The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1885-02-26
MAKING TYPE.
An Hour Among the Skilled Workman In
Type-Foundry.

| An Hour Among the Skilled Workman In
Type-Foundry.
In walk through type-foundry
yesterday morning by Times reporter
the following words from Motley
Rise of the Dutch Republic" were
| quoted by the founder, who accompa-
MED the reporter through his establish
ment, in referring to the art of print
ing;
| ''At the very epoch when the great
ness of Burgundy was most swiftly
| ripening, another weapon was secretly
| forging, more potent in the great
struggle for freedom than any which
! the wit or hand of man has ever de-
vised or welded"
'It may not be generally known, y
said the type-founder, "that the first
| quarto bible printed in America was
the work of Christopher Sauer, of Ger
| mantown, who there in 1875 estab-
lished type foundry, but it is to see
how type is made that you come"
| Let us begin with the metal room. y
| About the place where the amalgam
of which type is made were piled hun
! dreds of bar of the metal. AT the fur
| ther end of the room a master work
man threw into the great kettle GER
tain proportions of copper, antimony,
| lead, and tin. This is the amalgam,
the exact proportions of which produce
the useful metal that must be hard
without being brittle, ductile but tough,
flowing freely and hardening rapidly.
| A bar was broken in two. and the
| beautiful, Sparkling grain of the metal
| shown. About the apartment were
casks of glittering antimony, 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 molds
| that lay on the brick floor at his feet
Above the metal-room the bars were
| fitted for the printers use. Before a
machine known as punch-cutter sat a
man surrounded by bewildering ar
ray of delicate tools and guages.
| There are very few men of note for
| this part of work in the United States, -"
whispered the reporters companion.
at requires delicacy of touch and
perception that is not easily acquired. "
| On the end of a piece of steel the work
| man at the punch-cutter was forming a
| letter. He worked rapidly vet with
caution, frequently testing his gauges
until the letter was complete. Then
other letters of the alphabet were
| formed finishing the series.
One by one the dies were placed in a
stamping 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
| matrlX.
From the punch-cutter the matrices
were carried to an adjoining room,
where the greatest care is exercised in
their fitting up for the mold The
| slightest variation or irregularity was
said 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 work.
These snug little fellows said the
| type-founder, patting with his hand
the odd little mass of machinery before
| which he stood, ''can throw out more
| type in one day than a man, working
ten hours a day, can count in a
month. The casting-machine is the
invention of David Bruce, Jr., of New
York.
The metal is kept fluid by little
| furnace underneath the machine and is
projected into the mold by pump.
The mold is movable, and at every
revolution of the crank Is brought to
! the spout. where it receives 4 fresh
| charge of the metal. A spring in front
of the mold holds close to it a copper
matrix, and the stamp of the letter on
| the matrix is directly opposite the
| aperture of the mold which meets the
| spout of the pump.
In boxes the new-made type is car
ried to the dressing-room, where
around large stones the boys are kept
! busy rubbing away the rough edges on
| the type. The lads wear leather glove
| fingers for protection. As the type is
| rubbed smooth each letter is set up in
long lines.
| From the nimble-fingered boys the
lines of type pass into the hands of the
| dresser, who has beside him powerful
magnifying-glass. The dresser deftly
slips a line of type into long stick
| similar in shape to that used by print
ers, face downward, screws them up
| tight, and with two rapid movements
of planing-tool cuts the grove in the
bottom of the type. This operation is
known as giving the type legs.
''Ihey must have something to stand
| on, said the good natured looking
| dresser. After that, with the magnify
| ing glass. the face of the line is criti-
cally inspected and imperfect ones
| thrown aside to be returned to the
melting-pot.
This operation practically ends the
making Of type" said the founder.
''Afterward the different letters are
put up in. what we call pages, and
are ready to be sent out" The ma
trices and mold, of which the foundry
has collection numbering many thous-
| ands, are kept, when not in use, in a
tireproof vault. They are very valu-
able, representing, as they do, the col
| lection of many years of labor.
A complete font of type may be COM
prised under nine heads, as follows:
Capitals A, small capitals B, lower
case C, figures, points, spaces, EN- and
en- quadrates, two and three EN- quad
rates, and accents.
Printers divide font of letters into
two classes ses-upper-case and lower
case sorts. The upper-case are capi-
tails, small capital letters, and refer
ences; the lower-case consists of small
letters, double letters, figures, points,
and quadrates.- - Philadelphia Times.
|
| There has been discovered near Yu-