Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1885-04-01
HOW TYPE is MADE.
An Hour Among the Skilled Wcrkmen OF
Type Foundry.

Type Foundry.
In walk through type foundry
the other morning by Times reporter
the following words from Motley's
"Rise of the Dutch Republic" were
quoted by the founder, who accom-
panied the reporter through his estab-
lishment, in referring to the art of
printing:
cat the very epoch when the great
ness of Burgundy was most swiftly
ripening another weapon was secretly
forging, more potent in the great strug-
gle for freedom than any which the wit
or hand of man has even devised or
welded
cit may not be generally known"
said the type-founder, ''that the first
quarto Bible printed in America was
the work of Christopher Sauer, of Ger
mantown, who there in 1885 established
type foundry, but it is to see how type
is made that you come"
'Let us begin with the metal room"
About the place where the amalgam
of which type is made were piled hum
further end of the room master-work-
man threw into the great kettle certain
proportions of copper, anthony, lead
and tin. This is the amalgam, the ex-
act proportions of which produce the
useful metal that must be hard without
being brittle, ductile but tough, flow
ing freely and hardening rapidly.
A bar was broken i'll two and the
beautiful, sparkling grain of the metal
shown. About the apartment were
casks of glittering anthony, bars OF
yellow copper, dull bricks of lead and
blocks OF tin.
AS the composition melted the man
at the kettle stirred the molten mass,
and when the proper degree of heat
was reached ladled it out on the
moulds that lay on the brick floor at his
feet. Above the metal room the bars
were fitted for the printers use. Be-
| fore machine known as a punch-cut-
ter sat a man surrounded by be-
wildering array of delicate tools aud
gauges.
There are very few men of note for
| this part of the work in the United
States, whispered the reporter COM
ramon. sit requires q delicacy of
touch and perception that is not cas-
ily acqu red" On the end of a piece
| of steel the workman at the punch-cut-
| ter was forming letter. He worked
| rapidly yet with caution, frequently
testing with his gauges until the letter
was complete. Then other letters of
the alphabet were formed. finishing the
series.
mo hNyn fhn. ii
stamp ne machine, an oblong piece of
copper put under them and then the
great lever was brought down. The
IMPRESSION was left deep in the copper.
This oblong bit of copper is termed the
matriX.
From the punch-cutter the matrices
| were carried to an adjoining room,
| where the greatest care is exercised in
their fitting up for the mould. The
slightest variation Or irregularity was
sad to be fatal to the appearance of
| the type cast in them.
Perhaps the most interesting things
| ABOUT the foundry are the tiny casting
| machines that pour out an endless
stream of type as long as they are at
work.
These snug little fellows - said the
| type founder, patting with his hand the
odd Little mass OF machinery before
| which he stood, lean throw out more
type in one day than a man, working
ten hours day, can countin month. :"
The metal is kept fluid by a little fur
mace underneath the machine and is
projected into the mould by a pump
The mould is movable and at every rev.
olution of the crank is brought to the
spout, where it receives fresh charge
OF the metal A spring in front of the
mould holds close to it copper matrix,
| and the stamp of the letter on the
matrix is directly opposite the aperture
in the mould which meets the spout of
the pump.
In boxes the new-made type is car
ried to the dresSing-room, where around
large stones boys are kept busy rub
bling away the rough edges on the type
The lads wear leather glove fingers for
protection. AS the types are rubbed
smooth each letter is set up in long
lines.
From the nimble-fngered boys the
lines of type pass into the hands of the
dresser, who has beside him a power
full magnifying- glass. The dresser
deity slips line of type into a long
st ok milar in shape to that used by
printers, face downward, screws them
up tight and with two rapid movements
of a planning tool cuts the groove in
the bottom of the type. This opera
ton is known as giving the type legs.
''They must nave something to stand
on" said the good-natured-look
dresser. After that, with the magnify
ing-glass, the face of the line is criti-
ca1ly inspected and imperfect ones
thrown aside to be returned to the
melting-pot.
This operation practically ends the
making of the type" said the founder.
''Afterward, the different letters are
put up in what we call pages, and are
ready to he sent OUT The matrices
and moulds, of which the foundry has
collection numbering many thou
sands, are kept when not in use in a
fire proof vault They are very valua-
BILE, representing as they do the collec-
ton of many years of labor.
A complete font of type may be
comprised under nine heads. as follows.