Category: Type Casting

Finding Missing Composition Matrices

I have a Monotype diecase for Lanston 12-point #21EFG Binny Old Style which includes most French accents, but was missing question and exclamations marks in both roman and italic, as well as the small cap Z. I was quite pleased

Mystery Monotype Diecase Combs

When running a Monotype Composition Caster to cast from cellular matrices, the matrices are usually contained in a diecase, which holds a 225, 255, or 272 matrices in a grid arrangement. The caster positions this diecase to select the appropriate

Video: First run of Monotype Compostion Caster Computer Control

I just posted a video on YouTube of the first run of my Monotype Composition Caster under control of my laptop computer. I have been working on the hardware and software for this interface on and off over several years,

A collection of Monotype pumps

Someone recently asked me about spare parts for the pump for a Monotype caster so I went through what I have.     In that last photo, top-to-bottom: A pair of wear shoes for Lanston pump bodies An English standard

Giving up on Strip Casting (for now)

After several unsuccessful attempts at casting strip material on my Monotype Composition Caster, I’m giving up for a while. The problems I’ve been fighting with include: Unfused strip material, which easily breaks up into pieces Blowback through the nozzle seat

Troublesome Monotype Water Valves

The Monotype Composition Caster uses water to keep the mould and surrounding area cool, and the caster is fitted with two valves to control the water flow. The main valve just controls the overall flow. Most of the water flows

Lanston Monotype Pump Cleaning

I recently tried to get strip casting working on my Monotype Composition Caster but gave up after several failures. One suspect was the pump; the strip-casting moulds use a different pump than composition and display casting, and I had never

First try at strip casting

I have my Monotype composition caster converted to produce strip material—leading and rule—and this is my first try at running this setup. You can see the inauspicious results in my accompanying YouTube video. I am using a pump body which

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Trying out the New Nozzle and Strip Mould

I installed the nozzle I just made into the special strip-casting pump. This pump is a Lanston (American Monotype) pump and my caster is an English-made one, and one of the incompatibilities between these is the pump body size. Although

Home-made Monotype Nozzle

I’ve been working to get my Monotype composition caster converted to casting strip material. I have a few moulds for this, the special pump required (with a different nozzle location), the pump linkage required to run this Lanston (American) pump

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