Model K Elrod Restoration

Thanks largely to John Nicholson of Hamilton, NZ, the Model K Elrod which had been in storage at the Taranaki Aviation Transport And Technology Museum (TATATM), New Plymouth, is now operational.

To the writer’s knowledge, the Model K had been in the lean-to store of the museum, on a heavy wooden plank base since its arrival at the museum and never used since de-commissioning at the donor’s premises (Taranaki Newspapers Ltd., New Plymouth) around 1985. Read the Full Article . . .

The Modern Typograph

Rogers Typograph
The new streamlined German Typograph machine, which sells for some $6000 crated for shipment at a German seaport, with one font of two-letter matrices. The machine will compose and cast a slug line 32 picas long, and has an electric driving mechanism and an electric pot. Two-letter matrices cost about $300 per font.

The fascinating story of how a new version of this old machine came to be manufactured in 1960.

Article taken from The History of the Printer by Dr. James Eckman, published in 1965 by North American Publishing Company, Philadelphia, USA. Read the Full Article . . .

Yorkshire Evening Press, Xmas Eve

Christmas visit
This picture, taken on Christmas Eve 1978, shows (from left to right): The Archbishop of York, Stuart Yarworth Blanch; York & County Press Production Manager Raymond Heppell and David Hughes, Apprentice Compositor.

There are six pages of Yorkshire Evening Press photos on Metal Type. Check the “Related Pages” menu to see the rest.

During my time at the Yorkshire Evening Press it was a tradition that the Archbishop of York visited the works every Christmas Eve to press a green button to start the presses rolling. Read the Full Article . . .

July 3, 1886

Ottmar Mergenthaler

Many thanks to the Rutgers University Libraries, John Depol Collection for permission to use this picture.

On July 3, 1886, seated at the keyboard of his new machine, Ottmar Mergenthaler handed to Whitelaw Reid a slug of metal. Reid exclaimed, “It’s a line-of-type!” Thus was christened the forerunner of today’s modern linecasting machine: the Linotype. Read the Full Article . . .

All-Purpose Linotype

All-Purpose Linotype

Details of the APL (Linotype’s version of the Ludlow) taken from “Linotype Machine Principles” published in 1940.

THE ALL-PURPOSE LINOTYPE (APL) is a complete, self-contained unit for the casting of type in the form of slugs, in faces ranging from 6 point to 144 point; for casting of furniture, rules, borders, decorative and spacing material from 6 to 72 point body, and 42 picas in length. Read the Full Article . . .

Anatomy of a Linotype

Linotype Assembly Mechanism

Assembly


FEATURES of the Linotype Assembly Mechanism taken from “Linotype Leadership” published in 1930 by the Mergenthaler Linotype Company.

1 – Swinging Keyboard
2 – Removable Keyboard cams
3 – Single Power-Driven Keyboard
4 – Keyboard Lock
5 – Escapement
6 – Die-Cut Cams and One-Piece Yoke
7 – Keyboard Rubber Roll
8 – Complete Bank of Key Bars Removable as a Unit
9 – Assembler Front
10 – Assembler Entrance Cover
11 – Geared Assembler Drive
12 – Offset Assembling Elevator
13 – Endless Matrix Delivery Belt
14 – Assembler with Quick-Removable Star Wheel
15 – Rapid Change of Measure
16 – Line Delivery Carriage
17 – Assembler Slide Roller Bearing
18 – Assembling Elevator
19 – Adjustable Spaceband Key
20 – Linotype Spaceband and Slide
21 – Four Thicknesses of Spacebands Read the Full Article . . .