Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-02-26
MAKING TYPE.
An Hour Among the skilled Workman In
Type-Foundry.

II ----~-'--F
Type-Foundry.
|
In a walk through d iype-foundry
yesterday morning by Times reporter
the following words from Motley's
'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-
| yised or welded
1T may not be generally known, I"
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. ="
About the place where the amalgam
OF which type is made were pifed hun
dreds OF bar of the metal. At the fur
Their end OF the room master work
man threw into the great kettle GER
tain proportions of copper, anthony,
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 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 molds
that lay on the brick floor ut his feet.
Above the metal-room the bars were
fitted for the printers use. Before a
machine known as a punch-cutter sat a
man surrounded by bewildering ar
ray of delicate tools and guagcs.
There are very few men of note for
this part of work in the United States,n
whispered the reporters companion.
1T requires delicacy of touch and
/
On the end of a piece of steel the work
man at the punch-cutter was forming a
letter. He worked rapidly yet 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 obloag 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 mold. The
slightest variation or irregularity was
said to be fatal to the appearance of
the type east 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, lean throw out more
type in one day than man, working
ten hours 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 a pump.
In Il sa IL l..
revolution of the crank is brought to
the spout. where it receives 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
red to the dressing-room, where
around large stones the bows 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-fngered boys the
lines of type pass into the hands of the
dresser, who has beside him powerful
magnifying-glas The dresser deity
slips 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 rs giving the type legs
.'They must have something to stand
on, said the 20 ld-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.
''After~ard 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
fireproof vault. They are very valu-
able, representing, as they do. the coll
|. 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 a font of letters into
two classes-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.=Ih ikadelDhia Times.