Hot metal typesetting

It also used the same alloy as Linotype machines, so was a useful adjunct to page makeup for newspapers as, when a print run was completed, all the metal could be remelted at once, without having to be separated or the type from the headings redistributed back into case.

Linecasters cannot function this way, and these systems need quite large magazines of matrices to be able to set a complete line of text with the usual character repetitions.

Whereas Linotype may use a punched paper tape, although this option is seldom-used outside of daily newspapers, and whether a tape is used, or not, the "reading frame" is always forwards (left-to-right), with justification being an inherent capability of the machine (and, "flush right", "centered" and "flush left" may be very easily accommodated manually, or automatically using a "quadder" attachment).

If the line is ‘tight’ or too long, the elevator carrying the matrices and space bands will not seat properly in front of the mold slot.

Not only is it time-consuming to clean up after a squirt, a tight line usually has not come down far enough to mate with the slots on the mold face, resulting in damage to the matrices.

The first elevator then descends to a position in front of the mold, and if the elevator has not descended fully by the time the machine starts the process of aligning the matrices (most often caused by a ‘tight’ line), the first of the two safeties, the vise automatic, brings the machine to a full stop before the supporting lugs on the matrices are crushed by the mold.

If the justification bar has made a full cycle and the line is still not fully justified, the second safety, the pump stop, prevents the plunger in the metal pot from going down.

Operators running earlier models would use special ‘blank’ matrices (in four sizes) to manually create the proper amount of whitespace beyond the space bands’ range.

The mold disk then turns to present the line at the ejecting position, in the process passing by a knife that trims the base of the slug to type height (0.918″ on US machines).

As the mold disk is turning, the first elevator simultaneously rises to its upper position and the space bands and matrices are vertically aligned in preparation for the second transfer.

While the space bands are being pushed into their box, the second elevator continues rising towards the distributing mechanism at the top of the machine, which returns the molds to their proper places in the magazine.

These feeders are actuated by various methods (by cam, either elevator, or distributor shifter), but the result is the same – the ingots are fed little by little into the pot, keeping it filled to the correct level.

Funded largely by the Ridder newspaper interests, the Intertype Corporation developed (c. 1914) a compatible version of the Linotype machine when the patents ran out and it became quite popular as well.

Various methods were used to power the Linotype / Intertype machines, the most common being a fractional horsepower motor, one wired for single-phase 60 Hz alternating current eventually becoming the default offering.

As with the motors, the control machinery for the metal pot heaters was produced in a variety of voltages and in direct or alternating current versions.

A manual linecasting solution known as the Ludlow Typograph also met with success because it was able to cast display type sizes that other mechanical composition systems were unable to produce.

The Ludlow consisted of a very heavy metal table with a flat top about waist high and a depressed slot into which a "stick" was inserted.

If the stick was not properly filled out or mounted firmly, or the special terminating block was forgotten, a dreaded "splash" would result, often encasing the operator's toes in molten lead and leaving a mess that needed to be peeled off the Ludlow surfaces.

A Ludlow slug was just the letters overhanging a central spine about 12 points wide (T-shaped viewed from the end).

Smaller odd areas were filled with square or rectangular blocks in various point sizes called quads.

All these line-casting machines used various alloys near the eutectic point and which typically consisted of approximately 4% tin and 12% antimony and the balance being lead.

The Super Caster and Orphan Annie were used to cast fonts of loose type for hand setting as well as spacing material and patterned rules.

The Monotype Corporation survived the demise of the hot metal typesetting era by selling digital type.

Black paper was inserted before the proof was photographed for each of the photos on the final page to create clear windows in the negative.

In this way the heavy investment in hot metal typesetting could be adapted to the newer offset technology during a transition period.

These disappointing results were a thorn in the sides of many authors and readers (especially of complex or mathematical texts that had many small sub- and superscripts).

A desire to re-create the aesthetic qualities of hot lead spurred Donald Knuth to create one of the first general-purpose digital typesetting programs, TeX.