Cleaning a golding jobber number 8

Hello everyone, I am new in the community and an aspiring letterpress printer. I recently bought and restored a golding jobber number 8 and my question is how to clean the rollers properly since they can’t come off the machine? The ink distributor (big metal cylinder on top) is also hard to clean all around, am I missing something? Thanking you in advance,
Katerina

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First off, congratulations on the press! Jobbers are great and the 8 is a very useful size. We have one very similar to yours and it’s one of our favorite presses.

Now to the cleaning. The rollers absolutely should come off. My usual procedure is to turn over the press to nearly closed so that the rollers are at the bottom end of the ink disk. This position puts as little strain on the roller springs as possible, making it as easier to remove the rollers. You should be able to pull outward on the roller hooks (away from the disk) and unhook the ends of the roller cores at each side. Be careful that the trucks don’t fall off as they may not be fixed to the cores. You should now be able to clean the rollers with any of the usual press-cleaning processes such as California Wash, kerosene, crisco, etc.

As for the fountain, I don’t have any experience with Golding ones, but every C&P and similar fountain I’ve ever used has some way to remove the fountain roller for cleaning. You also should clean out the ink trough as well as the ductor blade and meter screws. You might contact John Falstrom at Perennial Designs about best practices here. He’s one of the most knowledgeable Golding folks out there. He can probably give you pointers on how to dismantle the fountain.
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Michael Hurley
Titivilus Press
Memphis, TN

Katerina,

Michael is right on concerning the rollers. Some jobber owners put the rollers in the mid chase position for removal. As far as the fountain is concerned, you have a personal decision to make. The press looks great with it on, but, you will likely never use it, and it is a pain to clean around. I kept mine on for awhile, and then decided it wasn’t worth it. It is easily removed, but, is heavy so care must be taken to safely remove it. I believe it is just four bolts attaching at the goose neck support, and the linkage on the right side. Be aware some of the shoulder bolts used to connect the linkage have left hand threads. I remember removing the linkage first, then putting some wood under the fountain braced down to the open platen to kind of form a bridge to slowly slide the fountain down to a place two people could lift it safely off. With the ink fountain off, it is much easier to clean.

John

Dear Michael and John, your feedback has been so helpful, especially about the rollers coming off. As a start I think I will avoid the fountain and see how well it prints without it. Otherwise I need to find a way to remove it even though it looks pretty set where it is.

Thanking you both so so much,

Much appreciated,
Katerina