On Sunday, June 16, 2019 at 12:02:46 PM UTC-7, pyotr filipivich wrote:
thinking of doing some small (and I do mean _small_) milling, to
make a set of molds for casting type

Well, the usual technology is photolithography (chemical etching), of course.
The level-matching of an etched plate is VERY handy in printing, where
a bit of type wear or misalignment causes uneven impressions.

Bennet Cerf once typeset a book, got it printed, and had to destroy the
whole press run. The printer (in Spain) had worn type, but the letters W
don't wear down much when only printing Spanish...

whit3rd on Mon, 17 Jun 2019 14:23:38 -0700 (PDT)
typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:
On Sunday, June 16, 2019 at 12:02:46 PM UTC-7, pyotr filipivich wrote:
thinking of doing some small (and I do mean _small_) milling, to
make a set of molds for casting type

Well, the usual technology is photolithography (chemical etching), of course.
The level-matching of an etched plate is VERY handy in printing, where
a bit of type wear or misalignment causes uneven impressions.

And that can be called "an artistic feature".

Bennet Cerf once typeset a book, got it printed, and had to destroy the
whole press run. The printer (in Spain) had worn type, but the letters W
don't wear down much when only printing Spanish...

Ouch.
--
pyotr filipivich
"With Age comes Wisdom. Although far too often, Age travels alone."