Little Adana - any information?

Give it all a good lube job and see if things don’t loosen up for you. There is always a problem with aluminum corrosion in a moist environment. You photo shows some steel parts which are rusted, so a liberal application of penetrating oil followed by running the press will loosen things up a bit. Add some standrad oil after you get it going as the penetrating lubricant is not enough to keep the parts functioning well.

Thanks for the encouragement jhenry, I’ll let you know if I get everything up and running again…

Hi Jhenry,
I have a number of these tiny machines. Yours is painted green which makes it quite old. The colour was later changed to red.
Without seeing your press it is not easy to guess what needs to be coached into action.Can you send a few more pics illustrating the problems or maybe contact me direct.
Briar Press will forward messages.
It would also help to know where you are, I am in Southern England.

Hi Mike, Thanks for your offers to help out. I will contact you directly with more images.

Thanks, Chris

Chris -

I’m in the middle of restoring a similar press right now - a 1932 Adana No 2 - 4x6. (okay, okay, they call it a “6-4”)

I found parts available in England both through Rex Weaver (sells Adana rollers on eBay) and The Caslon Company - current owner of the Adana Company.

They have some parts and a lot of information on these presses.

Taking this press apart to clean is not too difficult - but is important. As jhenry mentioned above, the “pot metal” (It’s not all aluminum) does corrode terribly - but cleans up well using a wire brush and variety of cleaners.

Here’s a page about the one I’m restoring:

http://www.excelsiorpress.org/restored.presses/AmandasAdana/index.html

I’ll be adding some photos and ‘restoration hints’ to this page as the project (slowly) progresses.

- Alan

Hey Alan, that looks great. I have taken mine apart and given it a good clean and new lubrication and it all is going reasonably well. I’ve had a few decent(?) prints that you can see here on my blog:

http://lestaret.wordpress.com/

I did have some problems with the gripper arm but Mike Wilshire’s advice has sorted this out. I will be getting some new rollers pretty soon, and I think I will give my ink disc a polish like you have - mine is smooth and dull but appears to work, but I guess I’m just a sucker for a bit of bling! Seriously, does a shiny disc help at all?

Thanks, Chris

Chris -

The purpose of the ink table is to spread and store ink while you’re printing. It does not have to be shiny to do this, but it is important that it is flat and smooth. In my case, I polished Amanda’s as much because I could fit it into my lathe head and do it quickly as to make the restoration look better for Amanda. Plus, since the table had been damaged and was not level when I began the restoration, this final touch not only makes it look better but also assures me that it now is perfectly level - which is important.

So the short answer is no. It does not have to be shiny to work well, but at the same time, it really should be clean and level to do its job the best.

BTW - I did take a look at your blog and left a comment about the kerning issue raised by Stu as well as some pointers about setting your roller height and pressure.

Best of luck with this project. It looks as though you are certainly heading in the right direction.

- Alan

Many thanks for this information Alan. I genuinly didn’t know about about the shininess of the plate, but further prints have shown that the plate is flat and smooth and working as it should.

I have also responded to your comment on the blog.

I have done a fair bit more prining on it too and am more impressed by it every time:

http://lestaret.wordpress.com/2010/04/12/the-message-is-the-medium/

Thanks again for your encouragement,

Chris

We have the same problem with our H/S1, the rollers won’t go down to the bottom. It has been stripped, cleaned and oiled but still stops with the rollers over the forme.

www.thepapertrail.org.uk

Hi Platenprinter

I am still getting a little stuck at the bottom, but not so often as before. I have found that plenty of lubricant and continued use seems to help!

Good luck