C&P clunking very hard
I’m right in the middle of a large job, and was frustrated by my throw-off lever suddenly *not* throwing off, and then locking up. This inspired me to oil every single hole. I had about 100 good impressions afterwards, and then suddenly the next 50 went from noisy to a horrible ca-clunking noise, but only with the impression. With no impression, no noise. It sounds like there’s something that is large and rattling at the end of each ca-clunk, like a rock. There’s also a lot of vibration with the noise, and it seems to be coming from…under the platen? There’s a previous post with these exact symptoms, but seemed to be no resolution. I’ve also noticed, while trying to troubleshoot, that the rocker lock doesn’t snug in to place with the impression, it sticks out at least 1/8th inch. Related? Thanks for any help, or referrals to a repair person in Austin, Texas.
Gwen
Quick check of two areas:
1) large bearing on left side of platen lock, plus tension spring;
2) cam follower bearing on right side of platen inside bull gear.
Updated. The press should be oiled daily before every use. Start high at the ink disk in the back and very systematically work down looking for every contact point and oil hole. It may be easier to have the rollers on the disk and the bed rocked forward. Work your way around the press in both open and closed positions. Not only oil the oil holes but also any contact surface such as the roller trucks and rails, and at rotational friction points. Since it all seemed to work ok previously, I would also look for something that may have slipped out of your chase like a slug or reglet and fallen into the mechanism. Also look for broken springs
Get a flashlight and roll the flywheel by hand for your inspection and oiling.
Platen spring, cam follower bearing, throw-off lever bracket, all in good working order, and no miscellaneous bits rattling around. After a second very heavy oiling it returned to its normal self. Dick, thanks for the reminder that I should be oiling it more. It’s fairly new to me, but I did find a few spots that hadn’t been oiled in a while, as they were clogged shut. The clatter was so terrific I was sure something was broken, but (knock on woodtype), it seemed to just need oil.
Hi. A little more about oiling:
•Oil the press before you ink it. Wipe any oil off the disk and rollers.
•Oil gun/can in one hand and a cotton rag in the other. Be generous with the application; wipe down the excess as you go.
•30W ND is good general purpose oil for most shop uses.
•40-50W ND may actually make some of these very “loose” antiques run better. I suspect yours would benefit from the heavier oils. Try 40W first. If that makes it quieter/smoother, try 50W to see if any improvement.
I’m glad it wasn’t something serious.
Dick