Miehle Cylinders on Ebay
There’s a couple Meihle Cylinders on Ebay right now, just thought I’d post a PSA here. They’re not your usual Verts you see commonly, but some larger presses.
This one is listed as having the capability to print if the rollers were recovered:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Die-Cutter-Printing-Press-Letter-Press-Miehle-/1...
Here’s a horizontal, but there’s very little information about it:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Miehle-Horizontal-23x29-Letterpress-diecutter-/1...
If I had the money, and the space, I would totally buy the larger one to make humongous posters.
if a 10x15 roller is around $100, imagine what one of those rollers will cost, and you will need a larger sheet of paper then a bigger paper cutter to cut your larger sheets, now you need a pallet jack to move your larger sheets around.
If I had the money I would purchase both. But, these two presses are NOT for someone that hasn’t run a large press. I worked on a middle size Kelly once, a lot of moving parts, and you need to know what your doing.
Yeah for sure, but keeping it until I’m good to operate it or hiring someone to operate it and teach me could be a solution.
I would at least settle for a press like they use at Grafica Fidalga.
http://vimeo.com/13117027
Boys, boys, boys, I thought you were talking about a really BIG Miehle.
We recently acquired a Miehle 00 at Printers’ Hall in Mt. Pleasant, IA. This puppy weighs in at over 30,000 lbs. and takes a 55” x 38” sheet. As far as we know it is the last surviving one in original operating condition.
We have to replace the cloth tapes and redo the rollers. I think we are looking at $3,000+ for the rollers. And YES. just finding paper that big is a major undertaking.
We are also working on a suitable motor for it and perhaps a steam engine to power it.
We hope to have it somewhat near operational by this summer/fall. We will be hosting the Wayzgoose for the Amalgamated Printer’s Association in June and that is an ambitious target for us.
Ours started out at the Bureau of Printing and Engraving in Washington, DC in 1906 and ran there until around 1960. It then went to a commercial plant in Ohio and ran there for another three decades. It had been it storage since then and now will need some TLC to get her running again. She is in absolutely remarkable shape.
If you’re near Iowa in June come and see one of the Eight Wonders of the Letterpress World.
Rick
Rick- I will come to my first Wayzgoose just to see your press if you get it running before then, mark my words.
Coventry rag comes in close to, if not that, exact size- and is a fine sheet of paper to print letterpress on, btw.
That’s rad, Rick.
I saw a press today very similar to the first one, the bigger one, at a shop today, they bought it specifically for die cutting boxes some decades ago, supposedly paid 30 grand for it.
They threw the rollers away since they wouldn’t ever use them. (FML)
I told him I had just seen one online, fully complete for printing for 10,000 dollars, he said he wouldn’t sell his for less than 15 or 20 grand.
He got a little mad when I told him about that, but then I said I wasn’t trying to undervalue his equipment, it was what I saw.
I told him that in the future if he wanted to sell it, that he save it for me.
:(