Mailbox
Staff -- graphic arts online, 1/1/2001
More on Sheetfed Perfecting
Editor:
The "Payback & Payoff" article by Debora Toth in your November issue was of particular interest to me. When I turned back 50 years of printing history, I recall the president of Edwards Brothers in Ann Arbor, Mich. asking, "Harold, why don't you design a perfecting press? And make it a two-color convertible so that it will print one color on both sides of the sheet or two colors on one side."
That was in 1950 when we were making 22x34" single-color presses at the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Conn., just when Electric Boat was getting started on nuclear submarines.
Well, I started drawing circles on a sheet of paper, then talked it all over with Carl O. Siebke, our chief engineer, and we built a full-scale model that proved out the idea. Later we sold the concept to Miller Printing Press Company in Pittsburgh.
By the way, the timing was fine with Electric Boat since it wanted to concentrate on subs and get out of the press business.
To finish the story, Miller took over making the prototype presses and got into production both in the United States and Germany. The rest is a history of the development of a special press design to meet the market requirements, as covered very well in Debora Toth's article.
Harold W. Gegenheimer
Mystic, Conn.
Harold's father, William Gegenheimer, was the founder of the Baldwin-Gegenheimer Company in 1918 and inventor of the press washer, a device for cleaning the ink rollers on a press. Harold, who took over the reins of the company in 1950, filed for a patent on the sheet-handling mechanism in 1952 along with Carl Siebke, and received approval on August 7, 1956 (patent #2,757,610).
Harold Gegenheimer served the company, now known as Baldwin Technology Company, Inc., for many year; he is now chairman emeritus. In his name, NPES The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies presents an annual award to an individual and to a company for industry service.
"Excellent" Economic Report
Editor:
Thank you for the excellent article on the prospects for the economy in 2001, "Good Year Ahead, Say Forecasters," by Daryl Delano in the December 2000 issue. Graphic Arts Monthly recognizes the fact that readers need information quickly and that they want to be able to find the news behind the news. In addition, the articles in the magazine explain new technologies and products that will highlight valuable and interesting information.
In addition, the design of Graphic Arts Monthly makes it easy to read, easy to navigate, and easier on the eye. Thanks for a great magazine!
Jimmy Castro
Member, Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce
Austin Tex.
jimmycastro @hotmail.com
Seeking Web Printing Unit
Editor:
We are producing a lottery-style ticket on our equipment, and I was wondering if you knew the manufacturer of either a bubble-jet or laser printer that can print a web roll. Pollard and SGA are two companies that I know are using such equipment.
Graeme Rodger
graemer@home.com
