mono/lino ?

[Possum]

Can't believe I haven't asked this question before, but how can I tell the mono from the lino. I see that I have some that is big square chunks with letters on it and some that has type formed on it. Some pieces are just thin wafer "spacers". How do you tell?

The guy I picked it up from said the blocky kind were harder than the thinner kind because it took a pounding on the press. I kind of figured from that statement that it might be monotype.

[leftiye]

The blocky kind that are harder are probably monotype. The stuff in rectangular strips or plates with a line of type on one edge are probably linotype. The ones in rectangular strips or plates with nothing on them are spacers, and are linotype too.

[ANeat]

A hardness tester will tell you the difference:drinks:

[9.3X62AL]

After the hardness test determines Brinnell Hardness (BHn), you can derive a fairly accurate idea whether a type metal is Linotype--Monotype--or Foundry type. I use Foundry type 1:8 with WW alloy to get Taracorp equivalent (92/6/2), which equates to 1/2 Lead 1/2 Linotype.

[klw]

Can't believe I haven't asked this question before, but how can I tell the mono from the lino. I see that I have some that is big square chunks with letters on it and some that has type formed on it. Some pieces are just thin wafer "spacers". How do you tell?

The guy I picked it up from said the blocky kind were harder than the thinner kind because it took a pounding on the press. I kind of figured from that statement that it might be monotype.

Though very labor intensive, a cooling curve would spot the difference.

[Lloyd Smale]

you cant allways tell by looking. Some printers used lineotype for the bigger numbers too to save money. Ive seen a couple batches of block single letters that were not harder then lineotype. Alot of printers just dumped everything back in one pot and used it over for anything. The strips are usually cast of lineotype but ive seen them slightly softer. I dont even bother seperating it anymore. When i get lynotype i just melt it all together and cast a few and do a hardness test and weight the bullet. I have a control mold that i use every time. I then just mark the bucket or buckets and use it for alloying keeping in mind what the batch is. Youll find that alot of the lineotype you find is getting a little tired anyway and leaving the monotype in it helps bring the bhn up to where it should be anyway.

[Boz330]

Does anyone even use linotype for printing anymore? I would have thought that was a bygone process. Inquiring minds want to know.:confused:

Bob

[Lloyd Smale]

yes there are still a few small shops around here that do a limited ammount of it.

[Possum]

In the past I have been melting it all together. I think I still have a 5 gallon bucket to pick up. Then my source will be exhausted.:(

[Typecaster]

Boz330--

Letterpress printing, the process that uses linotype and/or monotype, etc. is NOT completely dead, it's just moved upscale a bit. It's now used by hobby/"artisan" printers for stationery, invitations, etc. Broken letters, bad spacing, and erratic inking—all the things that used to mean reprinting the job—mean they can charge a premium for something that's "artistic."

30 years ago I had a running dialog with the owner of a small letterpress shop about the most efficient way to set type. His bread and butter business was printing funeral programs; my business was typography/design using those newfangled computers to set type. He could set the type on a Linotype machine (choice of 2 fonts at one time, a separate keyboard for lowercase and capital letters), print 20 programs, and reuse the metal. Very efficient for a short run.

I could set the type on a dedicated computer system, print to a phototypesetter to make a galley (strip) of type, and save the file. I think I had the option of 4 fonts at one time on that machine. I then had to draw crop marks on an artboard and paste up the galley(s) of type, make a high-contrast negative, and expose and develop a light-sensitive printing plate—then the job could go on an offset lithographic press. Very labor-intensive for a short run, and nothing (at that time) was reusable; now even old plrinting plates have scrap value.

The real difference was when there was a change—either a typo or an author's alteration (AA). Since Linotype machines produced one line (or "slug") at a time (Line-o-Type), a change could mean that the whole paragraph would have to be retyped...with the possibility of introducing new errors. On my system, I could open the file, change the offending letter/word, and the text would reflow automatically. No chance of new errors unless I goofed up the change.

But I must admit that little letterpress shop saved my butt on more than one occasion. For example, the magazine I had as a client was handling a mailing of 20,000+ catalogs and inserts for a big advertiser. The materials were sent to us already stuffed in 9x12 envelopes...with the wrong postal permit info. The agency that produced it was in a world of hurt. You can't feed a stuffed envelope through an offset press. One option was to print new envelopes, remove the materials from the bad ones, and restuff in the new envelopes. My solution? We hand-fed the full envelopes in a letterpress, printing a solid bar over the wrong info and printing the right info below it. Job saved at minimal cost. Not aesthetically perfect, but the customer never noticed.

One last memory of the letterpress shop and I'll end this epic. The smelting set-up was unbelievable. The burner wan't much different than the turkey fryers we use today, and the pot was just a big cast iron pot that probably held about 300 lb. They'd set it up in the parking lot by the back door and run a garden hose (yes, a plastic GARDEN HOSE) from the gas furnace in the front office, between the Linotype machines, presses, cutters, etc., out the back door to supply the burner. Then it was just a matter of melting the slugs, fluxing the melt, and ladling it into 20-lb pigs to be used again.

[454PB]

I did hardness testing on various pieces of my linotype, and came up with very inconsistent results.

The big block letters mostly test around 30 BHN as you would expect, but some of the smaller "spacer" pieces also tested this hard. None of it is softer than 20 BHN.

Like Lloyd, I think it was simply mixed together at some point. I quit worrying about it. I melt it all down together.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v16/eddard49/MJSlinotype.jpg

[armoredman]

I gotta look for a local print shop.

[madsenshooter]

You can make monotype from wheelweights by adding the proper proportion of a 30/70 alloy of tin and antimony. I found a source of the 30/70 in New York some time ago, a place that does custom alloying in small batches. Working with 10lb batches, 7.5lbs wheelweights + 2.5 lbs 30/70 alloy will yield 10lbs of monotype with an approx BHN of 28. The hardness can be increased even more by varyng the amount of 30/70 alloy, a mix of 7lbs wheelweights +3lbs of 30/70 alloy will give a BH of approx 32. Or if you prefer Linotype, 8.75 lbs of wheelweights + 1.25lbs of the 30/70 alloy will produce it. I use the harder alloys to make some of the spitzer molds like the B&M 311169 work a bit better at higher than normal castboolit velocities, ie Krag jacketed bullet velocities. A quick tumbling with some spray moly gives a nice antileading coating to them.