Side Connector Bracket Old Style C&P

Hey there everybody. I’ve had an 8x12 Old Style in pieces in my shed for a couple of years now. I’ve been learning about the press and have determined a couple of pieces I know I am missing- treadle and treadle hook for sure- and also the side connecting bracket- from pictures I think it is a large cube like bracket that the main sides are bolted to. I’m wondering-
1. Could I find this? Are there any “parts” presses out there that I could take this off of?
2. Could I make this- it looks like it is just for stability- could I rig something else up?
3. Did they ALWAYS have these? It seems like a really large piece for the original owner to leave behind- Do I really need it? Some other presses that I have seen don’t seem to have this part.
I’m trying to add a photo of the same press with the part I am missing circled.
THANKS!

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Are you certain it’s an 8x12 and not a 7x11? As far as I know, all 8x12 C&Ps would have had the side frame connecting bracket (part #41) but there are definitely some very early 7x11 C&Ps that did not have a bracket and instead the side frames were simply connected by rods.

If you’re trying to upload a picture make sure to give it a filename without any special characters. Try something like press.jpg as BP can’t handle anything other than basic characters.

Hope this helps,
Bradley

At one time, I had an 8x12 in my garage which had been given to me; it was missing several pieces, which I found replacements for. This was a very early machine, and it did NOT have the Side Frame Connecting Brackets — rather, it had the cast rods, similar to the press in this discussion. The lack of the Brackets meant that heavier forms were difficult to get to print evenly — the mechanism simply didn’t have enough “meat”. So, yes, you probably have a very early 8x12.
I made a treadle for this press with a couple 1x2’s and some old planking, with a couple pipe hangers looped up over the Bed Shaft (which was missing, so I made one out of approximate-sized pipe). The whole thing worked quite well
The most I ever did with this press was a run of 14,000 no. 10 envelopes, which I ran off one warm Saturday! The dark blue ink kept setting up, and I kept having to stop and wash up about every two hours. (There was no electricity to the garage, then — this was nearly fifty years ago.)

Just Keep Printing

Frank.

Hey Bradley and Frank- thanks so much for responding to this- I am only now just seeing them! There are rods with the press- that must be how it is put together. Thanks. That gives me some direction. Jes