C&P Pilot- Is my spring broken? Am I missing something?
Hi All,
I just bought an old style C & P Pilot that needs quite a bit of scrubbing down. Everything seems to be in working order except one issue, which could be rust corrosion…but really not sure.
The spring (yoke spring, maybe? (underneath the press around the rod
that stops the back of the press from slamming on the legs when
releasing the lever) seems to be broken in pieces…maybe in 4 or 5
small pieces…or is it supposed to be this way? Sometimes releasing
the lever is fine, but other times the rod underneath catches a little
too low and then as the back of the press lowers it slams into the
groove that is supposed to catch it. I will post pictures if that
helps.
Doesn’t seem like it would effect printing, but I’d like to keep
the press in the best shape possible and have heard one flaw in pilots
is that when releasing the lever the back can slam into the frame if
not done slowly, which can cause cracking. Only this slamming sort of
happens after the lever is released…like it hasn’t gone all the way
into place yet, and then it pops in with a slam. (only happens
sometimes, but enough to bother me)
Also, when the lever is pulled, this rod and spring can be moved
around freely. Is this the way it should be, or should it be tight? Is
this a spring that can be replaced at any hardware store if so? and
what kind if so?
The pieces in this area are as follows: a rod, spring
(broken or in small sections), a washer at the bottom part of the
spring and a pin holding the spring into the rod. Could there be a
missing part? Maybe something to hold the rod in place?
I’ve posted photos here:
http://letterpressstuff.blogspot.com/
Any help would be appreciated.
Michael
Michael -
Yes, your spring has broken due to years of corrosion. I just checked on an early series Pilot we have in our shop right now and that spring should be 4” long and all one piece. It is easy to remove and a replacement should be available at your local hardware store. The later model Pilots use a rubber bumper instead of a spring.
I took some photos that should show you removal and dimensions clearly. As soon as I get them out of the camera and posted, I’ll stop back and leave a link.
- Alan
Michael -
I removed the return spring on the O.S. Pilot and have posted photos at http://nodeadlines.com/cgi-bin/miva_p/myphotos/ExcelsiorPress/myphotos.m...
scroll down to the bottom of the page and cick on the photo to see more detail - 3 sizes can be displayed.
The spring is 4” long, 8/32 inside diameter. You should be able to find a replacement locally.
Thanks Alan!
The pictures were helpful. The spring was not only broken, but caught up in the cotter pin so I sprayed it with a little WD40, freed the spring and popped that sucker out.
When replacing the spring I put a washer between the cotter pin and spring to prevent the two from getting caught up again.
The lever now releases smoothly. Thanks for the help!