I recently found a pair of mis-labeled matrices in my set of 18-point Caslon Old Style, and although I could just leave a note in the storage box, I thought it would be better to just correct the markings on…
Category: Things we do
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…
Making a Vandercook 320 carriage stop
As part of getting a Vandercook 320 proof press into working condition, I had to make a carriage stop/bumper block. One of the original ones was missing from the press. Another of the stops was held on with only one…
Howard Iron Works (Virtual) Print Expo 2021
After skipping a year due to COVID-19, the Howard Iron Works Print Expo returns this year in virtual form. They will have events and workshops live-streamed on the weekend of October 1st and 2nd, all hosted at the Howard Iron…
An interesting type duplicating mould
Yesterday I was at the Mackenzie Printery and Newspaper Museum in Queenston Ontario. The museum is not open to the public right now, but members still meet there to work on organizing and cataloguing the collection, and I was in…
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