In 1963 I took the job of teletypesetter for a daily newspaper. I punched teletype tape to feed to the linotype machine. What an experience! When the plant of the newspaper was blown up because of a gas water heater flame igniting fumes from cleaning the old flatbed press, we were ushered into the high speed printing world. I spent over 50 years progressing from the remarkable linotype age to where we are now with computers. I retired from the position of publisher in 1997 but never stopped writing. I am so glad I experienced the full progress of modernizing publishing newspapers. I am now 86 but I still love the newspaper. Thank goodness for my computer.

@tigermike69

3 жыл бұрын

I was born in 1963, joined a paper in Calcutta as a sub-editor in 1985... Those machines -- and their operators -- were fascinating Imagine working with those machines in summer with just an industrial fan to prevent you from melting like the lead. Today, I use such videos in my classroom!

@haroldfarthington7492

3 жыл бұрын

Should write a book about it!

A fascinating video, but I'd sure like to see it redone in HD. Someone, when I was much younger told me, "learn to run a Linotype and you'll have a job for life!". I did but I didn't! It is will always be one of the greatest inventions of all time, for it really brought down the cost of printing for the masses.

I used to work on one of these machines for a printing company in Zimbabwe called the Manica Post in the latest 70’s. It’s an amazing machine and a joy to work on.

I am 80 now, I worked both Linotype and Intertype machines for the Scottish Daily Express in Glasgow from 1957 till 1974 when the paper closed. Great machine, great memories. Thanks for great video.

Am lucrat 30 de ani la acest tip de masina. Mi-am iubit enorm meseria, cea de LINOTIPIST!

An indicator on an advancing rule shows the remaining space on the line. When near the end of a line, the operator looks at the remaining space vs. the number of space bands. If there are enough, the remaining space will fill up when they are lifted (expand). If not, the operator types another word, or portion of it with a hyphen. Sometimes, especially on narrow lines, there's no way to space it cleanly. So, you add fixed spaces with the space bands, or letterspace a word.

The method of doing the expandable space was really clever. Such an amazing mechanical marvel!

This is great..sure miss my dad..he was so proud to be a Lithographer!

That was incredible! Thank you for the detailed visual and audio video!

I think I must be one of the few people under the age of thirty-five who operated a Linotype; a model 41, in my father's shop. I was apprenticed practically from birth, and remember the smell and the sound. And, like you, was a member of the International Typographical Union, before it became part of the CWA. Damn shame these things aren't a part of the world anymore. And I say this even while typing on a computer.

I love that you have a Sigwalt 10! I’ve just refurbished one and am learning how to use it. If only I had time and run for my own LineOtype! Thank you for sharing that video!

I used to work on these too, and moved many ooh what a headache lol i have all the books relating to these machines, installation,servicing maintenance , full set

Thanks for the great video. It took me back to my times in the composing room of my local newspaper. I used to operate the Linotype, Ludlow and Elrod (not all at the same time - lol). When eventually they were phased out and computers took over the silence was deafening. It was never the same.

@johnthomson2164

2 жыл бұрын

Same job as me here on Glasgow

@josephgaviota

Жыл бұрын

I, too am an old Intertype/Ludlow/Elrod operator! That's back when an extra 3 pts of lead meant three pts of LEAD !!!

I live in a small town near Rome. Our typographer still prints businnes cards out with that small printer, but he assembles the glyphs manually. Using such a huge mechanism as a Linotype just for composing name, surname, address and telephone number(s) would be highly antieconomical. But the result doesn't change at all: beautifully neat and tridimensional characters not just printed, but almost ENGRAVED into the paper. Old-fashioned typing, made art.

My father was a journalist and he worked for a local newspaper during my childhood. My first lessons of design, layout a page of a newspaper, columns, measures was at the shop of this newspaper. Talking every afternoon with linotype operators, seeing the proccess of photo clisé made me discovery the passion of graphics arts.

my parents used to own a small print shop out here in New Zealand. We had a model 32 with most ly sparton,helvetica,and times roman from 6pt to 18pt. I uesd to work there for 6 years. I stil have faded scars on my left arm from selecting the wrong mold on the mold wheel and having a squirt. I miss that old lino , now 25 yrs later im a mechanic. cheers Andrew

Thanks for posting this video! I worked for the Mergenthaler Linotype Company during the 1970's installing the new "analog" typesetting machines that were the precursor to the digital technology used today. The Linotype machines remained in use, parallel to the new equipment, for many years while the workforce adjusted to this "new technology". If I recall, the keyboard layout was not the same as today's QWERTY system. Edison was right, the Linotype machine was the 8th wonder of the world!

