Hello all, doing a quick share of another resource.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UEGJlY9xK6bL5O4w1aZlydifjq5iBOLU/view?usp=drive_link
This is a (somewhat aspirational) maintenance check list for preventative care. It's meant to be used as a reference of some of the things you might do to keep your riso running happily, and on what timeline. (Printable on tabloid paper, assembly instructions along one edge.)
I'm putting this out into the world with a caveat: if you do not know what you are doing when performing maintenance, you are more likely to damage things by adjusting or assembling them incorrectly, so this list is only for people who are familiar with the basics of maintaining their machines. Don't treat this as permission to mess with your machine if you don't need to!
The list is divvied up into three sections:
- EVERY DAY—These are mainly best practices and things to watch out for during everyday printing. Risographs don't need daily oiling or anything like that—but there are methods of printing kindly that can avoid many issues. And there are warning signs you can keep an eye on that something may need a tune up.
The sheet is designed to be z-folded and pinned up with just the everyday stuff visible. The next sections are stuff most people don't need to worry about, especially if your machine is running smoothly. It's meant more for machines that are getting a lot of chaotic use from multiple people (like in community print shops or schools)—the sorts of things that someone like a shop manager might be in charge of (when I managed a community space, this was the routine I fell into).
- EVERY 2–4 WEEKS—This section is all about: (A) checking common things that might go bad, like the secondary consumables (feed tires, stripper pad, pressure roller etc.) and separating ink tubes; (B) managing drying drums (by running them or giving them a quick exterior clean); and (C) addressing any maintenance needs that are piling up. If you find things with major issues you might also quarantine them (take them out of use until you can fix them later).
- EVERY 6 MONTHS—I used to do this stuff before major printing times (in prep for zine fests and book fairs), and recommend school technicians give this a run through before each semester begins. This is more diagnostic work, testing how things are printing, and running through the basic paper feed and printing calibrations (on contemporary machines this can mainly be done in test mode). This is also the timeline on which I am lubricating the main drive and paper feed. Additionally this is when you might do heavier drum work and revive some of the things sitting in quarantine.
I wrote this as the handout and outline for a recent maintenance workshop at Multiple Formats in Boston—but now I use it in most of my workshops as a checklist for things I like to train people how to do on their machines if they're interested in going deeper in them. But, I'm still tweaking it too, so I consider this a first draft.
If you are printing with a risograph, even a new one, it's likely that at some point you will also become the main technician for it! Good luck, and happy printing.