Linotype machine Repair

[rodw]

Hopper, you reminded me that we typeset a 12 page fortnightly newspaper for a while that was printed on a 3 year old state of the art $30m coldset newspaper press. That was in 1996, not that long ago. We saw it run up for a job one day and it inched at 5,000 impressions an hour (well actually completed newspapers) with a top speed of 45,000. There was several pallets of waste paper bundled up containing test patterns as they had just colour calibrated their press. Back then, they still used imagesetters to output film and printed a number of papers for the group from various towns which came to them electronically via ISDN as the net was only just getting going...

That plant has been closed for quite a number of years so even an investment of that magnitude was no guarantee of survival.

 

[Hopper]

Haha, sounds like what happened in Townsville: they got their "new" press secondhand from the group's Sydney print plant. It is a bloody great huge thing designed for the Daily Tele's 600,000 a day print run. So printing small local papers with print runs of 10 or 20,000 and so on, it no sooner got started and the print run was over, before they could dial in the rego or anything.

Just a thought, I wonder if anyone has ever made a working model Linotype machine, and little press to go with it? Now there's a project....

 

[ShopShoe]

I thought about making a small platen (Spelling?? often mis-pronounced "platinum") "job press" like all print shops once had. It would have used a wood block, since scaling down interchangeable type would seem difficult. I decided it's way beyond my capabilities. I do have a couple of "cuts" of advertising logos somewhere which would be interesting to see printed on a miniature press. I ended up deciding this is way beyond my ability. If one of the casting providers offered this at a reasonable/low price I would probably be interested.

Example of a full-sized version of what I mean:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/77221377/cp-10x15-new-style-letterpress-chandler?ref=similar_items_sash

--ShopShoe

 

[Jochen]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wHiddZOfa8[/ame]

Jochen

 

[Hopper]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wHiddZOfa8

Jochen

Awesome video. What a machine to see in action! Enough detail there to build a working model from too, if you have 10 years to spare.
Thanks for posting the video.

 

[ChooChooMike]

Awesome video. What a machine to see in action! Enough detail there to build a working model from too, if you have 10 years to spare.
Thanks for posting the video.

Yeah, WOW !! Never realized how complex that machine is. Some serious brainpower went into designing that machine !!

 

[Marshall]

Good evening.
New to this site. The knowledge here is impressive.

Stumbled across this thread.

I have a model 5 Linotype that is in running condition. Haven't got the building it is in finished yet, so no electricity at present time. Plans are to get the building finished completely by end of May.

At that time I will fire up the Lino and see what I can cast.:fan:
Or more likely, how much molten lead I can squirt on the walls and ceiling.

After I get the 5 up and running, would be happy to give the nickle tour to any member that is in the area. It is an eye opening machine when you can walk around it while it is going thru its motions.

Marshall

 

[TimTaylor]

Wow, brings back memories......

Back in the early 70's I became friends with a family that ran a small weekly newspaper, and they had two of these machines. I spent a fair number of Tuesday evenings helping get the paper out, and even got to run one of these more than once.

Once the type was set and proofed, it was used to make a plate that was then mounted on the drum style press on which the paper was run.