Worst Press Ever Made?

[RichardK]

An idle moment's thought...what is the worst press you've ever run?

Adast Dominant 2 col perfector - well knackered when I got it even more knackered when I got rid of it. I've never seen a press with so many springs in the mechanism. Never had so many breakdowns, never had to dismantle a main motor so many times, never had to...well you get the picture.

The ink duct drive had a disconcerting habit of stopping during the run. The bracelet gear was to blame, either too dry or too much lube. The only thing that would make it pick up the drive was a sharp tap from a lump hammer. Needless to say I didn't shed any tears when it was winched away.

And don't get me started on Nebiolo...Invicta 44 3 colour, yes 3 colour. What genius thought that one up?

Anyway rant over for the moment.

 

[rolandman]

a size 6 ultra MAN from if i remember correctly made in the early 70's, fukin hell that was fun, conventional dampin on a press that size aint right, press decides not to go into pressure every now and again requiring to power off and on, and the best bit wood footboards

 

[turbotom1052]

ran a 4 color 25 inch solna with conventional damps and push guide. What a piece of s**t!!! even brand spankin new the press was junk. lotsa plastic, and magnesium. i think i coulda carried the press on my back. At 8000 per hour the thing sounded like it was gonna blow up. Then there was the 3 color consolodated perfector. another piece of junk in a 25 x 38 format. its no wonder these press manufacturers arent around any more.

 

[RichardK]

Color Metal? Anyone experienced this little beauty? No gripper changes on a multi-unit press, hmmm, sounds interesting. Now how exactly does the sheet move from feeder to delivery? Oh yes... chains, and what are chains notorious for? Stretch.

Ok didn't actually run one but would like to hear from anyone who did.

 

[mrheidelberg]

Crabtree Countess ......... nightmare !!

 

[KGM]

Ryobi 500 knp single colour, what a heap of junk.

It was a happy day when i saw that leaving on the back of a truck

 

[Stu]

Adast Dominant again for me. Dampers that ran in brass bearings rather than roller bearings!!!!! with even slightly worn bearings pressures were impossible to set. And if I recall the lever that put the dampers/inkers on etc was made of cheese.

Itek perfector, I was the last operator to run it in it's 15 year life! when I left they scrapped it. enough said!!

Rotaprint delta. the simple rotaprints worked well!, but trying to add stream feeding, crawl buttons and conventional dampening operated by a ratchet was a terrible idea.

Still. cutting my teeth on those ******** made me the hardened bitter and slightly twisted printer I am today!

 

[RichardK]

Adast Dominant again for me. Dampers that ran in brass bearings rather than roller bearings!!!!! with even slightly worn bearings pressures were impossible to set. And if I recall the lever that put the dampers/inkers on etc was made of cheese.

Hah! Lost count of the times I had to repair the levers. Then, me being the mug I am I went, and bought a 4 col version...OK it was cheap...but then any 4 col with oval impression cylinders is going to be cheap! The only 'good' thing about it is that since the impressions went on and were held by spring pressure we never had any issues with smashed blankets. The cylinders would just come apart rather than crush the blanket.

We made the decision to buy a Lithrone L426 and decided to mothball the Adast 3 weeks prior to the install rather than put up with the daily struggle to produce reasonable print.

So 3 weeks worth of work...the Komori ate it up in 4 days!

 

[jonprintz]

Goss Community 4-high. I hope that I never see another of those pieces of junk in my lifetime.

 

[turbotom1052]

richard i had the priveledge of running a color metal 4/color for about 6 months part time. It was in a horrible state of repair and i attribute most of the issues with its lack of maintenance. I do remember the chain transfer and the problems associated with it. the old rolands had the chain transfer that were the weak link in an otherwise well built and well performing press.

 

[Waterless]

Hey Mr Heidelberg........

Crabtree Countess ......... nightmare !!

Interested in a 34-DI-X?

If so, do you have web site/contact details so I can give you spec

Many thanks

 

[Nascarnbroncosfans]

Any press that is NOT maintained or hasn't the correct parts for their respective fed tables and have TONS OF DUCT tape to hold guides and operation levers IN PLACE when they should be repaired or JUNKED

 

[aqazi81]

Color Metal? Anyone experienced this little beauty? No gripper changes on a multi-unit press, hmmm, sounds interesting. Now how exactly does the sheet move from feeder to delivery? Oh yes... chains, and what are chains notorious for? Stretch.

Ok didn't actually run one but would like to hear from anyone who did.

Champion 238.... worst feeder....

 

[pressman57]

Had to be the first press I ever ran, a Davidson 500.

 

[PROPRINTMAN]

Mine was a Solna 2 color 22 3/4" European size...It was held together by paper clips / duct tape and bailing wire.....They were running B/K porno on it! I needed the money..... but only could stomach it for 1 shift!

 

[cellrman]

Sorry Richardk but I must disagree on the Adast being the worst, I ran process on 2 - 725cp in tandem for years with not many breakdowns accept for the mother board in the older one, myabe you had a lemon or it could be the fact that the tech would regularly come in and go over the presses wile I did maintenance.

My only major beef was the delivery, the squirrel could have been designed better and the sheet decurler was inconsistent o ya and the back cylinders had to be keeped clean at all times even durring the run to prevent picking.

Yes I will agree that there is far to many springs and adjustments on the thing but at least I was able to easily figure it out when it came to breakdowns and get the job done. We were running older bergs for years but we found for the buck the Adast was our best bet when it came to replacing them.

 

[RichardK]

Nothing wrong with Adast when new...unfortunately mine was ancient and a right dog!

Now i come to think of it that 1973 Crabtree Falcon 4 col was even more of a dog

 

[Chris from Printshop]

Nobody has mentioned Multilith? I'm a little bit surprised. They were like a poor man's AB Dick as I recall. I never actually ran one but I witnessed several people trying to do just that. All at the same time in one case. Paper seemed to go everywhere OTHER than the delivery table.

 

[cellrman]

Humm well I do presently run a Multi and if you have probs with delivery and feed its just a matter of not understanding the theory of the press.

I will admit there are many disadvantage to the press but the pros to the press make up for the cons.

 

[Chris from Printshop]

I'm pleased that you get on so well with these machines but I honestly can think of 4 highly experienced printers who have run such presses as Rotatprint 30/90s, AB Dick 9810s, Gestetners and everything between those and Heidelberg Speedmasters - with a combined experience of over 125 years machine minding and they all said they were god awful presses.

When it comes to small-format printing one of the key features you need (besides general printing ability - ie no. of forme rollers, dampening system, register mechanism etc.) is the ability to walk away from the press on longer runs and do something else. Nobody I've spoken to about Multis said they would ever dare leave them alone for longer than about 2 minutes, otherwise something will go wrong!

What type of work do produce on the Multi? It's good to get a fair debate; after all, the circumstances and type of work demanded of the press will often have an effect on the operator's perception of wether it's any good or not. I currently use a GTO but I swear that the old AB Dick 9810 I used to run many years ago could handle 350gsm board much more convincingly, yet it didn't have the rolling power or registration ability to do most other jobs half as well.