Excelsior-Press ColavecchioDON’T DO IT!

I purchase a restored Cook’s Victor 2 years ago from Louis and I have to say that have been ZERO issues with this press other than the typical minor adjustments! Louis has always been very professional and helpful with anything I have needed, even offered to make a different set of trucks for me for free, if I wanted to change the size rather than use tape.

I don’t have a dog in this fight, but I thought it was strange to read some of this advertising copy which stated that the presses had “bearings replaced”. The 3 different brands that I’ve rebuilt (kelsey, caxton and pilots) don’t have replaceable bearings, much less somewhere to put them. I believe he’s kind of “expanding” his advertising copy to pray on the unknowing.

chuck the printer

I agree with chuck the printer and can add Craftsmen, Hohner, Sigwalt, Baltimorean, & Golding. I suppose one could make the argument among machinists that a load bearing shaft is indeed a “bearing” but it is a stretch and does promote a sense of over indulgence, in my opinion.

Journal/plain bearings are indeed bearings, but how could they have been replaced?

He is referencing the shafts as being replaced and calling them bearings.

I forgot about the other presses we have restored, C&M, Adana, and Daughaday. All of these table top presses and most floor models have steel shafts riding in cast iron journals.

re: Lou’s use of the word “Bearings”

I think if he said “bushings” his comment would make more sense. I have seen quite a few of Lou’s restorations and have set up his presses and trained his buyers on their use. For the most part, I agree with Dennis - who, btw was one of my students. Dennis brought his 6x9 Victor to my shop and learned how to use it here.

ref: http://excelsiorpress.org/blog/blog.2009.html#2009.08 (see August 4, 2009)

Ink Spot is right; Lou is a good machinist, but not a printer. And, although I tried to help out as a printer supporting his work and his customers, it was hard to do from 6 hours away.

And, yes. He does consider platen leveling and ink roller truck adjustment to be the responsibility of the buyer- which is one of the reasons I developed my “platen leveling kit” which really is nothing more than some Ludlow slugs with large bold X’s - and a thinner, smaller “x” to be locked up in the corners of the chase.

It’s not the best tool for the job, but it works and many folks have used my Ludlow slugs to level their platens.

But, back to bushings vs bearings:

What I have seen is some presses that apparently had worn shafts or frame holes that were worn so they were drilled out and he has installed bushings in them.

Most of these little presses never had the use to require such retro-fitting, but some have. In those cases, the idea of drilling the frame and installing bushings makes sense to me.

And he may have had some presses where the bed needed to be milled down a bit - particularly on the presses where he had new beds cast.

But I agree again with Ink Spot that most of the presses we printers restore don’t need milling work done on the beds or bushings installed around the steel shafts.

A note about Leveling the Platen & Adjusting Roller Height:

Although Lou did not have true platen leveling gauges when we were last in contact - over 6 months ago - I was privileged to receive a gift from Gene Mosher of the Kelsey Company. He gave me his own custom-made set of platen leveling gauges - the same ones used by Kelsey Co on each of the presses they assembled.

I do intend (as time permits) to duplicate Gene’s gauges and make them available to the public - especially a set for Lou - so that he can easily level the platens of his presses and others can do so as well as they find or reassemble a press.

For now, the Ludlow slugs are doing the job pretty well, but I know that the true gauges I hope to make based upon Kelsey’s own design will make platen leveling a much, much easier task.

And, as far as adjusting the trucks on the rollers he casts; I think I should take responsibility for any size differential between his trucks and the rubber of his rollers. I told him to make the trucks a bit smaller in diameter than the rubber.

Increasing the size of the trucks is easily accomplished using black vinyl electrical tape. (much like the rubber tires on the Morgan Expansion Trucks used on larger presses.) Reducing the size of the trucks requires turning them down on a lathe.

And rail heights DO vary - from maker to maker, from press to press, and on the Kelseys, even sometimes from side to side. We cannot assume that one size truck will properly set roller height on any press. I believe that being able to adjust roller height is one very important issue on any letter press.

I have had one user report a problem with the black vinyl tape this past summer - but that was on a press which sat in the back seat of a car during a long trip south in ~~ 100 degree temps.

She did follow up, however and reported than when she re-taped the trucks at normal room temperature, the problem she had - sticky tape slipping off the the trucks - was solved.

I have used black vinyl tape on my own presses and have found it to work well and last a long time. I endorse the use of black vinyl electrical tape to adjust roller truck diameter and roller height on platen presses. When properly applied - and trimmed, it’s just like having a mini-set of Morgan Expansion Trucks.

