C & P 6.5 x 10 Pilot, trucks won’t roll on rails

Hi ladies! I recently bought a C & P 6.5 x 10 Pilot (ns) and are having some trouble with the press. As the rollers pass over the chase, the trucks slur along the rails and do not spin. We tried multiple layers of tape on the trucks and the rails to no avail. We have run out of ideas. Any thoughts how we can fix this?

The trucks don’t line up perfectly with the rails, so perhaps the trucks are not correct? Or the spring does not have enough tension? The press was supposed to be working and refurbished so we are a bit frustrated.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
Anne

Thanks for the picture. From your description I assume that the rollers are also slurring across the form and therefore not inking correctly, is that correct?Do the trucks correctly engage with the crimp on the roller core?I was able to find some L shaped aluminum extruded material at Lowe’s, which I cut to fit the form using a hack saw.. Locked in the chase at the correct height, these serve as a dandy roller bearer.Mike

Anne,

 Since you bought the press from Mark Barbour as “working and refurbished”, shoot him an email about this problem, and he will instruct you as to what to do to get the press working. If you need Mark’s email address, email me and I will send it.

David L. Kent, archivist, Amalgamated Printers’ Association

chirologe@hotmail.com

Thanks for the ideas, Mike.  The rollers are indeed slurring across the form and not inking properly.  The trucks do seem to engage properly on the roller core with a small tongue and groove situation.  We used some vertical narrow plates along the outside edge of the chase as roller bearers as a temporary solution but because this gets a lot of ink on the tympan, we didn’t really see this as a long term solution.

Thanks again for responding!  We are getting some other good feedback from some other folks so I will post any solution we find here.

Thanks, David.  We were having a hard time getting a hold of Mark over the last week, so I started searching for other solutions.  His press mechanic did give me a call this weekend, and I need to call him back, so hopefully we will move forward soon.  Thanks for the fabulous card, btw =)

Hi Anne,

  I think I may have a solution to that inoperative C&P. Dave & Beth Seat are a couple of very savvy letterpress printers and equipment machinists (who travel around the US continuously), most of whose work involves troubleshooting linotypes and presses including C&P/Pilots. I have just contacted them; they are now working in Portland, and will be coming right through Flagstaff sometime after July 15th. Would you like them to stop by and fix that truck/roller problem for you? Since your press purchase partly involved my advice, I would be willing to foot the Seats’ charge for a diagnosis and fix (which should not be that much). If you would like to make a definite time & place appointment with them, email them at: info@hotmetalservices.com. I am not about to accept a nightmare involving an inoperative press for you and Wilson (& the middle names) Thomas!

Hi David! You are too generous to offer to pay for this! Thank you for thinking of us and being such a great friend! It is nice to know there are roving press mechanics out there and we would love to meet these guys anyway! Fortunately Mark Barbour’s press mechanic diagnosed the problem, he thought the trucks must be rubbing against the roller hooks. He suggested I grind down the trucks on the outside edges with sandpaper or a file and voila! It worked! I ended up grinding out the inside key on the trucks so they would ride along the rails a little better as well. So everything seems to be running now and the rollers appear to be at the correct height! We will find out this weekend when we finally ink this bad boy up! Looking forward to seeing you sometime in the not-so-distant future!
Anne

Hello,

Do you have metal trucks or rubber expansion trucks? If metal, you might be right and they may not be the right size-or-do they have a flat, worn spot? I worry if you put too much tape on the bearer rails because then you are elevating the entire roller action which will cause inking problems on the letterpress form.

I like the versatility of expansion trucks because you can tighten them to be the right height for these picky old presses! And they won’t break the bank too badly: http://order.nagraph.com/roller-trucks.html

Good luck,

Amelia

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