Vandercook images courtesy of http://vandercookpress.info/	Proof Presses This section is about proof presses we have collected, restore and use at the Excelsior Press Museum Print Shop. We also have some links to other information about proof presses in general. In some cases, we simply send you over to Paul Moxon's Vandercook pages...
Vandercook Model 01   Vandercook Model 4 ~ Vandercook Model 17 ~ Vandercook Model 099 Vandercook "Showcard" Press ~ Vandercook SP-15 ~ Chandler & Price Gravity Galley Proof Press ~ Composing Stick Proof Press ~ Miles Nervine Proof Press ~ Nolan #1 Proof Press ~ Potter (Hacker) Proof Press ~ Acknowledgements ~ Ink Roller diameters ~ Challenge GP-F-37 Parts and Instruction Manual Challenge Model F-38 Manual (pdf) Unidentified Sign Press HOME Paul Moxon's .pdf file from Vandercook.info showing all details of the 99, 01, & Model 1 presses we have here

The Vandercook made possible things that simply were not practical on the 8x12  or the 12x18 "Big Ben" Hand-fed platen presses we used for most of our work. At the time, we were a full-time commercial print shop and one of two local printers in our community. We used it to print proofs of hand-set type for our own use as well as for other printers. We used it to print posters up to 14x20 inches. We played with it; we printed engravings, made up funny little signs and simply enjoyed having it in our shop.  It became the most popular machine.

Our Vandercook Model 4 is featured on the second half of our print shop hand press video.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Proof Presses today

This ignomineous stack of machines are three of our proof presses, piled one upon the other as we prepare permanent work spaces for them. The lower one is an old Vandercook Composing Room Cylinder - the Vandercook Model 17. This one was reconditioned at the Vandercook factory in 1924 and was donated by our friends from Watchung Laminating Company.

Across the rails of it is an old Miles Nervine Proof Press, which is likely even older.  Miles Laboratories had these presses made so that they could be traded to local printers for advertising. The main drum of this little galley press is empty, but has holes which can be plugged up with corks after the drum was filled with sand to give it weight. One printer we know had his filled with concrete, however which has made shipping it prohibitively expensive...

At the end of the press is a little Show Card Sign Press, which is really relatively new. This was actually made to print small signs in department stores, but it has all the characteristics and capabilities of a small proof press and it works quite well. In fact, this press is indeed a Vandercook Model 099 proof press made for - and branded as - the Showcard Sign Press Style A.

The 1946 Model 4T and the 1936 Model 099 are in the other room, amidst the type cases. The photo below shows them both, sort of... You can see the board we place across the rails of the Model 4 when it's not in use. There's a large type form on the bed underneath that cover and we want it to stay clean. Besides, that little piece of plywood, cut to fit just right and sanded and stained to look nice, makes a great place to lay my reading glass case... ;)
Helpful hint when designing a job to print on the Vandercook Model 4: The Gripper Margin is 36 points. Make sure you allow at least 1/2" for the gripper to hold the sheet. Also: proof presses tend to "slap" the sheet at the far end. It helps to have some image - even just a point dot at the far end to control smearing of the text at the tail end of the sheet.

Our Vandercook Model 4 would look like this one from Paul Moxon's Vandercook website if we ever get it fully restored to like new condition. Currently, that work is in process - although it's in perfect working order and is used regularly, it's still waiting for that complete sanding down and fresh coats of paint that it deserves. We've got another one in the barn, but it went through a flood and still needs a lot of work before it will go back into operation.

---

---

And, for Paul's review, here are the serial number plates for the three Vandercooks currently in operation in our shop:

Composing Room Cylinder - No 17 serial number 992086
According to Paul Moxon, the 99 is a prefix that indicates that the press was reconditioned at the factory. So the original serial number would have been 2086. Ours was reconditioned in 1924, so it appears to have originally been built prior to then.

 

and the Vandercook Model 99 - serial number 03625 made in 1936.

---

And, two Vandercook Model 01 Presses - due for restoration

Paul Moxon's Vanderblog Catalog page on the Model 01.
Vandercook Model 01

---

Vandercook SP15

(9/5/16) We have just moved Roberta's SP15 into our shop to install a new set of rollers and prepare it for resale. The SP15 was Vandercook's "Simple Precision" style, intended to replace the older - and far more beefy -& complex - Model 4. This press will soon be for sale, but first we're going to give it a serious once-over, install a new set of rollers and spiff it up for the next owner...

---

(5/5/19)

Potter (Hacker) Proof Press

I have been working on a Potter Proof Press at the Holcombe-Jimison Farmstead Museum in Lambertville, NJ. Aside from being old and a bit rusty, the grippers did not work as they should and the bed ran all the way out to the end and got free of the main gear, so it has to be re-timed as well. It did move

The First problem we encountered was with the bed running clear off the track. There is a stop at the right side, but not on the left side. The track can - and did - come clear off the track. Re-engaging the bed to the gear at just the right spot was a bit of a challenge and required many attempts to get it just right.

The other problem appears to have been wear on the spring that holds the grippers closed. It was a bit loose, and when replaced with a new spring just a bit shorter, began to function as expected. This was not always the case, however, because the little 1/4" by 1.5" steel pin that is caught by the swinging trip lever is loose and had come out at one time or another and been caught by the side frame of the press, bending the arm that the pin is mounted in and apparently interfering with its operation to open and close the grippers at just the right moment.

Acknowledgements

We wish to acknowledge the information and support we have had from Fritz Klinke of NA Graphics and Vandercook expert Paul Moxon, http://vandercookpress.info/, keepers of the flame, so to speak, without whose help this page would be much less informative. NA Graphics is current owner of the Vandercook name, supplier of Vandercook parts and supplies and achivist of Vandercook production records. Paul Moxon maintains a very comprehensive Vandercook website - which includes a registry of owners and the current location of Vandercook and other proof presses.