Formes with slots for type

[Barry Adams]

A bit of a follow on from the unusual cylinder press topic.

Where I was an apprentice ( John Swain and Son ) We used to get work in from a nearby company in Ely Place, just off from Holbourne Circus
These were small formes with the type held in a groove - inverted "T" slot. The subject matter was not any wording but just a series of letters or numbers
We used to make a conventional Electrotype from them and supply it as a one piece plate.
As far as I know these were for price tickets for Marks and Spencer.

[Pete Stanners]

Yesterday (3rd) I visited the Print section of the Cambridge Museum of Technology with a view to becoming a part-time volunteer.  They have there a Multigraph machine, among lots of other letterpress items including a Lino, Ludlow and Mono caster. The Multigraph has an option of  plates (horizontal or vertical grooves) which are for printing A4-ish Portrait or Landscape. The special T type characters are slotted into these grooves by way of a special kind of setting 'stick' rather than instead of directly into the grooved plate. It is hoped that this machine can be made functional. They also have quite a good range of type for the machine. I am a retired Lino Op so am interested in the Lino as well. At the moment there is a problem with the Lino, so if there are any ex Lino engineers around we'd pleased to hear from them.