Category: General discussion
Later topic: Making a 3 Phase Motor Work
Earlier topic: Need some help with a C&P from an Estate

Ink fountain for a C&P

I was wondering if anyone has used a large fountain for a c&p or any other type of platen press. I just installed it and want to use it for a large run but I have several questions before I get started.
1. Do you ink up the disk also or do you just put ink in the fountain and let it sort itself out?
2. How much ink do you put in the fountain for a good even coating of the metal roller?
3. When the top roller hits the metal roller of the fountain how much ink should be carried over to the rubber roller?
I know most of these questions can be solved after about a week or two of using it but I just wanted to see what some others did.
Thanks very much for your feed back.

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Updated. Hi,
Ink the disk first to the desired printing density. The idea of the fountain is to maintain that. Put the ink evenly on the steel roller and “roll” the ink into the fountain. It will form a bead. To start I would have a 1/2 to 3/4 bead of ink in the reservoir. The ink roller touches the steel roller with an even kiss of about +- 3/16” -1/4”. Start with the adjustment screws evenly adjusted fairly firm, but not so the blade scrapes on the roller. Throw the steel roller gear dog back to stop the fountain from adding ink. Use the screws to allow ink to be added to the steel roller. Always add ink on the steel roller. For over night anti scum cut a piece of tympan the length of the reservoir and 4 or five inches wide to cover the ink.

Updated. A few additional thoughts and clarifications:
The ½” to ¾” bead is a startup suggestion. Add ink sparingly, you may or may not be able to salvage left over ink.
For anti scum, the idea is for the tympan to be formed into a soft V and placed directly on the ink. Generally you will lose less ink with the tympan cover than if you use an ink knife to remove the scum. When washing-up for the day, clean the steel roller and roll the cleaned portion back into the ink and re-clean the part at the blade.
BTW: We used a “vibrator” with the ink rollers when we used the fountain. This was a +- 1” steel roller that ran back and forth a few inches filling the gap between the upper rollers. It carried ink from the upper roller that touched the fountain to the 2nd roller and evened things out. It was mounted with brackets directly on the roller saddles.

Thanks for the help. Your suggestion will give me a much needed head start for finding a good way to use this new gadget.