The display matrices I had purchased in the recent Anderson auction were heavy enough that it would have cost several hundred dollars to ship them. Instead I took a couple of days to drive to Terra Alta, WV, to visit…
Category: Things we have
Adventures in Matrix Copying – Part 2
My first attempt at making a rubber mould of a Lanston display matrix ended up with a fatal flaw due to an air bubble. I made a second attempt, hoping to avoid repeating this flaw. The instructions for the casting…
Adventures in Matrix Copying
One thing I have wanted to try for a while was the duplication of a Lanston Monotype display matrix. It it probably not worth the trouble to copy an entire font of mats, but it would be useful for replacing…
A New Pin Wrench
When I was fixing my Monotype caster to do some composition casting a few months ago, I broke the small pin wrench that I use for turning some of the adjustments on the caster. The wrench seemed to be too…
Rubber feet for the Challenge Proof Press
Proof presses are subjected to a lot of sideways forces when used, caused by the carriage hitting its stops at either end of its stroke. These can be reduced by slowing down near the end of the stroke, but there…
Putting a back on the Challenge Proof Press
When I got this press earlier this year, I printed off a nice copy of the instructions. Challenge Machinery still exists, and their web site is quite useful in that they seem to be trying their best to have manuals…
Last week’s time suck
Last week was March Break, and Audrey and Lily flew to Calgary to visit Granny. I took the opportunity to do a few home improvement projects (replacing a bathroom sink, putting up a knife holder in the kitchen, and installing…
Repairing the other Monotype nozzle
While trying to do some composition casting recently, I concluded that the nozzle on my caster was worn or damaged, causing it to leak profusely, and the spare nozzle I had on hand was in even worse condition. I repaired…
A Bit of Font Casting
I have a short project in the works, and since I don’t have a Monotype Keyboard or a computer interface for the caster, I have to fall back to hand setting some text. I have a few paragraphs that I…
Tagged with: Ian Schaefer
Proof from the March 2nd Casting
My post on this weekend’s casting adventures did not include a proof of the imperfect but useable forme cast in the early evening, so here it is: This was done with rubber based ink, and the gloss of the ink…
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