What’s this little press?

That is a neat little press. I have no idea what it was built for, but I do have a few observations about it.

1. It’s rather small for a proof press

2. The roller appears to be missing something since it’s surface is well above the runners…. perhaps a die of some sort, or maybe a rubber cover.

3. OR it’s made to print onto a specific thick material….. like a piece of wood or plastic.

4. I’ve seen similar machines for paint testing but they were longer… maybe 4 x 18 or so.

5. OR maybe it’s not for printing at all…. it could be used to flatten out material into 2” thick, 4x8 slabs. I’m thinking maybe clay, or bread dough.

BUT all of the above is conjecture. I really have no clue as to what it’s used for. It could be “none of the above”

it looks like a chase goes under the cylinder and it may have had a rubber blanket on it . dare i ask if any other parts came with it? todd

it looks like a chase goes under the cylinder and it may have had a rubber blanket on it . dare i ask if any other parts came with it? todd

There appears to be an image of some kind on the cylinder. What does it say and is it right-reading or wrong-reading as you look at it.

It did have a rubber blanket on it. It also had a chase with it, which had a plate bolted to it which in turn had another plate attached to it. That plate had an image on it with type “wrong reading.” thank you!

The maker obviously escapes all of us at this point, but from what you say this is obviously a little letterpress. It appears to be very well built and should perform well for you with a little experimentation on thickness of packing, etc. The pull-lever handle is intriguing and something I don’t think I have ever seen before. It is small is stature, but very cute. My bestr guess is that it may have been used for labels or something that only needed to be printed a few at a time, as needed.

just when you think you’ve seen everything something like this pops up. more pictures from different angles would be great to see. very cool machine. dick g.

The closest press I can think of is the Little Joe, used for proofing ink mixes. Ink would be put on a slab on the bed, the blanket-covered cylinder would take the ink and transfer it to paper placed on a second slab. They are still made, but the current models don’t look like this at all.

I don’t know what this is. It is not a press. Maybe a mould maker that uses a letterpress forme. Sort of a clayish layer is put on top of the form and pressed by that roller, to make moulds to be used to press rubber onto (the mould) and get stamps out. I guess this prints if you figure how to ink the forme.
Have your measured the height from the bed to the cylinder to figure what it measure? If it is plus .918” by 1/16” or more it proves it is not a press.
The mark on the cylinder seems like a plate was glued in it. A label maker?

What image did the wrong reading type have? I would suggest it might be a color-test press as might be used by an ink manufacturer.