"Bill McKee" wrote in message
m...

"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
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"Pete C." wrote in message
ster.com...

Steve Lusardi wrote:

Look for Linotype, it makes brilliant bullets. Check with newspaper
printers and ask them how they dispose of their waste, you
won't regret it. The bullets will typically cast about 8% lighter than
pure lead. They can be used to 1800FPS without gas checks
and not cause barrel leading. If I remember correctly, lead is around 9
or 10 on the Brinnel scale and Linotype is about 28/29,
which is considerably harder. Linotype bullets are much better
penetrators and do not deflect off window glass like lead bullets
do. Don't ask how I know that.
Steve


I've been out of the printing biz for a decade or two, but does anyone
use Linotype anymore? Certainly no newspaper I knew of 20 years ago did,
they all use offset web presses with AL plates. The only place using
Linotype back then was a tiny shop that mostly did numbering and other
specialty stuff.

I doubt if there is a working Linotype machine in most states in the
country. I don't know of a single magazine that uses it for anything; the
last newspaper I knew of that used it was over 20 years ago.

The offset and rotogravure presses had plates that were burned from
hard-type originals for a long while, so Linotype was still around, to
make the "hot type" masters. But that's all been converted to "cold
type" -- computer-generated galleys. And now, most volume printing is
done without any galleys at all. It's "direct to plate" computer imaging.

If someone still has a source of Linotype metal, I'd like to know where
it's coming from.

--
Ed Huntress


A couple of companies I worked with still used Linotype. Said it was
easier / cheaper and better for small changes in books they printed each
year. They printed tax guides as one part of their product line and lots
of pages rarely changed. Somewhere I still have my name cast in a
linotype machine there. But as to metal work, they are the bomb.

Man, there's somebody who doesn't believe in new technology. g Are they
printing the books on letterpress? Or are they using the Linotype to make
galleys for offset printing?

If it's the latter, here's a secret you might pass on to them: Any one of us
can do exactly the same thing, and produce the same results, with a home
computer and a decent laser printer today. No loss of quality. No loss of
anything.

If, on the other hand, they're printing by letterpress, then holy hell...I
can't imagine how it's easier or cheaper. Letterpresses are used today for
things like fancy invitations and wedding announcements. And a few hobbyists
have them, but they set type by hand, rather than use Linotype. A Linotype
machine is about the size of three refrigerators and looks like the giant
insect from "Alien."

The fuzzy serifs do have a kind of nostalgic quality, though. g

--
Ed Huntress