Albion platen support cable
Hi, I have 2 Albion Presses both over 100 years old that I’m restoring. I’ve heard that some users are using safety cables to prevent platen drop in the event of structural failure. However I have not been able to confirm that this is an event that has occurred or likely to occur. Does anyone have any information on this?
Regards Tim
I’m not understanding your message, are you referring to using cables/straps to support the platen in the assembly process?
I’m not understanding your message, are you referring to using cables/straps to support the platen in the assembly process?
”Platen drop ”?? I never heard of such a thing happening anywhere, and I’ve been in this area for, um .. .. 60 years or more, both hobby and trade. Now pinching fingers between the platen front edge and the edges of a tympan, presuming you have one! on the bed as it moves in, as it comes in under the platen is another thing, do keep fingers clear!!
So few have their tympans nowadays, missing their useful
sideways register adjustment ability, never mind easy make-ready .. .. sigh. . ‘During assembly ’ is a maybe as Tony says.
I have moved and restored countless hand presses. The cable (a sort of figure of 8) was sometimes to be found installed by Chris Holliday when he was active.
I personally think that with the Albion should the piston fail it would be under impression so that the platen could only fall onto the bed and lock the press up. That said to echo the above comments I’ve never seen it happen in over 20 years of doing this. The only presses that have damage to them or cracked and broken and indeed repaired pistons were down to user error or damage in transit. And it’s a system should you choose to use it would need safety testing itself.