Shipping C&P 8x12

The press itself without a motor, pallet, etc., weighs about 1000 pounds. Unless you have deep pockets you might try looking closer to home.

Here’s an add from Oct 15th from Louisville, Kentucky: http://www.briarpress.org/18448

Here’s an 8x12 in Cincinnati, OH from September: http://www.briarpress.org/18221

Here’s a 10x15 in Grand Rapids from August: http://www.briarpress.org/17905

Just something to think about.

Rich

Front Room Press
Milford, NJ
http://frontroompress.com
http://frontroompress.blogspot.com

Thank you, I did email some of those sellers. Looks like shipping would be just as much as the press itself :(

there have been many horror stories about dropped presses, unless you use riggers that are used to moving heavy equipment you could become the next horror story. rich is right (as usual) these presses are fairly common, you should take your time and find one closer to home, also if you have the room a 10x15 i think is a better choice, it gives a little more room to print and doesn’t take up much more floor space. good luck dick g.

All good points. This would be my first one so I don’t know if I should go all out or start small.

At this point I don’t know if I can afford anything other than a table top model because the shipping for floor models is so much. Even if I did find one near for very cheap me I would still need to hire someone who knows what they are doing to help me transport it and get it in the house.

Does this look like a good deal or no?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220494400133&_trkparm...

I’m no expert on Kelseys but it looks like a nice press and is a good size for a tabletop press. It has what I think is known as a Victor-type roller assembly which I’ve heard from several sources is more desirable than the regular seperate roller hooks and springs. It looks like it might have been added later as it’s attached to the standard arms for the seperate hooks. Having new rollers is a plus and the accessories that come with it. $1000 seems pretty reasonable considering what these presses can go for.

If you do get this press I would not have it shipped but take a Fall drive and go get it. Sometimes these ship well and sometimes they don’t, and when they don’t it’s a disaster. I see that the seller has made a very nice looking box for it but if you look carefully you will see a major weakness. The lining material is 1/4” plywood and the roller arms are almost touching the sides. A good swift kick, dropping the box on the corner of something, running into it with a pallet jack or something else, etc. is going to flex or even break-through the plywood and snap the roller arm which is quite delicate. Not to mention the front and back of the press. I doubt he will be willing to build another box for it and no amount of insurance is going to make up for finding a broken press when it gets to you. Use the $100 shipping fee and make a weekend of it and take a drive. He says he has more stuff so maybe you can pick up a few other things from him as well.

Rich

Front Room Press
Milford, NJ
http://frontroompress.com
http://frontroompress.blogspot.com

I’m in Boston and had my 8x12 shipped from Detroit— shipping was 98% of the cost of the press. It required me to ship the press via a freight shipper and having a rigging company pick it up to deliver it to my house. One thing to remember is getting the press into your house/space as it is quite heavy (mine was weighed at the rigging company- 1256lbs) and can’t easily be dollied anywhere.

This is who I bought mine from (In detroit area): http://www.a-1enterprises.com/list_by_make_a2.php?make=CHANDLER%20PRICE%...

*Mine is the second 8x12 listed.

I will warn— my was shipped with a safe freight company— not to be confused with a company that takes safety as a priority, but rather a company that ships SAFES— like for banks. Someone stupidly placed a smaller safe on top of the box which housed my press and broke off the feeding tables. No worries— an easy fix, but things happen in shipment that you just have no control over.

Try calling moving companies/frieght companies to get some estimates on how much distance you need to cover.

Good luck!!!

Thanks guys, super helpful.

Rich - I would go pick it up, I did see some pictures here of presses after delivery! It’s hard enough to find one as is :)

evseidl - Thanks for the tips :)

You will be able to find an 8 X 12 in Detroit if you ask around and maybe even post a few ads in supermarkets and laundromats, accompanied by a photo of what you are looking for. If the press is easy to get to, I have hired towing companies, with winch trucks, to haul presses to my home. An across-town move costs less than $50. I never have had any bad experiences. The guys are so used to towing cars that I think they’ve been intrigued and challenged when hoisting 100-year-old printing presses.

I want to re-emphasize what Dick G. said. A 10 x 15 is a nice starting point. I have a 6.5 x 10 press, and it is terrific. I very much want to print 6 x 9 and 8 x 10 images. Even an 8 x 12 press will not handle an 8 x 10 linoleum cut. The rule of thumb is to print on 1/2 to 1/3 of your platen. Of course most every printer pushes this limit. Just remember this.

You can print small on a big press, but you cannot print big on a small press.

Good luck
Justin

I need some more advice. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before but my brother-in-law own his own semitruck and will be coming up to Detroit for Thanksgiving. He owes us a pretty big favor and I found a C&P in KY for a good price.

What would it actually take to get it into my house? We have a basement but I’d rather not put it there. I’m a bit concerned about having a 1000lb object sitting in our house. I’m no engineer or anything but can my floor actually support something this heavy?

I’m no structural engineer, either, so you would be wise contacting one before you carry your plans too far. A typical cast-iron bathtub, when full, may weigh as much as 500-600 lbs, and we don’t concern ourselves too much with that load on standard joists and floors.

You certainly would not be the first to put a press in such a place, and I doubt that there would be any issue, but better safe than sorry. There are enough differences in building codes and structural details, that it would be difficult to give such a broad approval.

I was fortunate enough to have a floor with 2”x12” joists 16” on center in the room I moved my equipment into, and I still contacted an engineer to make certain it would withstand the load of several presses and tons of type.

John — Good point about the bathtub full of water, but don’t forget to add the weight of the person (or persons) in the cast-iron tub full of water. It really adds up.
As for the press … your floor likely would be OK, but I still would put the press on a sheet of 3/4” plywood to spread the weight, and add a couple of 4 X 4 posts in the basement to provide support and channel the weight to the ground.

Is your home an older home? I had my press put into my sunroom— which is a perfect place for me to work, but was built in the 50’ with different building code requirements (read: the flooring was not nearly as supported as modern construction is required to be today). I had my floors ripped out (really, they needed it anyway) and TRIPLE reinforced to support- with proper (modern) supports- the weight of my press.

Anyway—- I was in doubt before I decided to tear up the sunroom (something alot of people can’t just do to their living room- I get that), so I hired a contractor to come to the house before anything was done to ‘ask’ if the weight of my press would be supported by my flooring. It wasn’t, so I fixed it.

It was built in the 60’s. Maybe it could take a Pearl?

I just moved an 8x12 C&P, weighed in with motor at 1200 plus or minus, used a come along, two four x fours and a 3/4 sheet of plywood for a ramp and winched it up into the back of my Ranger pick up. Tied it down and drove carefully, no fast turns. Backed up to my garage and slid it down the ramp. ba-da-bing, no boom. A couple of 1/2” pipes for rollers and good solid skit plates attached to the press feet. Vern