In September I purchased some used printing equipment from another artist who had retired. The equipment had been moved from location to location over the years until the owner had settled in Phoenix. It doesn’t seem like much but everything just barely fit into a 20 ft moving truck. The press is a Dickerson Model DC 2 with a 27x48 in. press bed. It’s a combination press that will allow you to print etchings or relief and then remove the top roller, insert a scraper bar, and print litho (plate or stone). I even found the original scraper bar and leather strap.

I didn’t take any pictures of us loading up the equipment as we were trying to get moved quickly so that I could get things dropped off at my studio and the truck returned on time. With two other people, it only took about 2 1/2 hours to load, drive to new location, and then unload at my studio. Word of advice: get a truck with a ramp (or ideally a lift) and roller carts that fit on the loading ramp. If you add bigger wheels to the roller carts, it’s much easier to load/unload equipment on the truck ramp.

I made an estimate of the total weight and we moved in the neighborhood of 1,400 pounds of equipment. The press alone without the stand weighs about 520 pounds. The three of us moved all of this twice: once into the truck and again out of the truck into my studio space.

Prior to purchasing the equipment, I looked at everything and noted what needed to be looked after or fixed. I appreciate the honesty from the owner about some issues with the equipment. During inspection I decided that it was still worth getting.

After moving the equipment back to my studio, I ordered what I needed to get everything up and running (small parts and oil). Most of the work needed to be done was tuning the press and organizing supplies. I wanted to get everything on the press in “like new” order so that when I started printing, I shouldn’t have any down time during printing for maintenance. I’ll try to post my progress as time allows.

The press seems to be around forty or so years old. It’s a Dickerson Combination Press; which the company was later purchased by Conrad Machine Company in the 90’s. I can date the press (approximately) by the owner and the type of stand it is on. The older stands used stock perforated angle iron like mine. The newer ones use rails with smooth sides and holes only where the bolts go.

For the next couple of posts, I will share my progress with the press. Some of the items on my to-do list are:

• clean dust and rust

• lube the press bed outriggers

• clean and oil the chain

• an oil change for the gear box

• test the rollers

• make a substitute press bed plate

If you want to see detailed pictures of my progress, check out my Flickr album here. I’ll keep adding photos as I progress in the maintenance of the press.

I would like to thank my helpers Allysa E. and Erin K. These two ladies were essential in helping move and sort all of the heavy equipment. Without you two, this gigantic feat could not be possible. Thank you, thank you so much!

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