Abut a week ago I purchased an amazing press! The press is a Chandler & Price 12×18 New Series. This style of press was was manufactured between 1911 and 1964. According to the C&P Press catalog, “In many a [print] shop, this press is the one that is always busy.” It can handle any job up to about 11″x14″ without
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Every part of the Kelsey press has finally been put back together! And here are pictures! The only thing missing are the roller hooks. The old ones are bent and I believe we will have to make new ones. Other than that, it’s finished. This is what it looked like BEFORE: And AFTER: The next step is to make a
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When I first disassembled the Kelsey press I knew that I would have to replace the original dowels that held the parts together. The majority had been mushroomed on one end and deformed with a chisel and hammered into the other. I can only assume that this was done by the Kelsey company to stop people from taking the press
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The platen portion of the Kelsey Letterpress is made up of two main castings, the platen and the platen back. These two pieces are held together with a very strong spring held in place by a dowel. The screws on the platen back are not for holding the pieces together, but rather for adjusting the impression pressure. BEFORE: When I
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The first step in figuring out what needs to be done to the press is to take it all apart. So that’s what we did this weekend. The mark of a good tool is simplicity. The fewer parts, the better it works. Amazingly, the press only has about 25 parts in total (Half of those are cast body parts, the
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