In the process of patching together the only ribbon I have for my Monotype, some of the holes have been blocked and needed to be re-punched. Furthermore, repairing the edges of the ribbon requires re-punching all the tractor holes. Finally,…
Category: Equipment Acquisition, Repair, and Maintenance
Composition Casting Followup: Type Carrier Repair
While trying to do some composition casting last weekend I found that an internal part of my type carrier was broken, so I had to give this part a quick servicing. There aren’t actually that many internal parts to deal…
Monotype Mould Signalling Lever
The Monotype caster has a small lever which is used to control the opening of the upper mould blade to produce low spaces. This lever is actuated by an arm that descends from the bridge, which in turn is controlled…
Cleaning the “Scissors” on a Monotype Display Mould
While waiting for other things to resolve themselves, I set out to clean the display mould that I has last used on my Monotype caster. This particular mould is an English-style display mould, which uses replaceable inserts to change body…
Unclogging Cooling Passages in a Monotype Mould
After installing my refurbished 10-point mould on my caster I tested the cooling water flow and found that the flow through the mould itself (rather than just the cooling passages in the table) was inadequate. I know from when I…
Tagged with: Rich Hopkins
A Mess Delays Work
The snow plow that I use to clear the driveway here stopped working. The winch which raises the blade stopped running, and since it seemed to be related to the cold weather (and heating the unit appeared to fix it…
More Monotype Mould Measurements
After doing some R&R on one of my Monotype composition moulds I found that when installed on the caster, the type carrier could not reach into the mould without rubbing on the face of the left type block. One of…
A New (to us) Press
Last Friday we picked up our newest press, a Challenge MA15 Proof Press S/N 5338. This model was a copy of the popular Vandercook SP15 press, which Challenge eventually had to stop selling because of issues of patent infringement. We…
Monotype Mould Final Reassembly
With the crossblock and blade reassembled, the rest of the mould goes together quickly. All of the remaining parts are built onto the base plate. The first parts to go on are the cam which operates the jet ejector as…
Monotype Mould Reassembly: The Crossblock
The next major part of the 10-point mould to reassemble is the crossblock. This block forms one side of the casting cavity as well as the bottom of the type and the jet. After casting it slides sideways, cutting off…
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