After a long wait, the new Chandler & Price 10 x 15" platen press arrived this afternoon. The driver mentioned hearing a thump during the trip, which made my heart beat double time when he told me. We opened up the back to find that the press had been incorrectly placed on the pallet by the drivers in Melbourne, and as a result, its two front feet had dropped between the wood slats onto the floor of the truck. It was originally on skids, but the Melbourne blokes had taken them off for some reason. The packing of the entire delivery (3 crates worth) was done so poorly, I'm surprised there's no obvious damage. Moving the press with the pallet jack was a little hairy because the press was now leaning on a tilt and slats had broken off the pallet. But the delivery guys were excellent, and moved the press into its temporary position in the new studio. I'll be calling the operations manager of the transport company tomorrow to let him know how unhappy I am with the packing, and that if I find any damage to the press, they'll be paying for it.
You can see in these photos how the front feet have slipped down.
The good news is that the press looks good, and it's in much better condition than I thought. Very happy! I'll get some better photos once we finish moving house.
