Saturday, April 12, 2008

Oiling the Press

Jim, a nice press repairman who taught me a bunch of tricks he had for platen presses, told me once that he didn't understand why people were taught to oil their presses after the run, when oiling the press before the run and letting the oil work its way into the joints while the press runs was such a better option. Jim was of the opinion that if you oiled the press after a run, the oil just sits there and doesn't oil the press as well. Opinions?

2 comments:

Poppy Letterpress said...

Makes sense. I usually have a 'preparing to print' ritual that I do before a job starts: organising paper and tools in reach of the press, checking for rust, making sure surfaces are clean... and oiling the press.

He's right though, it would be much better for the press to oil it before you use it.

Anonymous said...

The only problema about oiling before using the press comes when you put too much oil. Then you might get your paper dirty with some little drops of oil. But if you know how much oil your press needs at every moment, it is better oiling before starting to print. This way the run will go smoothly and the press will suffer less.
Cheers!

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