Category: Kevin

Linotype Knife Block R&R

The knife block on the Linotype at the Mackenzie Printery Museum was pretty much impossible to adjust due to dried out lubricant. This block controls the position of the right knife which trims the thickness of the cast slug to

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Progress on the Mackenzie Printery’s Linotype (Broken Upper Reed)

One of the tasks I had in getting the Linotype at the Mackenzie Printery and Newspaper Museum working was to repair one of the keyboard reeds which I had broken (I blame the service manual for failing to warn of

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Monotype Repairs: An Enclosure for a New Pot Temperature Controller

While using my Monotype Composition Caster recently, I’ve noticed that the pot temperature has been drifting. On several occasions I’ve found it to be quite a bit hotter than the setpoint, to the point where I had to select a

American Typecasting Fellowship Meeting this April

After one cancellation and one virtual meeting both due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Typecasting Fellowship (ATF) will be holding its first in-person conference since the August 2018 conference hosted by M&H Type in San Francisco. This year’s event

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Air Compressor for the Monotype Caster

I’ve been using a compact air compressor to run my Monotype Composition Caster. The machine uses pneumatics to control what matrix it casts, when to start a new line, how wide to make the adjustable-width casts, etc. Originally the caster

Adjusting the Second Transfer on a Linotype

Continuing my work on the Linotype line caster at the Mackenzie Printery and Newspaper Museum, this weekend I adjusted the second transfer alignment, where the matrices are transferred from the second elevator to the distributor bar. On at least two

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Sticking Monotype Air Pins

Recently while trying to cast some fonts on my Monotype Composition Caster, I have found that the galley cycles did not operate reliably, forcing me to watch the casting run like a hawk to manually trigger the galley cycle to

Monotype 14-point Display Fonts #1 and #2

I recently cast several fonts of type in Monotype  #329 Sans Serif Light. This included 12-point from composition matrices and 14-point from display matrices. As with a few other Monotype faces, this one is available as display matrices in two

Linotype Mystery Parts

On the Linotype at the Mackenzie Printery and Newspaper Museum, there are a couple of parts that I can’t find in any of the parts manuals I have: There is a lug on the slide that transfers the matrices from

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Progress on the Mackenzie Printery’s Linotype (Second Elevator Transfer, part 3)

Well, this was a real easy diagnosis! Previously I noted that, on the Linotype at the Mackenzie Printery, the safety interlock that stops the machine if the transfer from the first to the second elevator did not appear to be

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