Year: 1877

Stereotypfng.


This art as most of our readers are
aware, consists in producing, by rapid
process of metal casting, counterparts
of the type forms set up by hand by
the compositors, and with the work
of bringing this art to the pitch of per-
fectiOn to which it has attained in the
present day the name of Walter is
honorably associated. The invention
of stereOtyping dates back to about the
year 1885, and is generally attributed
to William Ged, a goldsmith of Edin-
burgh. His process, still used for cer


tain classes of work, is known as the
stucco process. stucco being the ma
terial used to take the impression from
the type and from the matrix. The
stucco is poured on to the face of the
page of type in liquid form, and hard


ems in cooling. AS. however. the stuccO
matrix cannot be bent into semi-circu
lar form, it is useless for cylinder
printing and for newspaper work has
been entirely superseded by the paper
mache process, which. though not in
vented, has been chiefly developed and
perfected in the Times office. 1t was
first taken in hand there-being at that
time recent and crude invention
during the period of the Crimean war,
when with all previous known appli-
ances, it was found impossible to com


plete the daily publication of the great
journal before nine or ten o'clock in the
morning. In the able hands of the
engineers and mechanics of the estab


lishment, series of experiments, and
step by step Improvements, gradually
led up to the admirably simple. rapid.
and effective method used to supply
cylindrical stereotype plates for the
Walter press, and of this brief de-
scriptiOn may be given. The form"
of type as set up by the compositOr is
oiled by means of flannel covered
roller; a wet sheet, consisting of sew
eral thicknesses of soft paper carefully
pasted together, is then laid on the
oiled face and covered with blanket.
The form thus covered is passed under
rollers, which by their pressure force
the face of the type in the paper in such
a way as to make it a perfect mold or
matrix of the form. Another sheet of
paper is then pasted upon the back of
the mold TO strengthen il, and the form
with the soft paper still upon it, is
placed upon a hot plate covered with
several folds of dry blanketing, and a
press screwed down on the top. In the
space of two or three minutes the dry
ing process is completed, and the mold
lifts clearly off. The edges are then
trimmed, and the papier- mdche matrix,
plant enough to be bent into n com
plete circle if need were. is laid face
upward in a semi-circular casting box
having a core of the exact diameter of
the impression cylinder of the press.
Metal just hot enough to run, and so
composed as TO solidify rapidly, ispoured
into the mould, and ON drawing the
core semi-circular casting of the page
of type is upon it. a sharp tap or two
brings it off, and it is then put under. an
in eeniously constructed circular saw,
which cuts off the overflow metal
gathered at the edges. 1t is next
dipped in water to accelerate the cool
ing and harden it a little, and then
fixed in a small double tooled lathe, a
few revolutions of which finish the
trimming of the edges, and cut the
lodges, which are necessary to keep the
"dogs" by which it is held in place on
the impression cylinder flush" with
the surface. From this lathe the plate
passes to a revolving planning machine
made to fit it. In this it is placed face
downward SO that the inside of the
plate is presented to the cutting tool
by which il is "trued" so as to insure
its having a dead bearing on the i'm
preston cylinder, for being placed on
which it is now ready. Describing in
words, this process may perhaps seem
somewhat complicated, but IN practice
it is extremely simple; and how speedy
it is our readers may judge for them
selves when we tell them that in the
Times office the production of plate
from first to last is the work of only
eight minutes. A practically unlimited
number of plates can be cast from a
single matrix, and by keeping it, re-
prints can at any time be made with
out the trouble, expense, or delay of
again setting up type. In conclusion,
as bearing on the question of economy,
we may point out that the plates, after
doing their work for the day, are
melted up again and recast, so that the
same metal may be in use all the year
round.-GOOd Words.