Year: 2022

49A Matrix Holder Parts Breakdown

The Monotype 49A matrix holder is listed with plate 35 in the English Spare Parts List book, and although a list of all its parts is included, the holder is not shown in the illustration. This post shows the internals

Improved Shim for my 49A Display Matrix Holder

When I cast display type from Lanston display matrices I use an English mould because the one I have is in generally better condition than the American-made Lanston display moulds I have. This mould’s cavity is not in the same

More on that ‘st’ (de câlisse) matrix

My previous casting of 18-point Caslon Old Style had enough defects that I ended up re-casting it. A couple of the problems are described herein. After calculating all the adjustments to cast the ‘st’ ligature from the non-factory-made matrix, I

Exploding Mould Blade Operating Rods!

During my recent casting run of 18-point Caslon Old Style I found that there were enough problems with the font that I decided to just recast it entirely. I had solved all my alignment, set-width, and substandard matrix problems, so

Casting #337 Caslon Old Style 18pt

This is the first time I have cast this particular font, and although it mostly went well, I had one sort that miscast. The problem first showed up on a carbon-paper proof of the type:The ‘st’ ligature seemed to be

Line Length Gauge Collection

I was cleaning up the workshop a bit last week and ran across a small project which had fallen by the wayside. As part of all the Monotype parts I had collected, there was a random assortment of line length

Casting Twisted Type

I was recently casting some 14-point Caslon Old Style on my Monotype Composition Caster and I was finding that after casting a long run of some wider letters, the type was coming out with an interesting distortion:The top of the

Making Really Red Paper

I just found these photos from a papermaking session from the summer of 2019 and thought I might post them. We had recently emptied a mini-keg of red 112 aqueous pigment, and we were left with a dirty keg. We

Top