Through a Kijiji ad, we found that the Goodwill store in London ON had a small press for sale. We finally had to chance to go have a look at it (it helped that the London Lee Valley store was having a clearance sale), and we bought it:
Daaawwww! Isn’t it cute? It is a Sigwalt Chicago No. 11 press, with chase inside dimensions 2½×3⅞″—if it actually had a chase. It is also missing its form roller trucks, but other than that is is complete and appears to be in working order. The rollers themselves seem to be in good condition, and I can make trucks for them easily. I can also make a chase but that is a little more work. In particular, getting the lugs that hold the chase on the bed just right might be a bit fussy.
According to the manual I downloaded, this press originally cost $12.00 (year unknown), including some type, furniture, ink, bronzing powder and storage box.
When I have a chance I will take it apart to give it a good cleaning and oiling. If I feel ambitious I might even make a case for it so we can take it to shows easily.
That Goodwill store was unlike any I had ever seen before. Other than the gems like this press which they put aside to sell through Kijiji, they just have a large room with rows of large bins on wheels. Every few minutes they take all the bins in a row into the back room and bring out replacements. At that time it looks like a flock of vultures swooping in to pick all the good stuff. They sell everything by weight, and these people, who spend hours there, probably run second-hand or antique shops and they are looking for items they feel they can sell at a profit. I have to wonder if Goodwill is getting a fair share of the value of what they sell, but with the volume they go through, this seems like the only practical way to handle things.
What a find! How much did you get it at the Goodwill for in the end?!
I don’t recall exactly how much we paid for it, but I think it was around 80 to 100 dollars.