Linotype use

[atom73]

Does the print industry still use linotype or are they switching over to something else due to technological advances and Govt regulations (cause of all the people getting lead poisoning from reading papers and stuff)? I dont know a lot about it and was hoping to be enlightened by members here to help with my acquisition strategy.

[imashooter2]

They aren't switching, they switched many years ago. The linotype generally available today is old stock. Look for old small town print houses that have been in the same building for the last 50 years.

[Calamity Jake]

It's very good enrichment metal to mix with WW or pure as it has a good tin/antimony content.
I mix WW/Lino to 75/25 for a BHN of 15-16 where WW is 10-12 alone.

Also WW will oven heat treat to about 22 BHN where my mix will HT to 26-27 BHN.

Lino is getting hard to fine so I use in spearingly.

[rob45]

The same technologies that allow us to swap ideas here apply elsewhere, too.

Many publications no longer offer information in physically printed form; instead, you enjoy your "subscription" over the internet.

Anything mechanical is subject to wear. Maintenance is expensive. As a general rule, the more electronics technology involved, the less maintenance.

So the "changeover" is business economics.

As suggested, check the older shops in smaller areas.
These are the types of places that are likely to be run by people who do things "the old way" simply because they have no need to be competitive.
Or maybe they have a sincere passion for the methods they have used all their life. As with any field of interest, there are actual organizations centered around the "lost arts", and printing presses are no different.

One of the old printshops I used to do business with actually had a gov't contractor contact him about some huge quantities. No "regulation" theories in this instance- this was a DOD contractor.

Irregardless of electronics technology, I still believe that raw material is the backbone of any nation. China and India are getting all the metals they can. We should, too.

[smokemjoe]

My wife onced worked in a place that made cones for radios, The press used a type metal also, Check places like that. Its billyhell hard.

[atom73]

k, thanks guys. I had figured that we had moved beyond using lino without knowing much about the print industry but didnt know for sure. Amen about China and India, they are eating up all the copper, steel, aluminum, concrete, lead, petroleum etc. And we here in the US just keep thinking that stimulus and green industry will bring us back to the strength we once enjoyed. All because we dont use linotype anymore..........

[fredj338]

Yeah, lino hasn't been used for years. You may still find a small town paper or something that has stock of it. I still run across lino in type form now & then & buy it if I can get it for less than $1/#.

[runfiverun]

it's starting to push 1.50 now.
i know where theres a ton of it [literally] they also have a heidelberg press which they still use, and airc an ajax or apex.
all led is getting hard to find, i'd like to buy some stock in rotometals.

[evan price]

Most printers have switched to rotary offset lithography. You use a light sensitive solution and a chemical wash to create an image plate for each of the CMYK colors used in the press. This is called photolithography. The ink comes in 4 colors, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (black). These are combined as needed to create the colors in the image. Each page gets a plate. The plate creation process is handled pretty much like printing a page on a computer printer. No more hot lead at all.

[vincewarde]

I mix it 1/3 Monotype 2/3 WWs. I believe this approximates Linotype. I use it for rifle bullets, high velocity handgun bullets and at times when I need a mold to drop bullets a bit larger than with Lyman #2. Any example is that 2 of our families 9mm's slug way oversize. It works great. I also use this alloy for 9x18 bullets for my cz82 which has a polygonal barrel. No leading at all.

Expensive though....