Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Speaking of the American Typecasting Fellowship Conference, here's a conference event that is open to the public. Should be a fun time, and a good way to keep cool tomorrow.

Portland, Oregon Premier of:
Linotype: The Film 


When: Thursday, August 16th
Time: 6pm doors, Meet & Greet | 7:00pm Screening followed by Q&A 
Where: McMenamins Kennedy School Theater | 5736 N.E. 33rd Ave. 
Admission cost: $10 (Free to conference attendees)
(advance tickets available at Stumptown Printers or online)

Film Screening, Meet & Greet with Linotype operators and master craft printers from around the country and here at home. Also Q&A with “Linotype: The Film” filmmaker

Plus! After the film, Kyle Durrie will have her "Moveable Type Truck" on site, and will invite folks aboard to print a commemorative Linotype keepsake.

Presented by the C. C. Stern Type Foundry in conjunction with the American Typecasting Fellowship Conference, and is funded in part by the Regional Arts & Culture Council.


Linotype: The Film is a feature-length documentary centered around the Linotype type composing machine. Called the “Eighth Wonder of the World” by Thomas Edison, it revolutionized printing and society. The film tells the charming and emotional story of the people connected to the Linotype and how it impacted the world.

C.C. Stern Type Foundry Located in Portland, Oregon, The C.C. Stern Type Foundry is a working museum dedicated to preserving the art and industry of the cast letterform, letterpress type. With one of the largest collections of Monotype casting matrices in the United States, the C.C. Stern Type Foundry honors the memory of C. Christopher Stern, who built and operated the foundry at Stern & Faye, Printers of Sedro-Woolley, Washington.

2012 American Typecasting Fellowship Conference Since 1978, The American Typecasting Fellowship Conference is a biennial meeting of enthusiasts, amateur and professional, interested in all aspects of the making of metal type used for letterpress printing. This group is central to what is becoming a renaissance of typefounding in America.

Poster Composition cast on the Stumptown Printers' Linotype Model 31




Portland! The American Type Casting Fellowship Conference is upon us. The C.C. Stern Foundry crew have been working hard to put it together. Here's the latest from the from the conference website.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Mold 10-18 F7660

Couple stupid things I did while casting this evening:

1. Fired up the machine after a long day of regular job printing. (Not the best idea to attempt to cast while not quite on the ball.)

2. Attempted to cast the second position of a 14 pt (regular 2 letter) matrices using a 10-18 F7660 mold.

3. Tried it again.

4. Wondered why the machine was squirting.

Lesson (note to self): Don't do that. First position is no problem but second will not work. Check positioning of mat on mold before attempting to cast. And, do a little research on this particular mold: Mold 10-18 F7660.

Linotype Border Matrices

Whoa. Pretty amazing. Also makes my brain hurt a bit. This is a scan from a 1911 Linotype Border Catalogue. It would be fun to try something like this. Click on the image for a closer look.


Proofing linotype composition

Proofing linotype composition by Stumptown Printers
Proofing linotype composition, a photo by Stumptown Printers on Flickr.


This is a proof from The Two Man Gentlemen Band release "Two at a Time," their 7th full-length release, which was recorded, designed, and packaged entirely without digital technology. Most of the type was composed on our Model 31. Additional photos of the process can be viewed here.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Congratulations to Doug Wilson and the Linotype (the film) crew!


It's a big night for these guys, the world premiere of the film happens tonight at the SVA Theatre in New York City. The newest trailer of the film is even better than the first, it adds clips of our Linotype heros Carl Schlesinger, Dave Seat and others. Congratulations and have fun at the premiere, guys. We're looking forward to seeing the film!
http://linotypefilm.com/screenings.html


Additional thoughts on delivery and elevator transfer cam damage.

Thinking more on Keelan’s damaged delivery and elevator transfer cam. Bill Spurling pointed out this repair that had been made on his Model 14

I know brazing cast iron can be tricky business, and it seems to be difficult to find folks who are willing to do it these days, but it can be done and in this case it is a clean effective repair. This solution seems to be a heck of a lot simpler than pulling the main cams and shaft apart. Still, the mystery is: how did this thing break? As far as I can see, this part of the cam is used to assist in retracting the ejector lever after the slug is ejected, but it seems that the mold cam lever does most of this work. I can't really imagine what would have caused this much force to crack the cam.