Here's a great story that Russell Frost sent me
about how he returned to NZ and established Hooksmith Press,
and his restoration of Vandercook No.14...
"Early this year we decided to re-locate to NZ after 5 years
in London, UK.
I had become
heavily interested in letterpress printing the year before
and had purchased an
Adana 8 x 5 as well as numerous metal and several wood founts.
A short course in letterpress printing
at Central St. Martins
built on my self taught beginnings
as well as giving me
the opportunity to use a Vandercook SP15.
Deciding that this press would suit me well, I set about seeing if I
could locate one in NZ, rather than trying to ship one from the UK.
During this period I must have
terrorised most NZ printers in my quest,
but alas did not
locate one.
I did however chance
upon the NZ Printmakers website.
Delwyn kindly made an advert to put on the website.
Currently I am still looking; in the
mean time a good thing has happened.
After a month or so back in NZ, an email came
from a very
generous Alison Murray in Wellington –
“ Would
I be interested in an early model 14 Vandercook?” She also sent
pictures.
The
press looked somewhat basic (without grippers), though in good shape.
I was a little hesitant, as it could be
difficult to get parts for such a press, however,
I sent a resounding “yes” and
arranged for a mate to go and check it out.
My friend Gavin is particularly strong, and capable of moving large objects.
(I once watched him take a bulldozer across the Buller River
in pieces on a wire rope, re-assembling it on the
other side!)
Alison informed me it had been dismantled since the photos were taken
and that it was now in
a couple of pieces going rusty in her garden.
By now I had my heart set on the press and thought I would
take a punt.
Gavin borrowed one of
his mates old wharf barrows
and promptly went to pick it up from a steep hill section somewhere in Wellington.
Once in his van he delivered it to me in
Hamilton.
The cylinder was very
rusty and seized.
A weekend fully
submerged in diesel freed up the mechanism
and Gavin lifted the cylinder back
on.
Cleaning the teeth on cylinder
bearers/tracks mounted on the
press bed
allowed the cylinder to move very freely up and down the tracks
and
allayed any fears of parts being warn or broken.
A couple of things were needed to complete the press and
make it operational:
A cylinder
blanket, a couple of screws
and the flat bar to hold the end of the blanket around
the cylinder.
A guy Bob from the
Waikato Times kindly gave me a discarded off-set blanket (1.95mm)
attaching this to the
cylinder took a bit of trial and error,
but I eventually figured it out; a very
effective mechanism once you work it out.
I had a galley height piece of metal made,
though with the thick
blanket, it was not required,
as the cylinder could not even begin to travel
down the bed.
Biding my time
waiting for my type and other supplies to arrive from the UK,
I registered the
press with the Vandercook website
and found some interesting information out
from a very helpful Paul Moxon.
“This press was built in Chicago.
Vandercooks
built under license in Great Britain began after WWII.
Before then Vandercook
& Sons had a network of foreign dealers
including Alex Cowan & Sons in
Melbourne, Australia.
Net weight
without the optional cabinet is 525 lbs”
 |
| 'The Old Trout' |
My printing equipment arrives
and after several days of
organising all of the various equipment,
I feel the
time is right to launch ‘The Old Trout’
(apparently every press needs a name,
and what could be more fitting for a member of the Hooksmith Press).
I had purchased a couple of large
shaded grot sorts
before leaving London and these had been
begging to go first.
I set the form straight into the press bed and then
proceeded to hand ink the type
(this was a whole lot less exacting than
setting a form in a chase for a platen).
Then I carefully placed my brown
wrapping paper
(cut with a knife off a roll – very crude I must add)!
With no suitable packing material either
(corrugated cardboard does not cut it!)
I then ran the first proof.
The result was a very poorly
impressioned print
but none the
less a big sense of achievement.
I
have since had some paper cut to size professionally,
as well as getting a
better packing material
though still think a felt would be better than a card,
as any blocks which are greater than type-high can leave
a permanent impression
in the packing which affects subsequent prints.
I have recently had works accepted into the Soul Gallery in Hamilton
and still relish every opportunity to compose and print on
this wonderful press.
Thanks
Delwyn, Allison and Gavin.
Footnote:
The above press was never really intended for ‘finished’
print run type work,
hence the term proof press.
However it is suitable for artistic edition work
if one is
realistic about the minor flaws, slurs etc.
With a desire to do some finer 2 colour work,
close
registration is necessary (grippers and lay adjusters)
and the hunt still
continues for an model SP15.
Russell is also on the look out for more poster font/wood type and embellishments,
