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…
Category: Kevin
An Addition to the Workshop
I just purchased a new-to-me machine for my workshop:This is a DoAll DH-612 manual surface grinder. Based on the serial number this one was made in 1959 and that may have been the first year of production for this model…
Inside the Beast
Last year we purchased a new-to-us Noble & Wood Cycle Beater for beating pulp for papermaking. It has, since then, been sitting in a corner in our shop taking up space. This was mainly because we also had so many…
New and Improved Spam Comments
This blog has always received a stream of spam comments, generally consisting of easily-recognized banal statements about how the post was really helpful, or well-written, or some such other positive comment, but with no actual reference to the topic of…
Previously-unseen Casting Problem
I ran into this casting fault when making a font of 36-point Lanston #675 Bodoni Ultra. I’ve never had this happen before and I haven’t seen this problem mentioned in any of the literature. The type is developing, for lack…
(Un)Plugging Cooling Water Passages
One of the moulds for my Monotype Composition Caster, specifically the type U Lanston display mould fitted for 36 point body size, had completely blocked cooling water passages. This would seriously limit how fast the caster could run, even more…
My Presentation from the 2012 ATF Conference
Someone recently asked about serial number locations on Monotype Composition Casters, and I knew I had a sort of list of where these were located. This information turned out to be in a presentation I gave at the 2012 American…
More Marbling—At Last!
After a long hiatus, I’ve had a chance to do some marbling. The driving force was actually the necessity to test a new sample of carragheenan. We’re currently out of stock, and as usual, the last source we bought from…
CBBAG Ottawa Book Arts Show and Sale, May 25th, 2024
This year the Ottawa chapter of the Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild (CBBAG) will be holding their Book Arts Show and Sale at the recently-opened Carleton University MacOdrum Library Book Arts Lab, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario. The…
Looking for a Job…
After almost 43 years with the same employer, my “day job” is coming to an end. Since I graduated from University of Waterloo in 1981, I’ve been working for and with the same people, first at the Math Faculty Computing…
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