Two years ago I found out that this Monotype caster, fitted for strip casting, was available for free in the Toronto area.
Unfortunately, at the time, I had no room for it and needed to expand our shop space to make room. Much more unfortunately, through a misunderstanding, the owner thought I was not interested in it, and started giving it the (very slow) heave-ho.
The pot controller was removed to make a decorative display, and cutter/stacker was removed to reduce the machine’s bulk and subsequently misplaced. The caster then spent a year outdoors before I picked it up just this week.
Here’s how it looks now:
A very sad state. It is fortunate that the machine had been coated with a machinery storage coating (“Cosmoline”) so the rust has not gone very deep.
My collection of spares should be enough to make up a pot controller, and I have a cutter/stacker in rough condition that I can fit to the machine, so I have the makings of a working strip caster. As well, the former owner will look around to see if the cutter/stacker is still around.
This is actually a Monotype Type and Rule Caster sometimes inexplicably called an “Orphan Annie”, fitted with the attachments for continuous strip casting. It is marked with the improbable serial number 5000:
L-R: Left rear table corner, Rear end of rear pin block, Left end of front pin block
The fact that the same serial number appears on several places implies that this truly is the machine’s serial number, improbable though it may seem to have a number that is an exact multiple of 1000. Unfortunately there does not seem to be any easily-found serial number index or census of machines for Monotype equipment.
I have a series of old parts manuals from various years and I may try to match specific parts against these to determine when the machine was made, but for now the main goal is to chase out all the water and protect against further rusting.
Also, the lower door was removed to add its logo to the decorative display. Some of the other labels and plates are missing too (though they may had already been missing two years ago) and the crank to raise and lower the pot are gone. I can make a crank, but I also have spares that might allow me to convert this to a top-crank machine.
It turns out “Cosmoline” was not the right product; this is a sort of rubbery solid protective coating one sometimes finds on machining tools such as endmills, either when new or when returned from a sharpening service.
The protectant used on this caster was more of a gel/grease consistency.