Behemoth Rising

It's been over a year since we hauled the big Vandercook into Portland and dropped it unceremoniously onto Reuben's floor.  The logistics of how to put it all together didn't exactly elude us, but they took a back seat to everything else the three of us were preoccupied with---or maybe it's just that giant heavy things take giant heavy time to come to fruition.

Once again, my hat is off to the mechanical genius that resides in both my amazing brother Rich and my fine friend Reuben.  Between long spans on Thursday night and Friday night last week, we managed to elevate the bed with a pallet jack, a couple pallets and much blocking. We introduced the cylinder through similar means, and got the legs under it, too, and then made adjustments to fit the long rods in place between them with the help of this thing my brother uses when he's got a flat tire.

It took alot less time to assemble than any of us expected, and Reuben tells me last Sunday he managed to mount the motor onto the side of the beast.  Much fine tuning will no doubt ensue; the rollers are probably shot and the cylinder needs to be adjusted, but all else seems to be in huge, beautiful working order.

It's a Vandercook Model 223, purchased from Dan Kelleher at Wild Carrot Press last April.  It has the capacity to print on a sheet measuring 22 x 30" and we are all giddy with anticipation.

Comments

[jen j-m]

that's so very exciting!

[kelly]

Fantastic! You'll definitely have to post your first prints!

[martha kearsley]

Thanks you guys! It is very exciting after all this time, and I will definitely post our first big (smudgy) effort.

[AZBro]

And people wonder why women live longer than men? Look at that guy with his head firmly under the large metal object being supported by the 1" top of a bottle jack on wooden blocks. Yep, we're proud of that guy.