Vandercook vs Windmill Impression

i am a believer more in register of a flat bed press vs a cylinder. i believe there is often a chance for the back of the sheet to “squash” or “move” as the sheet “irons” through the press.
“Pressure” measured here in the USA, as Lbs/In2, is just that. if a press can deliver it, then it can. obviously, a flat bed can reach it’s limitations more easily than a cylinder, but, i have seen it done on both.

With a windmill once you have set the pressure for deep impression it will remain constant with a constant dwell time when the platen is on impression. With the vandercook press it will vary depending how fast the cylinder is turned assuming it is hand cranked ??
What’s wrong with kiss impression (from an apprenticed letterpress machine op.)

The only time I find a noticeable difference between platen and cylinder impression would be with large solids, as the platen makes the impression all at once dispersing the pressure, where as the cylinder makes its impression as it moves over the forme.

I don’t think registration would be an issue if you were using a windmill vs a Miehle Vertical, or some sort of automatic cylinder press, but the hand feeding of a Vandercook could lend to slight movements in registration.

I agree with Frank though, what’s so bad with the kiss impression?

Cory

Thank you all for the feed back. There was some good information provided. It is sort of what we had thought, but it to get answers from people with knowledge rather than assume the truth. I think with each day we get a little smarter and with each year we forget a little more of what we used to know.