[Baren]: The mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking. Baren Digest Thursday, 23 September 1999 Volume 08 : Number 716 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: James G Mundie Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1999 11:07:59 -0400 Subject: [Baren 5961] sharpening Graham said: >However...... it sharpens the blade more that hones it. No, you are right, Graham. I shouldn't have said "hone". A poor choice of word on my part; but crockery does sharpen like the dickens. Maybe a nice leather strop afterwards would give that mirror shine. I have nothing against a good 4000 grit stone. I use one myself. However, I just wanted to make folks aware that sometimes they need look no further than their own kitchen. Sla/n agaibh, James Mundie ------------------------------ From: Julio.Rodriguez@walgreens.com Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1999 12:52:54 -0500 Subject: [Baren 5962] Julio's got a press.... Hi all, thanks to John, Philip, Dmitri, Gregory and all the rest for the valuable input on press selection and favorite models. The use of a press to print your wood blocks has always been valid discussion on this forum since it's more than just for baren users and many bareners are currently using presses. I'll try to keep it short for those not interested. Yesterday I took a trip down to the guy with the used printing equipment armed with a bunch of notes on brand names & models....not knowing exactly what to expect or what I was going to find. It was much like I imagined, the guy has an old four-story warehouse building filled with all type of heavy industrial type equipment. I knew I was in the right place because there was a truck outside with some large commercial presses. Later I found out these were going to the scrapyard. He took me up to a floor were he had about a dozen proofing presses and about 1/2 dozen heavy duty Vandercook #4. These are the ones with the big roller (8-10" diameter) that travels along on a metal track with self-inking rollers and motorized (approx. 1200lbs). Those he wants 500$ for. The proofing presses he's asking 35$ w/o a base and 50$ for the larger ones with a heavy duty base. They were all operational but with some surface rust and in need of a good cleaning to remove what looks like years of grime. I saw a handful of Vandercook's, a couple of Nolan's and several Challenger models. He also had a similar press in style to the Vandy #4, manufactured by POCO...same idea a big roller on a metal track, hand cranked, very nice about six feet long, nice big green base cabinet with lots of compartments and an inking well.... only wanted 150$ for that.....thought about it...seemed like a good deal.....but I have no room for it in my house, probably weighs about 800lbs. He did not have any etching preses at the moment and said those were hard to find and very expensive. I kind of fell for a Vandercook No. 01 and took it home. The bed it's 32" long by 15" wide and the roller is 3" diameter. Weighs about 150-200 lbs. The roller assembly is inprinted with the initials V & S (for Vandercook & Sons, made in Chicago) & the bed with serial # 02809 and on each side of the roller assembly you find the brand & model number. I liked the fact that the roller had a heavy duty type handle on it. It needs a little surface cleaning but the rollers are in excellent condition and need no other adjustment other than probably a little greasing. There were also about 3 boxes of printing paper stashed in the base cabinet so those were thrown in the deal ( about 3,000 sheets of some white letter-type paper about 14 1/2" x 18"). Don't know if it will be any good for block prints.....it looks commercial in nature.... I don't know if 35$ or even 50$ is a good price to pay for this type of proofing equipment but I really felt like I was buying a piece of american printing history! This thing has to be 40 - 80 years old or more ! If anyone is familiar with this model I would like to hear from you. After a little struggle to fit everything in the back of my car, I got home and set the press up in the garage. With this press of course you are limited to woodblocks that are I believe .918" (standard letterpress height ) or under....the base brings the whole thing up about a height of 4 1/2 feet which is ideal for the labor involved......I put some of my print blocks in and gave it a quick dry run to get the feel of the machine. Nice! Some of you have express interest in contacting this guy and I will be happy to pass on the info if you send me a private email, I don't know if I should publish it here at Baren and have the guy get a hundred phone calls...... it seemed the whole two hours I was there he was always on the phone talking about one piece of equipment or another. Most of the stuff is just sitting and needs work, but he will make it operational for you. If anyone outhere is using or has used a similar proofing press I would like to hear from you privately for advise on it's proper use, also I am looking for some solvent to clean the main roller, it has some dried ink and could use a wash. I know some chemicals could be harmful to the roller material and the guy recommended something called "type-wash" that I should be able to pick up at any graphics supply place. Any ideas ? Any chemicals to stay away from ? Thanks.......Julio ------------------------------ From: "Philip Smith" Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1999 11:34:41 -0700 Subject: [Baren 5965] Re: Julio's got a press.... Julio,...you have a great machine! And you'll never regret the purchase.....we had one in our old print shop in school,...the paper, if for nothing else, can be used for shims under your block,...and yes send me the guys name,.....congradulations!!! Philip ------------------------------ From: Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1999 11:56:31 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Baren 5966] Re: Julio's got a press.... Congratulations,Julio,on your successful purchase! Although i'm not familiar with the Vandercook models the description you gave made it sound quite respectable. I would like to know more about the coordinates of this guy and you may use the following e-mail: mirandapd@hotmail.com if you wish to share the knowledge of this little(?) press paradise, regards, Dimitris ------------------------------ From: David Bull Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 08:10:24 +0900 Subject: [Baren 5968] Video go 'round Administrative matters ... I've just received an update message on the videos that are circulating (I bet you've all forgotten about that stuff by now!). Arafat and Georga should be receiving videos soon. The videos should be passed on to the next person with a 'reasonable' time period please. Maybe a week or ten days? A reminder that the 'control page' for the videos can be found in the Administrative Links section of the main [Baren] web site. If you want to be on the lists to receive them, please check over there ... (Also please remember to let me know when passing them on, so we can keep the page updated ...) And a question - where is Michael's CD-ROM/book package? Who has it? please let me know where this item is ... Dave ------------------------------ From: John Ryrie Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 18:13:03 +1000 Subject: [Baren 5970] Re: Julio's press.... Julio This is a good press and a good price well done, it's a bit older than mine but if the rollers are in good condition then the rest should be alright. These presses are built to last. There is a special roller cleaner that you will be able to get I haven't had to use it my self but a commercial printing place is the place to go and there will be more of them in Chicago than anywhere else in the world. John Ryrie ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V8 #716 ***************************