Reviving an 1870s printing press (part 1)

Part 1
I think we have a problem
Sometime at the end of the 19th century, William A. Kelsey decided to manufacture printing presses. His first batch was not successful, but he and his company went on to be one of the biggest sellers of tabletop letterpress printing presses.

This particular Kelsey Excelsior may have been one of his less-successful models. It really takes some strength to move that handle and make a print. And the motion is not smooth. That's what I get for buying a press that was stored in a dark attic.

Kelsey 6" x 10" letterpress printing press, circa 1880

This press is different from most platen (the flat surface where the paper goes) presses in that it uses an non-standard chase (the steel frame that holds the type and images). Most chases are are similar to a picture frame, like this one:

Letterpress chase for holding type and images

This open chase clamps to a flat steel base, whereas the chase for the old press above has a built-in flat base, something like a shadow box. The old press did not include a chase or rollers, but otherwise seems to be good working order. That's in spite of several broken parts that are welded back together.

So I set out to bring this 120-year-old printing press back to life, and the first task was to make a permanent base for the newer style chase. 



Next time: Part 2: Making things harder than they should be . . .