Where can I find parts for a Victoria Kobold?
Hello,
I´m a long time lurker to this forum but now I need some help.
I´m from Germany and right now slowly building up a small printshop.
Thanks to ebay and a short black out in the part of my brain which controls my wallet I´m now a proud owner of a Victoria Kobold.
I searched this forum and the internet but I found very little informations and photos of this press, maybe someone here owns one and could post some photos of his press?
Mine is missing the treadle and flywheelbrake, but I think everything else is complete.
So I would need either a place where I could buy those parts or some pictures and exact measurments so I would try to rebuild it by myself. My father is a locksmith so this should be possible.
The press is missing the roller trucks but I think I just forgot them by the earlier owner, if not some photos of those would help too.
Unfortunatelly the chase is broken at one side so is there maybe a place where I could buy a new one? Or can it be welded?
Every help is much appreciated.
I believe these were Vicobold in the UK
http://britishletterpress.co.uk/presses/platen-presses/vicobold-machines...
Also previous enquiry on this site and includes a link to a manual with pictures and a parts list
http://www.briarpress.org/25982
Hello Platenprinter, thank you very much, but mine is a Kobold which is not pictured in the first link.
I also found the another topic.
It seems very hard to find any pictures of this press, but I will contact Drukwerk and hope that they can help me.
As soon as my press is cleaned and all the parts are put together again I will post some pictures.
There were the original German Victorias made by Rockstroh & Schneider in Dresden, later Rockstroh-Werke in Heidenau, and then the British Victorias made by Pershke. Kobolds and Vicobolds are the smallest jobbing platens in the line, many models being autofed. Rockstroh-Werke was absorbed into the Eastern Block Poligraf conglomerate, and my guess is that absolutely no information or parts remain in Germany or the UK, except what little is in the hands of private individuals. A few Pershke Vicobolds are still operated in the UK, no idea what there is on the Continent. Four Victorias known in North America, only one a Kobold, that somewhere in a college museum in Canada.
If the press has the usual clutched flywheel (standard on every Victoria I have seen), I would not bother with treadle or brake, just get a variable speed motor. As soon as the clutch is thrown, the press stops within inches. Or, simple brakes can be made from levers and wooden brakepads.
Patrick Roe at The Logan Press Uk has a Kobold platten for sale maybe it is similar you could ask for measurements and is very familar with these kinds of presses, he also repairs letterpress presses, has a Vicobold too for sale
http://www.natalis.be/en/catalog/kobold/platen~ty040-50050.aspx
have a Kobold too, maybe parts are similar
bogytrykkeren in Denmark on fickr groups I love letterpress has a Victoria Merkur too i believemight be worth contacting
I have a Victoria A2 from Rockstroh-Werke. There is quite a difference on the two presses. The main differences are the size, weight and inking systems – the Kobold has an ink disc with 2 form rollers and the A2 (and the Merkur etc) has a cylinder inking unit with 3 to 4 form rollers. The Kobold presses are, as far as I can see, made to be driven by a treadle without a clutch. All the lager Victorias were made to be driven by a motor or so through a clutch.
The press has adjustable rails, so the diameter of the trucks shall match the diameter of the form rollers. The diameter of the trucks for the third roller supporting the ink disc and ink reservoir shall be a bit larger, so the roller does not touch the form when operating.
Here a photo of a press in Brasil http://www.flickr.com/photos/letterpress_brasil/6983895116/in/photostrea... (with motor) and here a photo from Handbuch für Buchdrucker by Fr. Bauer http://www.flickr.com/photos/bogtrykkeren/8568955451/in/photostream
Gott grüß die Kunst
Jens
Hello,
thank you all very much!
@ parallel_imp: yes, mine is an orginal Rockstroh Kobold.
Unfortunately the clutch is also missing, so I thought that a treadle would be a little bit safer while operating it. A break and a treadle should also be easier for me to rebuild.
@ jonathanjeclipse: I will contact them for sure.
@bogtrykkeren;. Thank you for the advise regarding the trucks, I hope I will find them when I visit again the previous owner.
So the third roller is only to deliver ink for the inking disc?
I´m just so impatient, but still have to haul the main body of the press up the stairs to my workspace, then put everything back together and hope that there is no screw or part left.
Marius
I have a Victoria Kobold… but parts are impossible to buy in any were in the world. I´m from Argentina… if you need a sketch email me (i gonna draw the trucks in Autocad right now). Im restoring one of this machines. But is so hard!!!! If I can help you… you can help me? What is the right motor for this machine? I have a original parts manual (very ancient) I hope this can be useful for you.
Kobold_Finished.jpg
Hi, here All, I too have a Rockstrohwerke Kobold press. Here in the UK at Happy Dragons Press. This has an ink disc and two inking forme rollers and looks like the pic of Tucuman’s one in Argentina. It is treadle worked, and I think never powered. It runs perfectly and I have been printing small books of poetry with colour illustrations on it for about 15 years. Previous owner had an amazing history and might have found it in Germany and brought it over here. It also has the two tables on elegant curved brackets. The manual on the druckwerkindermerge web-site doesn’t seem to be exactly the same press . And is really just a parts list, not an operators manual.
interestingly enough these two presses are still for sale in Belgium…..
http://natalis.be/en/catalog/ancestors/120-0-0-0-1.aspx
Monopol and Phoenix
maybe similar enough to check them out?
Hi All! Jumping in on the string late in the game…there certainly is not a lot of reference material floating around about the Kobold. I thought some of you may be interested in a couple of photos of another - as every example i’ve seen seems a little different. I will be working to get the press operational shortly… so i’m quite positive I will have some questions for those able to answer. I look forward to any information and/or comments anyone has to share.
Cheers!
Kobold 02.jpg
Kobold 01.jpg
I have a Kobold by Rockstroh and use it regularly. If I can be of assistance contact me direct. at stambourneATaol.com Somewhere I do have a spare parts list. Also see rather out of date web-site The Happy Dragons Press
J Stafford-baker
It looks as if it might have had a feeder originally, with those bolt holes on the frame and impression control lever moved left.
Does the flywheel drive the shaft directly? All the Victorias I know have the clutched flywheel, so it is odd to see the foot brake.
There are couple later Vic manuals here:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/universal_platen/files
Further to my last, I have a Rockstroh Heidenau model
and whilst similar to the one in Argentina, seems to be of definitely heavier build throughout. Mine is tredale operated, but the treadle arrangements have in the past broken and have had to be welded. Mine also has a crude post manufacture hand guard. Whilst there are three forme inking rollers, there is also a fourth which acts to transfer ink from the duct to the ink disc, but does not ink the type forme.
Its parallel approach in principle of course like all the others,
and the adjustments of this takes some understanding!
I think theres no supplier of spares for this rather early
model, but I do have a parts list with illustrations for a very similar machine by them. .