Treadle for NS C&P 8x12

liz, the ns has a straight shaft, i don’t think you can use a treadle on your press, you should contact john barrett at letterpress things, he might have a motor for your press, good luck dick g.

Dick, I think the C&P New Series were available either way, with a straight shaft for motorized operation or with a “cranked” shaft for treadle operation. At any rate Hern Iron Works makes repro treadles specifically for the n.s., so there must be enough around to justify that…

Liz, the real question is whether your C&P has a crook in the shaft for the treadle hook, or a straight shaft. If yours has the crook, adding a treadle should be fairly easy, and the ones from Hern work fine.

Thanks folks— Would a picture help? From the replies, I can’t tell what a ‘cranked’ shaft would be- or how it would be different from a strait. Will post pics in the morning.

I’ve looked at the Hern treadles, and it doesn’t ‘seem’ too difficult, but hoping for some expert reviews. My arms are killing me! ;)

Here’s a picture of my 8x12 OS crankshaft with the treadle hook - hope it helps!
Steve

treadle 006a.jpg

the shaft the fly wheel is on goes through the press, in the middle under the platen the shaft is either straight or has a bend in it like the picture, if it is straight your out of luck. dave is right, some new styles were set up for treadles, i was wrong, learn something new every day. dick g.

Steve— You rock my world.. .that is exactly what mine looks like (with the bend in it). I’m ordering the treadle TODAY. I just did an order of 350 business cards (2 color)- finished up this morning…. i’m an unhappy camper and my left arm is noticably larger than my right. ;)

smiling…glad that I can help someone else for a change! Hern Iron Works is great - Joel is very knowledgeable and helpful. A treadle definitely makes things sooo much easier!
Steve

Steve— I just ordered a treadle with Joel. What a great guy to work with!

This adventure should arrive in about 3 weeks; do you have any pointers for installation? I would love for it to just a quick ‘throw the hook over the bendy shaft’ but I somehow doubt thats the case.

I just installed mine last week. I had to file down the inside radius of the hook to fit around the shaft. Just be careful and turn the press over slowly after you install it to make sure everything clears. Good luck!

Two months ago I got a treadle from Hern, for a New Style 8x12. I had two problems. One, I felt the inside surface of the treadle hook they sent was pretty rough, and that its radius was slightly tilted off horizontal. That would mean it would be digging at the nicely polished surface of the steel cam, or bend(shown in the photo) I took it to our local welder and he bored it smooth and true. Then, it didn’t clear the surrounding frame as the cam returned forward at its apex. I had to grind off the leading outside edge of the treadle hook quite a bit for clearance. But when those two things were done, it worked fine. The other thing is you will need some long cotter pins or bolts to hold the lower end of the treadle hook to its corresponding rod at the lower rear of the press. Not provided by Hern. This may be confusing to read, but when you get the hook, you’ll see what I mean. Joel was surprised that I had trouble with the clearance, and thought my 1913 model had some slightly different dimensions. Maybe yours will fit all right. Good luck… the treadle action is very pleasing and easy to speed up and slow down as you wish. But instead of a huge left arm, you’ll have a huge right leg.