cleaning my #4

Hey all, I recently aquired a late 50’s vandercook #4 that had been sitting in the warehouse at work for twenty something years untouched. After some quick searches of the make and model I fell down the rabbithole that is letterpress and now all i wanna do is clean this puppy up and get it running. The rollers are a bit rusty and there’s plenty of dust. Any tips or pointers on the restoration process of a #4?

Here’s a photo of my new friend. I apologize for the poor quality. Thanks in advance for the help!

image: 4.jpg

4.jpg

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Hi jcf,

Congratulations on your amazing find! I cleaned up one of these a few years ago and posted pics on Flickr. Right now I’m in the process of installing new form rollers and will soon add photos of that procedure. Comments from experts are very much welcome on my posts. I’m still a relative newbie, but I like to document things.

You also should look at the Vanderblog archives for the No. 4. The Vanderblog would be the best place to ask any nitty-gritty questions that arise as you work. You also should add your press to the Vandercook census on that site.

Have fun!

Barbara

Ms. Hauser is way too humble.

If your interested in seeing a great documentary of restoring a Vandercook, and job well done then you need to check out her great work. I believe that she must also have one of the few “ocean views” of the letterpress studio community. :)

Have fun, and I agree that the best forum for Vandercook’s is Paul Moxon’s Vandercook site. Also, Fritz @ NA Graphics is a very helpful resource, just respect his time with purchases. Sounds like your going to need rollers, packing materials, etc….

Rad! Thank you all so much. She’s cleaning up nicely. Are manuals available for this press? All I’ve found is a partial pdf document. I would love to get a manual and list of parts so i know what, if anything, i’m missing here.

Also, Barbara, your photos are beautiful and have been so helpful throughout this process. Thanks for being so thorough!