Sometimes - and particularly when doing a longer run - or feeding a heavy card stock which may tend to force the pin from it's locked position, press operators will drip a few drops of sealing wax onto the pin - to fasten it more securely to the tympan sheet.

Megill's Double Grip Gauge

But Mr. Megill did not stop with the Spring Tongue Gauge Pin - not by a long shot. Competing with Mr. Larsen's popular Quad Guides*, Megill announced an improved gauge pin design which he patented in 1924.

The Improved Double Grip Gauge - also still in use and available today- at about five times the price of the simple Spring Tongue model.

But this gauge pin gives the platen press operator a more flexible adjustment mechanism - along with a "double grip" screw set which clamps the gauge pin tightly to the platen. The operator cuts a vertical slit into the tympan top sheet, slips the base of the pin unit under the packing, then tightens the thumb screws to clamp the pin tightly to the sheet.

The main advantage of this style of pin is in the ease of adjusting it's position - repeatedly, until the right position is found and the pin can be tightly clamped to the tympan, giving the feeder firm quides to feed against - guides which can be locked even tighter with the use of the included "key". No sealing wax is needed, no pins pierce the packing. A slit is cut and the pin can be moved up and down without wearing out the paper  under its position, as can happen with the simpler and less expensive spring tongue style described above.

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Megill's Flexible Feed Gauges

A rather uncommon and unique pin may well solve a common problem for many new printers. We only have a few on hand right now* (read updates below), but are endeavoring to stock up and supply letterpress printers with this unique and excellent gauge pin. This gauge pin is particularly useful for users of Boxcar Bas or the Excelsior Chase-Base for mounting of photopolymer plates.

This is Megill's virtually flat Flexible Feed Guide as can be seen to the right of the press'  flywheel on the flier above. This pin should, in theory, be low enough to position anywhere safely - under a depressed gripper or perhaps even with a Boxcar Base.

We 'll update this page after doing some thorough testing - and if and when we can find some more to share with printers out there. (4/17/2010)

August, 2010: Well, here's the update!

Yes, they work perfectly under both the Boxcar Base and our Excelsior Chase-Base. And, better than that, we have found a stash - a not-quite-unlimited supply, but enough that we are stocking 4 dozen - soon to be 100 - at a time. See The Fundraising Page to purchase.

Instructions: (added 6/30/2011) To mount these Flexible gauge pins on your top tympan sheet, you must stab it through about 1/8" below the line where your sheet will fall. Then slide the blade beneath the paper and bring the tip back up and out of the top sheet. This will set it lightly in place and you can pull a proof and begin adjusting position. Once the pin is in position, tap it gently at the cross of the "T" to stab the pins through the top sheet of your typman. Then, to hold it more firmly (especially if you will be feeding heavy stock), we find it helps to drip some hot sealing wax onto the pin. This will work with flexible or spring tongue pins to firmly affix the pin in position. If you are running a large, heavy sheet - like a file folder, for example - on a larger 8x12 or 10x15 press, you may find it helpful to set a second pin on the left side. Otherwise the weight of the paper may force the pin out of position. A second pin can minimize this problem if it occurs.

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Megills Extension Feed Guides

For extending the capacity of your platen.

Now here's something every small press user should not be without - Megill's Extension Feed Guides actually increase the usable area of your platen by allowing you to set your lower guides as much as 1 1/4" below the lower edge of the platen.

And we do have these in stock. See the Fundraising Page to purchase some for yourself - or as a gift to your favorite small press printer.

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NEW! January, 2011

Now, here's something very exciting.

We have found and acquired for our collection, a full, working set of three of Edwin Megill's

Perfect Register Gauges

This is something very, very special - something many of today's printers have discussed as "a good idea - I wish we had gauge pins that could be more easily adjusted."

Well, we once did. 120 years ago, Edwin Megill came to our rescue and invented a very convenient and easily adjustable gauge pin.

Dates stamped on the pins we have indicate patent dates of March 31, and April 7, 1891.

Unfortunately - and until now - even common knowledge of the existance of this gauge pin has been lost. Perhaps some old printers had heard of them, but no one I had spoken to in the past 50 years ever implied that they had ever existed. There may be some more out there some where in Letterpress Land, but I sure don't know of them. If you do, please please let me know.

A curious note about this addition to our collection - these gauge pins were found in Flemington, NJ - only ten miles from the location of the Excelsior Press Museum!

This gauge pin is glued to the tympan - approximately where you suspect the pin should be placed.

But, once in place, this Perfect Register Gauge can be adjusted up or down a few points - by simply moving the tang on the upper cam - to allow for Perfect Register of each card you print.

The Perfect Register Gauge is the ideal solution for tight-register, multi-color work, in which aligning subsequent colors is always a challenge.

click the image above for a close-up view. The photo may look a bit rough, but the cam moves smoothly, so these pins should still work as designed - 120 years ago.



The sheet at the left includes complete instructions on how to use this pin on your press.


As you can see, the price was dropped from $2.50/set to $1.75/ set after these cards were printed.

Perhaps they were not well received by job printers who were experienced using the less expensive pins and did not feel a need for such a device.



But today's printers simply don't have time to gain the experience of the typical printer of 100 years ago. For them, it seems that this perfect register gauge pin would be a boon.






I'm sorry that we don't have any of these to share with other printers - YET - but if we can come up with a source - or figure out how to make some, we will...

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Larsen Quad Guides

Another popular gauge pin, also still in use today, is the Larsen Quad Guide. Although copied by other manufacturers and available under other names (aka KORT - available from NA Graphics), the Larsen Quad Guide is number three in this list of what I believe are the most popular gauge pins in use today.

The Larsen Quad Guide is based upon the old technique of gluing a 10 or 12 point 2-em or 3-em quad to the packing, with a small piece of cardboard glued to the top. While only minimally adjustable, the idea of gluing tabs onto a platen is still with us today.

The Larsen Quad guide uses a spring clamp and 3 rows of small teeth on the upper part, to literally clamp the guide into place when slipped through a slit in the tympan. These guides are adjustable about 18 points in either direction and are very firm.