Category: Letterpress for beginners
Later topic: Worn Roller Cores and Uneven Inking
Earlier topic: Wood used for type high

Magnets for lockup

I’m interested in using magnets for locking up on a Vandercook proof press. Does anyone know if these magnets are strong enough to work for simple mono prints? Also, does anyone know where to get the magnets.

Log in to reply   4 replies so far

  • dickg
  • on 18 Aug 14 (09:40)

I’m sure you can get them from Letterpress Things. Don’t know about mono prints.

NA Graphics also carries them, last I checked.
—
Michael Hurley
Titivilus Press
Memphis, TN

I use them all the time for quick lockups. I suppose it depends on how much you’re locking up, though. I use the positive lockup bar for the end of the form and the magnets on the sides. I don’t think they’d be strong enough to hold it if they were in place of your lockup bar.

At last report, the magnets we sell are plenty strong—and we’ve sold several thousand over the years. The handy lockup bars have a tendency to slip with continued use, so the best lockup on a proof press bed is still to use bed pins, a steel bar set against the pins and regular furniture and quoins.

Fritz