Dismanteling our new letterpress

Now that all the cabinets are in place, and all the job case full of type are moved, all there is to do now is take apart all the fragile parts of the press so it can be crated and moved. We had high hopes for the day. We knew the key for the flywheel would be the most trouble so we planned on removing that first. Having checked it out previously we knew there was a lip for a puller to grab onto, though it seemed small and rounded. To help with this I figured using a cold chisel to cut a groove behind the lip would give a gear puller something more to grab onto, as well as the vibration should knock it loose from anything sticking it firm. As it turned out, no amount of groove, edge, lip or recess was going to help because the standard gear puller we had was not the right type for removing a key. Not to fear. Lots of penetrating fluid, tapping, prying and pulling and it should come loose. Can you tell we've never really done this before. If not, then I'll tell you no less then four hours later the best plan we had was to give up and ask for advice. I called my friend John Barrett from Letterpress things. He suggested we contact Mike Anton, the Golding Guru, from St. Louis about it. He was easy enough to find with a listing on brairpress.org and other sites. We shot him off an email and figuring it could be at least a day before we heard from him we moved onto other parts. We went to work on removing the next most difficult, or at least heavist part. The motor. I was astounded at how loose all the bolts were and surprised tha the motor hadn't come flying off the press already. I was also happy to find out the motor mounts were wood, although heavily encased in grease, oil and grime. The downside is the box that makes up the motor mount is a rather convoluted thing. Something we're going to have to rethink once it's cleaned up and in the studio. Once that mess was off, including the metal tube wrapped around the press going to the front with the on/off switch, I moved to the Ink disk and ink fountain holder at the top. That came right off with no problem. We then took off the arms that the feed and delivery tables mount to. Then being a bit adventurous and hoping to gain some extra room since when I measured the press has to go through the studio doorway sideways, we removed the bar that connects the harps, or roller keepers, to each other. These came off as easily as everything else. Seems all the oil coating this press is at least making that easy. There was one unexpected event. Once unbolted the harp on the flywheel side dropped suddenly. It only spun around on it's axle, but it was surprising enough that I got my hand in the way and squished my finger some. The harp on the gear side of the press remained in place though, a result of the link from the harp to the gear which is what actually supplies the up and down motion to the ink rollers as they pass over the ink disk and chase. Unfortunatly here we got another not so nice surprise. When the bolt finally cam out of the harp, the link dropped to the concrete floor with a heart stopping clang. Fortunately no toes were in the way and the link survied with no cracks or breaks. We took this as an omen though and once the bottom bolt was out of the link we packed up the truck and headed for home.