parts sticking/scraping
I have a 9x12 Craftsman tabletop press that I’m trying to get into working order. After some cleanup, everything seems to be fine with the exception that the rollers get mildly stuck about 1/3-way up the bed and also upon approaching the ink disk. I can complete the entire motion both directions, but at those two places, it takes extra effort and the whole process isn’t particularly smooth.
Upon inspection, the roller arm and the right hand roller spring frame are rubbing against each other at those two points. Particularly when the rollers are at the position moving up or down the bed, the arm is hitting the frame at the bottom of the frame, near the saddle - there’s a convex area at that point and there is a lot of contact between the two pieces as they pass each other there which is causing it to sort of “stick”.
The second place at the bottom of the ink disk, the arm is hitting the little nib on the rod. This is less of a “stick” as the first one, but still enough that it definitely drags as they cross paths.
I’m not sure how to go about fixing this - my initial thought was maybe the arm was on incorrectly, but after looking at diagrams and other pictures, and testing it different ways, I’m pretty sure the original way is correct. I also tried adjusting the position of the attached center rod by shifting it to the left (there was a very small amount that went beyond the sides of the main press frame, so I thought shifting that extra to the other side would create more room between the two pieces), but it didn’t seem to make a difference.
So now I’m out of ideas - does anyone have any clue what I should try to look for next? I should also note that it happens whether the rollers are on or not.
Thanks!
It is a bit difficult to follow your description of the problem. Foir certain, there should be no “scraping” of two metal parts on the press. It may be possible that a part has been replaced with something not quite correct, or the press has been disassembled and the position of the arm causing the difficulty is not correct.
It would help if you could post a photo of the problem areas on the subject press. Of course, many of us would not have a Craftsman press at hand to help you (some may), but seeing the problem press might kick in some gray cells.