Monotype Composition Caster Interface.

[Keri Szafir]

Hey, I could help you with the USB interface; the problem is the apocalypse i.e. chip shortages. Even the MCP23017 port expanders are just not there yet. I've got a few of them rpi2caster boards that I designed to work with Raspberry Pi, but I could as well hack them to work with an Arduino instead, if you need an USB interface, but let's postpone any actual production until next year.

[mmckenzie]

Thanks for the thought.

The problem in this case is zero future supply due to the interface IC being discontinued by the manufacturers! There are no spare boards in any case, or drawings available to make new ones due to the wholesale destruction of Harry's office.

However, the electronics side of an interface is not really an insurmountable problem given that the only requirement is to turn the odd pneumatic valve on and off at will.
Matt

[Keri Szafir]

Obsolete ICs can be worked around if you know the communication protocol between the interface and control computer. If the mac2cast software is open source, it's possible to develop an alternative interface working with Harry's software, or the opposite: new software working with Mactronic interfaces.

[Keri Szafir]

Made a video on my controller:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J83cMbkO4PI

[Dave Hughes]

Thanks, Keri for explaining the rpi2caster - your "opus magnus" - is it available for purchase at this stage, or is that some time in the future. Also, would this machine be able to be used globally, for instance in North America or Australia?

[Keri Szafir]

I can make a new one and the estimated cost would be around 3000 euro, but because of the chip shortages it may be hard to come by a new Raspberry Pi. Still got a bunch of interface boards. The device will work with any machine (both Lanston and English).

[Dave Hughes]

Ed Rayher at Swamp Press was mentioned on the Forum recently: A new source of matrices available in the US

He uses a "Welliver" computer interface for his Monotype operation.

He has a video of it working:


https://youtu.be/nWdqS-VtPS8

[Keri Szafir]

Ah yes, "A Mess of Tubes" as I call it. I never really liked his design - truth be told, when I saw it back in 2014, I said I can't even look at that - I can do so much better, make a device that can withstand the hardships of a hot typecasting environment. And I did.

I've been thinking about getting into cooperation with Welliver, especially now that he stopped offering these interfaces. My electronics design is certainly superior to his (haha!), but his software and probably marketing skills too is superior to mine. We could complement each other. The problem is that with chip shortages still going on, it may be hard to get a fully fledged Raspberry Pi. I've also been thinking of moving the platform to a microcontroller with WiFi, e.g. ESP32, and implementing the control and communication functions.

[John Nixon]

Hi all

We at the Printing Museum in New Zealand have taken a different approach.

We have a Monotype punch unit from the 1960's and many rolls of paper.

Check this out, we can produce a tape and courier it world wide.

Always in development but would be happy to produce a short trial for you to test, courier only cost.

Please let me know on, ironically

Cheers, John


https://youtu.be/br9LpPwjqDI

John posted more details of where this system is in use on this topic: Wellington Centre for Book Arts, New Zealand - Admin

[Dave Hughes]

Forum regular, and Monotype expert @KPMartin has recently uploaded some video to Youtube.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQasXJ8Wi_Q

Says Kevin:

This shows my Monotype Composition Caster, under control of my laptop and a custom interface, casting a font of 6-point Sans Serif Light (Monotype #329). This type is used for hand-setting of text for letterpress printing.

Although reliability of the whole system has improved over the years, the actual interface is still a rat's nest of wires on a proto-board. A PCB design is in the works, though.

Various posts about this machine are available on our blog.
We sell new metal type; information is available here.

The PCB design that is in the works sounds interesting, anybody know more details?

[Dave Hughes]

Richard Dale from Hill & Dale Private Press and Typefoundry recreates the title page from an 1829 newspaper on his Monotype Supercaster using the Welliver interface in this recently-posted YouTube video that was filmed in 2008.

Creating a facsimile copy of The Weekly Gleaner from 1829, at Hill & Dale Private Press and Typefoundry with Rich Hopkins (filmed in 2008). This video shows casting type on a Monotype Supercaster, setting up a file from scanned text, and outputting that text as type on a Composition caster using the Welliver interface.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9D3dEQcGkM

[Dave Hughes]

Forum member @KPMartin recently uploaded a video of an "initial PCB test" of his Composition Caster interface. There is a link to more information about the project on his blog at the bottom of the description.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6mDohoLXu4

In this video I do an initial test of a PCB I made to allow a Monotype Composition Caster to be controlled by a computer.
This Caster was made to cast type for letterpress printing, generating composed text (that is, text formed into lines ready for printing) from individual letters. The system was originally designed to include a separate keyboard unit which punches a 31-channel paper ribbon, which in turn is used to control the caster.
By using a computer interface the keyboard and all necessary accessories become unnecessary, and the software allows more versatile control of the caster than the keyboard allows.
This PCB is the interface: It is controlled via a USB connection using software on the computer which reads a digital form of the old paper ribbon, and uses pneumatic solenoid valves to provide compressed air to drive he caster controls. It is intended to replace the proto-board and tangle of wires seen in my previous video    • First run—Monotype Computer Control (loud?) 

This is my first attempt at making a PCB using surface-mount devices, and for a first try it turned out pretty well.

This particular test uses the indicator LED's on the board to test basic functionality. The remaining work is to solder on the connectors for all the pneumatic valves and do a live test on the caster.

A bit more information is available on our blog at https://papertrail.ca/blog/new-monoty...