Kelsey 9×13 printing press

In November 2025, I bought a Kelsey 9×13 “Excelsior” printing press at an estate sale in Cleveland Heights. The press had been sitting outside in the driveway for long enough to get a good bit of rust. It was missing its rollers and one roller hook, but other than that it was intact, and with a bit of coaxing, the mechanism worked.

The press sat on a dolly on my basement floor for a few weeks while I cleaned it up. I used rust remover as a first pass, then I used WD-40 with green scotchbrite pads and 220grit sandpaper on some of the most stubborn rust.

I eventually got all of the bolts and joints working freely with lugbuster spray. The toughest parts were the gripper bars and their small set screws. But after a few days, they eventually budged too.

I toyed with the idea of completely disassembling the press, and wondered whether I should take it down to bare metal for a new coat of paint. But that is an irreversible choice. Its well worn finish, including haphazardly applied gold highlights and remaining traces of rust, is part of its story.