Old Style Linotype?

[Dave Hughes]

Jim King, from the UK, recently got in contact with the following:

In your recent post of the museum photographs you captioned the linotype as an old style. Strictly speaking the term old style relates to the machine that followed the square base and preceded the pica machine which later was numbered model 1. It occurs to me that very few people would have seen an old style machine so I include a brief description of it.

Distributor
Narrow pitch slow screws. Crossed flatbelt drive.

Magazine
11pt max capacity. The cast iron mounting frame was an integral  part of the magazine, with a full font combined weight around 50 kilos. The extraneous mats run down the last channel into a bowl mounted on the assembled entrance. The keyrods hung from the three piece escapement and were returned by the keyrod spring.

Keyboard
Standard 90 keys but the keybars were returned by a combspring instead of weights as on later machines.  The cams had a sprung-loaded stop pin as opposed to the later sidestops changing troublesome cams on all model 1's was a nightmare. You first had to fit the pokers to both escapement and keyboard, then pull out the full length wire which held the cams in position, deal with the problem then carefully feed the wire through the cams.

Assembling
Flat drive via bevel gear to dog clutch on right hand side of faceplate.

Faceplate
More or less as normal apart from the very early machines which were made SINGLELINE.  All machines of this period up to the Model 1 light mag had the distinctive chrome tubular delivery slide airbrake.

Machine Body
Following the usual construction including the vertical compression pump spring, which was common on all machines up to the reconstructed Model 1 when it was changed to a single column spring, later changed to twinsprings ie double pump on subsequent machines.

The main difference between the o/style and the pica machine which was later numbered the Model 1 was.
.   There was no reaction rod, column to pedestal cap.
.   No pumpstop.
.   No slackline preventer.
.   Fixed knifeblock, which was fitted with interchangeable liners for different body sizes.
.   Moulds for different body sizes and lengths.

 
Trust that this will be of interest to you and other members.