7. Type Metal Casting

Metal Type Casting I was pleased to find some beautifully preserved metal type casting machines at the museum. For much of the industrial revolution, letterpress printing was an extremely labor intensive process.  Each letter had to be set into the form (composition) and after the book or newspaper page was printed, the form was taken apart and the metal types were redistributed into the cases for reuse.  Using hand set metal type is one thing for the casual printer of stationary, but the newspapers of the day demanded a better solution. In the latter part of the 19th century, a german born inventor named Otto Merganthaler perfected a very complicated machine that was to revolutionize the composing room, the Linotype. Linotype addressed two primary issues.  First, instead of setting type by hand, an operator would key in the book or newpaper copy on a specially designed keyboard, with the result being a row of molds being set into a continuous line.  The brass molds were called matricies, or mats for short.  This line would have molten type metal injected and out would pop a neatly and quickly cast slug, ready for imposition into the form and printing.  Second, there was no redistribution necessary, as after the print run, the metal slugs were simply remelted and cast again.  This put the future of type casting firms into jeopardy, as foundries depended on large printing operatios literally using up type by printing it over and over. This process, while straining the design limitations of its day, was a technical marvel, especially when you consider that each of the machine's tasks were controlled and actuated through entirely mechanical means.  Matricies had to be machined to very exact dimensions, and the linotype operators had to be machinists as well, to keep the machines running. Seemingly overnight, the careers of many typesetters were ended, and those that were not ready for the linotype had to find different work. Industry embraced this marvelous machine for nearly a century before phototypesetting and offset printing took over the trade.

Linotype

Here is a clear image showing the functional parts:

Linotype with magazine cover removed

Less automated casting was done with a machine called a Ludlow caster. Unlike linotype, Ludlow casters required the operator to set each mat by hand, but still capitalized on the ability to use the slug once and not worry about wearing down type.  There were many styles and brands of casters both in the US and abroad.

Ludlow