Windmill ink fountain tips

Hi, cleanwash—

Here are a couple of ideas: first, I sometimes use the knob that holds the fountain in position to get a general ink coverage thickness, loosening it just a bit to increase, tightening it a bit to thin it out. If the the fountain blade is tightened unduly against the fountain roller, the fountain keys are likely to score the fountain roller; if too loose, the ink could drip out the bottom of the fountain I suppose.

A rule is to tighten keys from the inside towards the ends of the fountain, and to open keys from the outside towards the center of the fountain. Otherwise, adjustment can be difficult because the blade becomes slightly buckled.

I suppose you know that there is a lever on the left-hand side, and a latch that lets you run up the ink and set the fountain.

On short runs with light coverage, I don’t use the fountain, but just tap on a little ink as needed.

Hope this helps, Brian

Cleanwash,
My routine for setting a clean ink duct, based on 50yrs experience with windmills is as follows:

!. Drop the ink duct away from the roller
2. Remove the duct blade
3. Ensure the blade is clean on the underside, and that the recess into which it fits is also spotless.
4. Back-off all the blade adjusting screws at least six turns
5. Refit the blade tapping the edge where the securing bolts are located, to ensure it is as far down into the recess as possible, then tighten securing bolts.
6. Lift the ink duct to the duct roller and lock with the bolt provided; (you should be able to see a gap between the roller and the blade)
7. As Brian has said, now gently tighten the adjusting screws from the centre outwatds.
8. Placa little ink in the duct and run it up.
9. The ideal setting is with a thin ink film and a long throw
(rotation of the roller) the controlling lever should be around 75% of max.

The adjusting screws should never score the fountain roller unless the blade has been incorrectly fitted or worn down over time, and I can only remember having to replace one.