reply. In fact, John’s already been kind enough to get in touch, saying he has no idea. Doesn’t bode particularly well for the problem…

If you are sure there was no actual incident that caused this sudden change, somehow you have to try to isolate where the problem is by process of elimination. The springs are under a lot of tension, so l would leave them alone though. You can disconnect other parts to remove them from the equation. I would not be doom and gloom yet. It could be something quite easy to correct. It sure is an odd one.

duplicate post

Hi John; I’m as sure as I can be that there hasn’t been an actual incident that might have damaged something: it’s just become very stiff on the opening stroke. It still closes pretty easily (I would say just as easily as it used to); previously, though, the flywheel’s momentum would be enough to keep it going, and it now needs a lot of pressure on the treadle to keep it going. It *can* be operated, but I’m really loath to do that in case I’m causing damage.

If you’ve a suggested order for disconnecting things, then that would be a great help- I’ve eliminated the rollers and the treadle itself, but removing other parts seems like more of an involved job.

Is it possible that some foreign material has fallen into the mechanism associated with opening the press? Perhaps some paper in the teeth of a gear, or a piece of lead somewhere in the works? That could cause the press to bind at regular intervals.

@sharecropperpress Good thought - certainly not impossible.

To John Falstrom, just noticed I spelled your name wrong. My apologies. Hope you are well, Geoff

Last call for suggestions, please - I’m back in front of the press in 14 hours, and need to have 1,200 cards done by the end of the day …

The best I can offer is really use your eyes as you hand cycle the press with the flywheel. Get some good light on it and look from every angle at every moving part as you slowly cycle it. Try cycling it both forwards and backwards as well. Sometimes just by careful observation suddenly something shows up.

Thanks John - that’s been my tactic since the problem emerged, but I’ve not had enough concentrated time to work it out.

In case someone searches for a similar troubleshooting problem in the future, I’ll write up my findings here below …

- short answer: I didn’t find a single solution. In taking several parts off the press to try to troubleshoot it, though, I did find that a few of the joints were a bit sticky, and I applied oil or grease where appropriate.

- I suspect that, after having lain dormant for about a decade, this was a case of accumulated crap and detritus slowly working its way into bearings and moving parts, and causing enough cumulative friction to bring the whole thing to a standstill when compressing the large springs in the main stand. As I disconnected parts, working from the treadle into the the moving parts, it seemed that each part needed a bit of stickiness cleaning off and relubricating. Each time seemed to make a very slight improvement.

- I’m now trying to work out where would be best to apply grease, and where best to apply oil. I’m sure there are lots of opinions about that, but so far the most noticeable improvement involved putting a substantial amount of grease over the bearing surfaces at the top and bottom of the two compression springs in the main stand, as well as making sure the sliding parts of those spring assemblies were well greased. That seemed to make the most difference to the resistance.

- By the end of about 5 hours, I was confident enough that running the press wouldn’t cause any permanent damage, and I was able to run off 1,200 Xmas cards in the remaining couple of hours.

effrapress - I’m not in your shoes so am in no position to sit here and make concrete recommendations. However, in theory, slightly over-oiling is best because the excess oil will eventually flush out the contaminants (crap and detritus as you say). Grease, while good at lubrication, will be more likely to hold the contaminants in, where they can do more harm.

In any case, I’m glad you are making progress, and envy you for having a Jobber #6. That is the first press I ever ran, in high school.

Wishing you continued progress.

Nick, I don’t believe Golding intended any of the moving parts to be greased except perhaps where the various springs slide in collars. On our Jobber No. 7, everything has oil holes, not grease cups.

Michael Hurley
Titivilus Press
Memphis, TN

Thanks, Geoffrey. It might not have been clear, but I’ve been using grease on joints that I’ve cleaned while disassembled. I agree with you about flushing with oil, though - good idea.

And yes, the number 6 is a really lovely press - very interesting to see all the changes to the standard clamshell platen operation. I’m hoping that this Wednesday will see it functioning pretty well again.

being unfamiliar with this press, but very astute at C&P/ Kluge presses, I would say to go around the machine completely. Use a small pry bar, screwdriver, or rubber mallet to “Move” things. Ev thing on these old presses has some bit of clearance. finding something that is supposed to move, but is tight can then be investigated further. Most of the parts, if fitted properly, can be moved by hand.