Restoring a Nolan
I recently acquired a Nolan #2 proof press off of craigslist. Everything is intact and she gives a great impression, but she hasn’t been used in years and the Savannah humidity has not been kind. I’ve been scrubbing her with WD40 (at the suggestion of the maintainance guy in my building) and Soft Scrub, which works well on light rust but not the stuff my press has going on. The WD40 took off a lot of the rust, but theres still some spotting that no amount of scrubbing seems to help. Does anyone have other suggestions for getting the press relatively rust free?
Thanks!
I am on the last few steps of restoring a Nolan #1. My other half has blogged about the process a little.
When we started removing rust, we used Naval Jelly on the bottom, since that doesn’t have to be true to print. For the top, we just used a lot of elbow grease, a few brillo pads, and a VERY conservative amount of Naval Jelly. I didn’t let it sit.
After we got all the rust off, or neutralized it with the jelly, we coated the press liberally with Johnson’s Paste Wax. My goal was to strip the rails of rust completely, but the bed, I knew would be more problematic. My goal with the bed was just to chemically neutralize the rust, not to get every last pit off.
The press in that state can be seen at http://foliociii.com/Blog.html though you will have to scroll down about 4 posts.
Currently, my press is broken down to have a new rubber roller put on and a bed plate made, but it should be fully functional in a couple weeks.
Good luck, and I hope I helped a little.
I just finsihed restoring the Nolan Perfection proof press shown below. It was a rusty mess having been stored in an unheated garage for years. Living right beside the ocean, rust is a constant hassle for me so I’ve been tackling these jobs for what seems like forever. Here is my method for what it is worth. First of all I’ve learned that in most cases you need to disassemble the equipment right down to the last nut and bolt. There’s nothing worse than to have put as much effort as you are going to into making it look pretty only to mess it up later trying to free an adjusting bolt or two or three that you didn’t want to be bothered with the first time around. Plus, it gives you first-hand experience of how every feature was designed to work. Next, I use a scraper to get off the really heavy, crusty stuff. I follow this with a not too coarse wire brush. I use a cup brush on a right-angle grinder and also a wire brush wheel on a pedestal grinder. For the parts that are critical like the rails, bed, cylinder etc. the final step is emery cloth with kerosene or penetrating oil. The steel parts that have to remain bare I coat with paste wax.
Nolan Proof Press1.jpg
Another paste wax user… Johnson’s better not stop making the stuff.
I agree- strip the press down to the last bolt. I replaced every bolt on my press, except for the ones within the cylinder, which were in fine condition. by stripping it completely, I got parts numbers for the Timken bearings, internal measurements for the casings, and other stuff that could help me later. I also know that there is now not a single rusty bit that might fail on me (or the next owner) decades down the road.
That is a gorgeous Perfection by the way.
I have a Nolan in my garage that’s in good shape it’s about 3 x 4.5”. I’m going to sell it and I’m wondering if it’s worth it for me to polish it up. It’s got some light rust on it, but not much. It’s only been stored for a few years. Is there a big difference in what I can charge with a little rust verses no Rust?
TTOlmstead- it depends on where it is. If it’s anywhere near the Northern Gulf coast, then no…. you shouldn’t need to clean it up, since I’d be interested in it just like it is.
May I pay you for Walmart photos of the Nolan Press that my father designed?