I recently found this old 1908 "Little Giant" mangle in at Junk and Disorderly in Auckland, looking a little sad and lonely but with possible hidden talents. I'm hoping we can get it up and running as a press suitable for dry-point.
(I have another old mangle that I use for small relief printing. It was passed down to me from a family member who was a known NZ printmaker in the 60s & 70s and I have always treasured having it, though I only began using it a year or so ago when I finally began learning printmaking skills.)
On consulting my technician (hubby), and getting his reassurance that he would indeed like a project of this ilk, we purchased the wee beast and bought him home.
Within moments, a sign of my hubby's eagerness (at the time), and with barely a chance for me to document it's initial state of being, he had it stripped down and in pieces. (Unfortunately this meant I didn't get very good before photos.)
Some of the quirky features are: the folding crank handle, the carry handle and the marking gauges on the screws.
The wooden rollers are in good condition. Hubby's plan is to have them cased in steel by a local engineering company. In fact everything is in pretty good nick - nothing a wire brush and a lick of paint can't deal to. This is a project that will take time but, hopefully, it will be worth the wait.
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| The cogs pre-cleaning |
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| Cleaning up the pieces |
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| How gorgeous are those cogs! |
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| Painting some of the many pieces |
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ReplyDeleteHi Natalie, thanks for your comments. I'm afraid I accidentally deleted it on my iPad while I was in the process of replying to you. What sort of mangle have you got? It took me a while to work out how to get the best out of my mangle but now I've worked how how to set it correctly to print both as an etching press and as a relief press which is cool. Happy printing!
DeleteHi there Toni, I have just been given a very similar mangle,possibly a bit smaller.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering what you used to clean and paint it with.
And if you managed to get the rollers cased in steel?
My rollers look to have woodworm asono think I may need to replace them first
Hi there, my mangle was in a pretty rusty state when we got it. Hubby dealt to the worst rust with a wire brush attachment on a drill and did any finer cleanup using methylated spirits and steel wool. I then painted it with a product called "Rust Kill" which is designed to "kill" any remaining rust and also is the final coat. I used black. It is lasting well, showing no signs of any rust returning. My rollers also showed signs of quite a few borer or woodwormy type critters although the rollers were sound, just holey. We didn't do anything to treat the rollers as the holes all looked old. And once we encased it in the steel tube I dare any little wormy borers to try get in or out. We bought a tube of steel offcut of the right diameter from a metal scrap merchant. We did think we would pay an engineer to press on the tube to the wooden rollers but it was going to be very pricey. Fortuitously our neighbour at the time was a toolmaker and had access to the necessary tools to do the job. The rollers needed to be lathed, then the steel pressed on and then the steel tube had to be lathed smooth and even. He did a great job. We were sooo lucky he was able to do it for me! Hope this helps, my advice would be to ask around for a friendly toolmaker to help you. Good luck. Love to see any photos of your mangle before and/or after. Toni :)
DeleteHi Toni, Please could you tell me what diameter of roller you went with in the end. I've just got a mangle the same as yours and want to make sure I get the rollers right. Would you change anything if you were doing it again? Thanks, Tom
ReplyDeleteHi Tom, The inside measurement of the metal roller tube is approx 76mm, the outside is approx 86mm. To recap, the original wooden rollers were lathed and then they were pressed into the metal tubes. Then the metal tubes were lathed. Hmmmm... would I change anything...? I don't think I would as I now have it working pretty smoothly and reliably however hubby reckons he would make the rollers slightly smaller in diameter to allow for a bit more clearance in separating the rollers to allow for thicker plates BUT I don't know that I would agree. I'm pretty happy with it as it is. Hope that helps. Send me a photo of your mangle? Would love to see it. Regards, Toni
DeleteHi Toni, I have a very similar mangle and am embarking on the same project. You seem to have removed all the gear cogs. I can't and will absolutely need to remove one to be able to sleeve the rollers in metal. The keys have gif ends but they are too deep in to be able to get behind. I tried tapping them out from behind with a punch but to no avail. Any tips? Thanks if possible, Roy
ReplyDeleteHi Ron, yes the entire mangle was stripped down to separate parts - my husband did most of the work on it and he was so keen to get on with it I barely had the chance to take a "before" photo before he was dismantling it. Hmmm yours sounds tricky. My hubby has suggested trying heat - use a hot air gun (like you would use for stripping paint) and heat the key gently then try tapping it. The heat causes some expansion and thus movement so it is sometimes enough to give something the nudge it needs. Let me know how you get on. I'm not familiar with the name of a gif key but I think I know what you mean - if you could email me a photo if you are still having trouble we can have more of a think on it: tonihartillart@outlook.co.nz Good luck!
DeleteHello Toni. I have just recently got a functional mangle in very good condition and when talking about it was offered a larger one that is in a very poor state. I am cleaning the rust off and have found that difficult. I have moved from chemicals to wire brush. I will also paint it with Rust Kill as you suggest. I have found many of my questions answered by your comments, thanks. When I get it apart I will be in touch. I am taking photos. Cheers, Denise
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