This is a copy of the gear used on the Chandler & Price Old Style press, to rotate the inside ink plate. The counter-rotating ink plate on the Old Style press was later eliminated by the company with a re-design; Chandler probably noticed many printers would just take them off.
I wanted this function however the gear was missing; I was lucky, the press did include the other commonly missing parts such as the foot treadle, steam pulleys and other associated levers. This is for the 8 x 12 model, circa 1906.
I started by making a mould with flexible RTV silicone spread over the gear cast into the back of the ink plate. I then used Devcon epoxy to cast a replica. A bit of work on the lathe made a good concentric hole; my father-in-law welded a fastener into a large wing nut to bolt the gear on.
This worked for a while; I believe the epoxy must have swelled, and it cracked. I made a larger centre hole and added a bronze bushing, gluing the pieces together with epoxy again. Note that the bushing needs a keyway to line up with the shaft on the ink plate, this was done manually on the lathe.