So. I agree. If Lou had experience as a printer, he would do test prints and ship all presses ready to print. (Like Kelsey did) On the other hand, if I were an experienced machinist, with access to a cast-iron foundry nearby- and the time to pursue all of my interests, I might be doing major restoration & steel fabrication work as well…

As it is, I’m just a printer with an interest in presses and enough understanding of the engineering and mechanics to take one apart, put it back together and make it print well.

And - I never sell any press that I have not printed on myself. My customers appreciate that - and it’s something I think that we should all do before selling any press as “ready to print”…

If Lou did that - or engaged a local printer to work with him - he could catch these issues before shipping his presses and we would not likely be so critical of his work. I know he is proud of his work and wants to do a good job. But test prints are the proof…

Another bit of hard truth, here, (FOR CERTAIN SPECIFIC RESPONSES, SEE CAPS THROUGHOUT MY PARAGRAPH BELOW).

Is it just me or is anyone else confused about Alan’s comments and relationship with Lou? Alan is a capable ++ printer and restorer but it’s difficult to understand his ultimate stance about Lou through his consistent input on these blogs having to do with Lou. Frankly, one gets the impression that Alan has something invested in Lou’s business. Our clients tell us that Alan has a particularly strong business/consulting interest in the Excelsior 7 x 11. What vexes us is why Alan hangs his partner (Lou) out to dry by distancing himself through these blogs yet continues to reference him, posts his few customer thank you notes on Alan’s site, and continues to weigh-in (in paragraph form) on these blogs:

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

Alan’s weigh-in seemingly distances himself from Lou and the 7 x 11 yet also tacitly supports what Lou’s doing by falling on Lou’s sword for him—by proxy.

Alan—with respect—I think it’s fair to say that you have an immensely strong letterpress background and pedigree. However, I think it’s also fair to say that there is some conflict in people’s minds because of the issue with the Megan-Australian press (let’s not re-hash it) and your contradicting input on this issue. Respectfully, if you didn’t realize this, the community did. Would you be willing to take a firm position, no hedging?…Is your working partnership with Lou worth advertising openly or are you planning on continuing to distance yourself politely while you support his work from that same distance? To wit, from Alan Runfeldt:

“Although Lou did not have true platen leveling gauges when we were last in contact - over 6 months ago”, (ALAN DISTANCING HIMSELF), I was privileged to receive a gift from Gene Mosher of the Kelsey Company (NAME DROPPING AND DISTRACTION). He gave me his own custom-made set of platen leveling gauges - the same ones used by Kelsey Co on each of the presses they assembled. I do intend (as time permits) to duplicate Gene’s gauges and make them available to the public especially a set for Lou (BOTH SHILLING FOR HIMSELF AND, ACCORDING TO ALAN, HE HASN’T SPOKEN TO HIM IN SIX MONTHS—SEEMS COSIER THAN THAT—VERY TELLING) so that he can easily level the platens of his presses and others can do so as well as they find or reassemble a press.” (THIS IS ALAN SHAMELESSLY USING THIS BLOG TO PIVOT AND SHILL FOR HIMSELF—SORRY TO SAY THIS, BUT THIS HAS BEEN A PATTERN…SEARCH OUT ALAN’S RECENT COMMENTS AND MANY OF THEM WILL INCLUDE A COMMENT ABOUT A PRODUCT/SERVICE OF HIS THAT HE ADVERTISES THROUGH THESE BLOGS. NOT ILLEGAL BUT SHROUDED IN COMMENTS APPEARING TO BE HELPFUL INPUT ON A LETTERPRESS BLOG. SUMMARY: ALAN TENDS TO APPEND HIS HELPFUL INPUT WITH AN ADVERTISEMENT FOR HIS PRODUCTS OR SERVICES. IT’S ONE THING TO ADVERTISE YOUR WARES TO THE WORLD ON YOUR OWN THROUGH A SINGLE-TOPIC CLASSIFIED AD ON BRIAR OR THROUGH EBAY OR CRAIGSLIST. HOWEVER, IF YOU’RE IN THE MARKET AND REALLY WANT TO BE A LETTERPRESS SAGE, GIVE ELIZABETH AND BRIARPRESS $20 OR WHATEVER TO FURTHER THE LETTERPRESS MARKET—JUST AS HER SITE CULTIVATES YOUR SALES/CUSTOMER MARKET(S).

BOTTOM LINE, ALAN SEEMS TO BE BOTH WILLING TO SHOW SEPARATION FROM LOU WHILE ALSO REFERRING PEOPLE TO HIM THROUGH HIS SITE AND ELSEWHERE.

