Little Giant job cylinder press, model no. 4 (circa 1942-3)
Webendorfer / American Type Founders, Elizabeth, N.J.

It is indeed a Little Giant. Definitely not a No. 5 or 6. The heavy duty cast iron frame is reminiscent of the earlier Kelly presses (A, B, or C). The frame of this one is embossed with the name "Webendorfer, Mount Vernon, New York" --- the company acquired by ATF in 1938 (perhaps they continued to produce the cast iron frames). The high rollers and other design elements give more of an impression of the earlier Kelly models than the later Little Giant models. Is this then a Little Giant no. 1? No, John Henry informed me that it is very likely a No. 4. More internet searching uncovered a PDF of an operator's manual scanned and posted by Black Spot Press (http://www.blackspotpress.com/manuals/littlegiant4.pdf). The preface to the manual is dated February 1942. According to ATF data sheets, my serial number was one of the last 100 or so of the number 4s made (of some 3,700), manufactured in 1943 or possibly 1942 (because as production was curtailed sometimes very few presses were made in the final couple of years). The number 4s began being produced in 1937. Subsequent searching uncovered Ross MacDonald's graphic design work at Brightwork Press, and a picture of him with his Little Giant, which looks very much like a No. 4: http://ross-macdonald.com/pages/ltpinfo.html.

The serial no. of my Little Giant no. 4 is LG6656:

LG6656

It's been pointed out that the Little Giant no. 4 looks like mini-Kelly C. Yes, compare the above pic with the Kelly C:

More pics of the 1943 Little Giant no. 4:

The design is pre-WWII, but the actual production date was during the war. The similarity to the design aesthetic of the earlier Kelly flatbed cylinder press is obvious. It is smaller in size than the Kelly Style A. It has a 12 x 18 chase. 220-volt motor, weighs 1900 pounds. Footprint of main frame = 40" x 30". Overall space occupied including feeder side and delivery section = 85" x 30". The sale price in 1943? $1804.00, not including delivery and installation. A pretty big chunk of change back then. Any further ideas or information (or parts presses!) are greatly appreciated: John: kahib@ix.netcom.com

For more details and specs, see http://Alignment2012.com/AcornAnchorBAS.html.

The following will document the moving, restoration, testing, and using of the 1942-43 Little Giant flatbed job cylinder press.

April 11, 2010. One month to the day after drivng to Colorado Springs and purchasing the vintage Little Giant cylinder press, and I am ready to pick it up. Since then, I've been to Egypt, and will be speaking at a conference in St Louis on the 15th. Don and I had planned to do the pick up last Wednesday, but the weather was rainy and we idn;t want to risk getting the press wet. Tomorrow looks like a beautiful day, no chance of rain and high of 72. Perfect. It's a good 140 miles down to the Fillmore exit on Co Springs. I'll be at Don's place in Ft Collins by 7 a.m. I expect we will be back at my shop by 5 p.m. We might be making a detour, to visit Smitty in Canon City --- he has some type Don wantsto check out, and a Linotype too. I met him in May of 2008 when I picked up my 8 x 12 and the Peerless Gem cutter with Stevyn Prothero. We should have the LG loaded by noon. I'll document as best I can with pics. I built a wooden frame as I strategized how the pallet lifters are going to work; we'll see how it goes. I tend to overthink and overprepare --- better than not thinking it through at all. Up at 6 a.m. tomorrow. By nightfall, it should be safely ensconsed in my shop.

April 12. And so it was. I got to Don's house at just after 7 a.m. He had a two-axle trailer he built himself many years ago, hauled with a 1961 Chevy flatebed 3/4 ton pickup with a 6 cylinder Corvette engine. We drove straight through Denver with no delays and got to the location in Co Spruings just before 10 a.m. The loading process went smoothly --- I installed two 4 x 4's, we used a pallet lifter to bring it over to the trailer bed, no angled down, and slowly winched the whole pallet-lifter-press aseembly into the middle of the trailer bed, whereupon it righted itself. We overkilled on the compression straps, and were on our way by 11:30 am. We decided to run over to Canon City to look at Smitty's equipment --- it was a bit farther (45 miles) and more hills than we remembered, and it took a bite out of our afternoon. The weather seemed to threaten slightly but no rain ever fell. The vintage 1943 Little Giant was flying open down the highway, itself hauled by a vintage 61 Chevy pickup. We took the toll way around Denver to avoid rush hour --- a good decision --- and arrived back at the shop by 6:30. Some doofus had decided to smash apart some automotive kotor parts in front of my shop door, scrounging for metal to recycle, and I had to move the pile of junk out of the way. Steve S. arrived with sandwiches and gave Don and I a hand as we revesed the process and slowly winched the beast down the angled trailer --- it was great to have Steve's help for this! I set down a 4 x 8 plywood board, and we lowered the press righ onto that, then switched to the other side with my pallet lifter and pulled it right into the shop. Done and out of there by nightfall.

There it sits while I fly to St Louis for a conference. I went over there yesterday and started familiarizing myself with the various parts and movements. It seems to cycle through nicely and all the grippers and feeder parts are in alignment. It will need a few belts, rollers, and a thorough clean up.

April 20. Went to SAA conference in St Louis, April 14-16. Have spent five or six hours cleaning and observing the operation, turning it by hand through its movements. Had a few questions on some things, so I made a new webpage and put the alert out to Ross and Eric and Don, for feedback: http://alignment2012.com/Little-Giant-restoration.html. Replaced air hose, bought some one inch cotton bands for the delivery tape. Everything seems pretty minor at this point, but I haven't yet turned the press on. Don will be over on Thursday and we'll take a look at the motor wiring and circuits to confirm that it's running on 220 v.

Thursday, April 22. I took the switch plates off and made a diagram; Don came over and confirmed 220. I attached the 220 plug. To be safe, we took the pulley belts off the blower motor and the press motor. Turned on the blower motor --- it works! Then turned on the press motor --- it works, but hesitated a bit a first. Put the press pulley belt back on, and this was the real trest, for now it would drive the press mechanism. Flipped the switch, and it needed a push to go, but it fired up and ran! This is the first time in 11 years it has run. I'll get pictures tomorrow. The motor hesitation issue remains; Don says it is probably the starter circuit and could be an easy fix by cleaning the points and contacts. So, I'll pull the motor next week and we'll take a look. For now, this is all pretty good news. The rollers --- bad shape, really. They might be made to print some tests, but they'll need to be replaced.

Here's a movie of the Little Giant running (Quicktime), April 23, 2010. .