Problem with Roller Saddle making contact with a bolt on the press

My first thought is insert a thin washer at both ends of that large bar that connects to the platen and one of the same thickness under the joint on the thin bar further up so you are pulling your problem bolt away from the passing saddle. The picture is of a LMW No 7.

lmw.jpg

Sad to say, but from the published shots there is a lot of wear in the whole roller train.

The rollers could be for another M/c and have been badly adapted, The arms that carry the roller hooks look as though they are *splayed* out because the steel stocks and trucks are too wide,! Is it possible to set the trucks farther IN at all.

In any case the steel stocks/cores should be protruding beyond the hooks by at least (generally) 1/4” explains why the inner *radii* of the saddles is being (or has been) crucified.

Is it possible to take any of the wear/slack out of the roller arm carriers,? (variation of P.P.s above!)

The machine with those origins and vintage would have been all with *imperial* dimensions, inc the roller stocks/cores a long time ago, probably bodged with metric, - force of circumstances etc.

If all else fails, contact the Author via B.P. channels. Lots more pointers available.

is there sideways slop in the saddles as they rise and fall that needs to be taken up by washers?
Is there sufficient metal that can be machined from the sides of the saddle to reduce its width?

Also in Paris lives Louis Richebe-mecanicien- used to design build etching-litho presses, engineer on the commercial presses too,very talented, whether he is still around not sure…..could try

http://croqu-vif.fr/constructeurs-de-presses-taille-douce-france.html

22 rue Voltaire 75011 Paris

might be useful ref for Thomas Gravemaker too……….

Could be the runners. On the No 7 they are 15mm wide with the protrusion thicker on one side than the other so there is a small amount of horizontal adjustment.

LMW.jpg

Chris, post your question (in English) on the website of Drukwerk in de Marge. We’ve got 750 members in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, with some owners of Liberty presses here. If I’m not completely mistaken, Marc Vleugels in the Netherlands owns one. Thank you Jonathan, for mentioning the Paris address and thinking of me, but I’ve moved back to the Netherlands a few years ago. Good luck!

A quick fix could possibly be just to switch out the bolt with a hex head bolt (with a little more clearance) and feed it from the inside with a nut on the outside. It looks as if there is only a few millimetres in it so could at least get the press working until you sort out replacement saddles.

Here is a quick link to a google search for flat head bolts -> https://goo.gl/Q6zyC1 showing a variety of options.

I forgot to add as well as measuring the width of the runners check where the covering ends on the stocks. The rollers on my No 7 were second hand and the roller saddles were forced outwards. When I checked the covering I found it protruded over the lip on the stocks.
I cut the excess rubber off so the runners touch the lip on the stocks as they should.

It looks to me like the “runners” (trucks in “American” :-) are either too wide or are reversed. and not far enough onto the cores, and they are pushing the saddles apart a little (note that normally the cores would extend to the outer edge of the saddles). The shoulder on the runners, if they don’t also have one on the inside, might be intended to be beside the roller covers. As well it looks to me like the rubber covers on the rollers are at least an inch wider than necessary — they only need to be as wide as the ink disc. So if the rubber is preventing the runners sliding far enough onto the cores, you could trim a bit, up to removing all the un-inked portion in your photo, for more clearance. I think if you can get the runners closer to the center of the rollers the saddles will clear the bolt.

Bob

Thank you EVERYONE for the replies! I so thankful. I think it is definitely a problem with the trucks and rollers. The trucks are too large.
Again, thank you.
Chris