Rollers for Cropper Peerless No2. An old subject but a new one for me!
Hi,
I’ve just become the very happy owner of a Cropper & Charlton Peerless press.
I’m enjoying surfing through this site as I slowly get my head around all the terminology. I did a teeny bit of letterpress at college, way back in the early 80s, so my memory is pretty rusty, but I hope to get into it if I can get this beautiful machine working!
It’s a Peerless press, I think a No 2 as it’s got a 7 x 11’ chase (internal dimension, is that the correct one to use?)?
It does work, but it needs the 3 ink rollers re-covered. This seems to be a problem that a lot of folk have had over the years, from what I’m reading here.
So, I’m looking for any advice, thoughts etc on getting rollers!
The spindles were pretty rusty when I got it, but they’ve been in Evapo-rust for a day and that has de-rusted them beautifully. I’ve been squirting penetrating oil into the ends since to try and free them up.
My other query though is - how do you get the ends of the spindles (trucks?) off? Do they unscrew, or are they push-fit? Or…?
There are a few little holes down into the trucks, but I can’t tell much from looking.
I’ll attach a few photos.
Any ideas?
Much appreciated, Kath
Rusty ink roller spindles
Cropper Peerless
De-rusted
De-rusted end
PS, I’m in the UK but happy to get rollers from anywhere I can! :-)
I would urge you to get rubber rollers to match the diameter of the trucks you have, using the cores and trucks you have. Urethane or other similar materials are unreliable for durability. Rubber ground to the precise diameter is the best possible solution. There must be someone in UK producing them; if not, Ramco Roller in California, USA makes excellent rollers. That press is an almost exact copy of the early Golding Pearl.
Katri,
You could try Regal Rubber and Polyurethane
They recovered my Heidelberg platen rollers last year or BFS Pressroom Solutions.
Both in the UK
Getting the trucks off the roller cores, they should be either set-screwed down or there might be a pin through the cores engaging a slot in one side of the trucks to keep the cores rotating in unison with the trucks, which is essential.you might try grabbing the core with a pair of locking pliers or a vise, and twisting the trucks to loosen them while applying penetrating oil like WD40. Or if there are pins through the cores engaging a slot on the trucks, try tapping the trucks lightly to move them away from the pins. Some cores have a sort of pinched-up region that acts like a key in a slot in the trucks to keep them rotating together. That would typically be on the side of the trucks toward the roller rubber, so tapping the trucks in the opposite direction might free them. You’ll have to experiment - many different systems have been used.
@AdLibPress & @frank hemmings, thank you!! All really helpful info.
Happy to report that the trucks are now off the roller cores, and all nicely cleaned up. I used a gear puller and it easily did the trick.
And yes, they have a little lug sticking up from the core that prevents the truck from turning. Now that Ive seen them in pieces I can now understand how they work much better. Ive a few suggestions of UK companies so Ill start contacting them.
Brilliant, thanks again both!! Appreciated.