Fair disclaimer: Alan is not intended to be the focus of these posts, but he is undoubtedly connected to Lou—voluntarily or accidentally. If it’s voluntary, why would he continue to cultivate that relationship given the truths that have come to light, and—if it’s accidental, why would there be any recommendations or links to Lou’s website once he realized Lou’s mis-steps, etc? It’s likely not accidental and since the links and references remain, it’s also reasonable to assume that Alan isn’t worried about being associated with Lou. This author believes that for public consumption, Alan and Lou pretend to be separate entities but, in fact, Alan shills for Lou (most importantly for the Excelsior 7 x 11—notice the same name as Alan’s site—Alan is excited to be involved in this project and to be considered the experiential sage that moves this project forward…and Lou uses Alan and his pedigree, web-site and customer-base to help his project attain a form of respectability.)

The readers of this blog are free to develop their own conclusions about what, if anything, that indicates.

I know Alan, have spent many hours with him over several occasions, and have done business with him. I have also spoken with him about this new 7x11 press that Lou is attempting to make. Alan is NOT part of Lou’s business. They’ve had a casual working relationship with one another in the past (and maybe the future, who knows), but he is in no way to be blamed for or associated with Lou’s business dealings regarding the 7x11 press, or anything else Lou does. They both happen to use the Excelsior name, which obviously comes from the old Kelsey presses, but they are NOT the same business in any way.

If anything, Alan is guilty of spreading himself too thin. If he were to actually take the time to go edit Lou out of every mention on his own website (which he is not obligated to do), I have no doubt that any number of other projects would fall behind. I’ve seen Alans shop, and I’ve witnessed how often his phone rings while anything is trying to get done. In my experiences, Alan has been very generous with his time, effort, and information.

He absolutely means well and it’s really sucky to see him attacked in any way on here by people that don’t know him or truly understand the situations.

And as for him mentioning his own products or services on here, awesome! Because his products and services are helpful. As a new printer Alan was among the very first people I went to to gain some insight and experience with letterpress, and he was extremely helpful. He is constantly working to help people out and innovate new ways to solve the problems that letterpress printers run into. His efforts should be appreciated.

You can purchase a roller setting gauge/lollipop from several places. Here is one example http://www.boxcarpress.com/photopolymer-supplies/pressroom.html
$22 is a very small investment for anyone.
Alan could you post a picture of your kelsey gauges?

He’s talking about a platen leveling gauge, which is a different size. John Falstrom has sold them through this site though. I have one and it’s very cool.

“Shill” seems like a pretty harsh term for that. I’ve talked to Alan briefly about his Kelsey gauges. He’s not planning to become a rich man by manufacturing/distributing them. In fact, his tentative plan for using the things when he talked to me seems much more geared to help beginning printers than it does to line his pockets.

And on the subject of filthy lucre, there’d be a lot simpler ways of making a quick buck than redesigning and casting a brand new press. I don’t know anyone involved in all this well enough to go to bat for them or their operations outright (though some others have done so), but it doesn’t make a ton of sense to me to represent these guys as some kind of fat cats. I think there’s some love involved in this labor. Nothing wrong with hoping to make a reasonable profit on that labor either, so long as people are dealt with fairly. I know that it’s precisely that last part that is at stake here, but I’m not sure the pejorative language really helps anyone sort that out.

I believe the gist of what I said was missed—mostly to the reader’s tendency to believe that Alan was being attacked—he was not. I’ll simplify, but this post may go on a bit…please forgive me:

-Alan is life-long, experienced printer who has offered a great deal to the trade and has mentored many new printers.

Megahurt: I assume you are one of them. Let it be known that Alan has a very strong history of cultivating new printers in a most honorable, effective and earnest way, and we’re all glad you’re one of them!

As a continuation to the discussion:

Alan “shilling” for Lou means nothing more than the fact that Alan gets something out of the relationship…maybe money, maybe recognition, maybe something else. But here we are again…with all the controversy involved with Lou, and if you had a name as strong as Alan’s…wouldn’t you end all contact with that person to protect yourself and your good name? The lack of separation is what brings on suspicion in this author’s mind. And while this author continues to hope that Alan will not continue to involve himself with someone who, in the end, will hurt him more than helps him, this author cannot overlook the fact that Alan indicated in a recent post (that was linked through these discussions) that he hasn’t communicated or spoken with Lou in six months. This is a very difficult thing to post publicly—and that’s no joke—but objective and written communications prove that isn’t true. That would mean that Alan would not be telling the truth when he claims the above is true—and is a massive disappointment considering the credit and respect given to Alan in my post above. In fact, a reasonable search through blog postings would validate the prior statement.

