How do I release / change rollers on Kluge 12x18
I’m familiar with C&P and have no problems using my hands to lift up on the mechanism to release and then remove the rollers, but for the life of me I cannot figure out how to release the rollers on a Kluge 12x18. My hands cannot even make the roller mechanism budge on the Kluge. Simply said I want to remove the rollers from the Kluge but cannot figure out how to get them out and it doesn’t seem to work like C&P. Maybe I’m missing the obvious. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Kluge presses require a tool, resembling a bent bar with a notch in it to fit on the roller core and get leverage to pull up the roller hooks. This tool is not illustrated or listed in any Kluge parts catalogs that I have. Even with this tool it is quite a job to change rollers. Don’t attempt to do it any other way! I believe the 10x15 and 12x18 require different size tools. I’ll check to see if I have one that fits a 12x18 and post later!
Dear Letterpress2008:
Mr. Pekala is indeed correct—-there is a Kluge tool, a bent bar with a notch, that is used to remove rollers; but, what an operation! This bar-tool has a nasty habit of slipping, so that the rollers and trucks occasionally snap-down, threatening our little fingers. When removing the top two form rollers, the positioning of the bar-tool is such that one can hardly get leverage on it.
What is really needed is some technique, or some tool, that allows an operator raise and hold the entire ‘ink roller saddle’ on both sides of the machine, so that the rollers can be removed safely. And, safely replaced. I have yet to realize what this technique or tool might be.
One wonders what the Kluge operators of yore did, in a fast-movin’ commercial setting, where one job might be print and the next might be scoring or perfing. There must be some Kluge guy out there with a trick. I wish he’d write-in and reveal it.
In the olden days of Kluge (for me that was the 1970’s) we DID indeed have a trick: We ganged our cutting/scoring jobs together and did them all on Thursdays so as to only have to change them once a week. On Wednesday night we took out the rollers using the “roller removal tool”, which had a nickname that decorum prevents me telling here.
The one thing the we also had that made it easier was a set of small metal stepped wedges that one could use to prop up the top roller saddle so you could then reposition the bar and get a better purchase on it. A forked ball-joint tool from the car parts place also works well.
Compared to a C&P, it’s a big pain-in-the-whatever. BUT after doing it a few hundred times, one becomes accustomed to it, and it’s still a pain-in-the-whatever.
I was fortunate enough to find a roller removal tool for sale as my Kluge didn’t come with one. Still, I paid dearly for it. If there’s interest, I might be able to put together a CAD file suitable for submission to one of the online machine shops for reproduction. It’s a stupid simple piece.
andykeck and others,
Appreciate all of the feedback. Wow, I had no idea! :-) I had searched all over (with Google’s help), and even spent a lot of time at Kluge website searching, watching videos (not relevant to what I needed)…..couldn’t find anything at all so all of the information sharing here at Briar Press discussion forum genuinely helps.
andykeck, is it possible for you to take a photo of your tool (to get a feel of what it’s like), and to take a basic photo of the tool being used on a Kluge. More or less trying to get a tangible feeling for what people are describing.
If you were able to make a basic CAD type of drawing of such a device I would take advantage of that with the help of either a local or online machine shop. I’m guessing I would still need a few hints how to use on the Kluge.
Thanks again!
I’ll take some photos this evening and see what I can whip up in terms of a DWG file.
Like you, I was clueless when it came to mounting my rollers. The previous owner had never used the Kluge for anything and didn’t specifically remember a roller tool coming with the machine. Also, I only got one oscillating roller, and I don’t think it’s the right part for this press.
Here’s a link to a few photos of the roller tool. I’ve got one with a ruler as a size reference and then three of the tool in action.
http://gallery.me.com/andykeck/100085
Letterpress2008:
I have a tool matching andykeck’s photo. It measures 17 inches across, apparently for a 12x18, as I also have one measuring 16-3/8 inches, which fits a 10x15, and the shorter end of is at a different angle. Make me an offer on the 12x18 one…
Stanislaus Pekala, reach me by clicking on my username.
andykeck’s pics show the factory tool for this job. it is also the correct application of the tool. i, being vertcally challenged have found though, that( using his pics as a reference) if i switched the tool end for end, and then inverted it, thus using the notch end for the pivot point, and elbow area as the lift point, it brought me closer to the task at hand and gave a better mechanical advantage as you are now pushing up instead of down. let me know if you need a drawing, or, this tool made. E
andykeck, I genuinely appreciate the time you invested to take the photos and post them to the community. It helps a lot!! My mind was having a tough time imagining what the tool might look like and it was nowhere near what was in the photos….so thanks much!!
Thanks to everyone else as well for all of the information, and tips and tricks. Now I feel like I have a fighting chance. :-)
I’ll see if I can get one of the tools from Mr. Pekala. If I am unable to do so I might request a drawing so that I can get a tool made.
Thanks bunches!!