This is not fun…and this post isn’t to suggest Alan is an indecent person…he is not—far from it…I have known Alan for 30+ years. He is a stand-up guy and has been a friend to many letterpress beginners and enthusiasts.

BACK TO THE MAIN SUBJECT:

Why would someone with Alan’s strong pedigree and with so many supporters continue to support someone like Lou? And—again with respect to those involved—if you think that there is no connection between excelsiorpress.org and excelsior-press.com, I would disagree. While that sort of admittance would be one of my best days in 65+ years of living, I happen to know that those two names do not co-exist without connection—those sites exist, are nearly eponymous, and exist in a pre-ordained agreement.

I hope that I’ve done right by Alan’s pedigree and also done right by suggesting that a pedigree like that should not expose itself to things that will likely destroy it.

And so I digress…

Back to the main discourse—Lou Colavecchio, Excelsior-press.org & the negative controversy surrounding it. Of course, our group could be questioned about our accusations, and the letterpress community would be correct in doing so to maintain objectivity, but I go back to—what in the world would we have to gain from pointing that out? This is a rhetorical question, really……..nothing, of course. Some people might accuse us of being paid for this. There is no pay…directly or indirectly. Fortunately for us, our business practices have had the very fortunate effect of endearing customers to us… and the pay that comes from that—both monetarily and in reputation—serve as the anchor to the argument we’re making.

Having said the above, let’s deal with the issues that potential buyers need to know about Lou:

Background:

Many young printers searching Briarpress.org have crossed paths with Lou, his listings and have become discouraged because they bought a press from him that did not function. Beyond that, Lou did not respond when his product did not perform. (see below).

I think my next few sentences are KEY. Let’s assume that Lou sold a press to someone and for some reason, the press didn’t operate like it should. I can objectively demonstrate that Lou was contacted about that and didn’t respond—multiple times and with multiple customers. Now—does this mean that Lou made an honest mistake?—maybe. Did Lou EVER get in touch with those people? Answer…as you guessed: No.

Now—MASSIVE NUCLEAR TRUMP CARD FOR LOU—-THIS IS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR HIM TO CLEAR HIS NAME:

Let’s check this again—Lou, will you please provide a couple of things:

1) A Google search term that will lead to nothing but positive results and accolades…or, let’s handicap it a bit. how about a search that shows a result of 51% positive to 49% negative. Can you even provide that? Readers: As Lou can’t and won’t provide that, feel free to run that search yourself and then decide yourself if you want to deal with him.

2) Before and after pictures of your presses, customer testimonials, ANYTHING other than your used car salesman approach about what you do for your presses?

Hey, man—you’ve got skills, stop hiding them…show us all what you can do and what you have done. If your few supporters are right, you should be able to make us look like TOTAL jackasses by provided these things.

They should come with the flick of the wrist. This stinks of an experience very much like someone who accuses Waterford of making bad crystal.

Once more, Lou (and with respect to those who have supported Lou and his efforts) we are all still waiting for those SPECIFIC references—and with respect once again—to those folks who have had a positive experience with him…make it easy on us…make us look like morons for even pondering your abilities…deliver results…not verbal currency and most assuredly allowing folks that are in your camp to commit to you through this blog when you have no way (as your behavior has shown) of validating their courage in supporting you.

Potential press buyers: If you ask Lou to verify these things, he should have no issue…if he acts as if you are hassling him…well…you know that he doesn’t want you checking out his “improved” press.

While we continue to wait for Lou’s 7 x 11 press, PLEASE, people that have had the patience to read this…the culmination of that press will likely only be an anchor that Lou can base his next grift on. Be warned…be careful…and, goofy as it sounds..if you’re in the market for a 7 x 11…confirm that Lou will both show you test prints and will let you proof up the press yourself. Short of that, don’t buy it. It is unabashedly this author’s opinion that Lou takes advantage of people’s tendency to be trustworthy and if you call him on those things, one of two things will happen: 1) You won’t but the press, or, 2) Lou won’t feel comfortable selling it to you.

I just had a very unpleasant experience with Lou, buying a press through eBay that arrived broken. The crate showed no signs of distress which you’d think it would. It was very, very shady. Lou became a bit psychotic when I wanted my money back and accused me of breaking the press! Even though I told him it was broken within an hour of receiving it from UPS.
Alan: I bought a press from Lou largely because of the referral on your website. You should remove this referral immediately— it is reflecting very badly on you.