This is the best Linotype video I've seen!

Excellent! It is sad that so few people really understand how remarkable the Linotype is, and how it literally changed the course of history, almost as much as movable type did. Invented in the mid 1880's, the Linotype remained in use for almost hundred years (!) before being replaced. I was a Graphic Communications (i.e. printing) major at Cal Poly SLO, and our family business had about a dozen. I spent many hours watching them run, though only ran a few lines through them myself.

@jennhoff03

5 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I'm 32 years old and heard about it for the first time today! Printing presses get all the attention. :)

My dad was a lion type operator for 45 Plus years. He had his own business in suburban Chicago up until 1981. Just recently passed away but he loved his linotypes. I worked for him for 20 years and used to make the pigs for the lead slugs.. a hot Smokey dirty job. Melting down all the old type and making new pigs. Otypes

Wow, terrible camera work, but excellent everything else! :) I've been watching videos about Linotypes to try and figure out how the matrices go back into the machine. I couldn't find it anywhere else. That was so interesting! Thanks, Jim! :)

@jennhoff03

5 жыл бұрын

P.S. My only remaining query is- what happens when you make a mistake while you're typing? Do you take the line out and put it down where the arm can take the matrices back up?

@jackaw1197

4 жыл бұрын

@@jennhoff03 I read that normally they just fill in the rest of the line with easily identifiable gibberish from the first two columns of the keyboard (similar to typing qwertyuiop on a modern keyboard) and its gets discarded later. I think that is much faster than manually adjusting the line.

@jennhoff03

4 жыл бұрын

@@jackaw1197 Awesome!!!!

@HenryLoenwind

5 ай бұрын

@@jennhoff03 The manufacturer's intention is that you send the line while holding down the "don't cast" lever. It will then be processed normally, just without lead actually being injected. It seems people found it too tiring to lift up their left hand to that lever that sits 4 inches above the keyboard and instead gibberished the line and hoped the proofreader would sort it out. Which often didn't happen, so those lines ended up in print.

This was amazing to watch, thank you so much

I like the red stripe on your second elevator cam! Reminds me of the '60s Batmobile.

@jimgard2609

Жыл бұрын

At one time I hoped that someone would recognize the machine for the safety paint on the cam so I could find out where it came from. It will remain a mystery.

@josephgaviota

Жыл бұрын

@@jimgard2609 Risking TMI ... When I was in my early 20s, I ran a set of "tape mills" (Intertype machines that ran on 6-level TTS tape). Once in a while a mat would fly out, and land on the floor. I'd lean over the 2nd elevator cam, pull out the 2nd elevator plunger, and slide the matts on to the distributor rail. I wore "coveralls," a one-piece oversuit, so my street clothes would stay clean. One time, while I was reaching and leaning, the cam began to turn, and some of the cloth from the front of my coveralls got stuck ... I stood on my toes, and the cam circled, and luckily, no private parts damaged.

An amazing piece of engineering.

If you are having trouble with your own linecasting machine, please take your questions or discussion to the Yahoo group: IntertypeWorld. The description: This group is for folks who own, or who are interested in, Intertype Lincecasting Machines. Also welcomed to this group are folks interested in Linotype, Elrod, and Ludlow slug and strip casting equipment. Ask questions; chat about your equipment, and generally enjoy the conversation. Please post often and keep this list active! Enjoy!

Follow-up... Somewhere tucked in a drawer at home I have a single Linotype Matrix which has the entire 26-letter alphabet. This was given out at trade shows as a demonstration of the high quality that could be produced with the Linotype equipment.

How many hours I've spent running the Linos (actually Intertype machines). As a teen, so many of my pants had lead on them for various squirts. I once made the mistake of taking my finger trying to knock a matt off the top of a line of type in the assembling elevator, and WHAM, the 2nd elevator came down, and took the tip of my left index finger off. Won't do _that_ again.

I used to be an linotype operator back in 1960, in Guaymas, México. Who remembers "La Gaceta"? Yo fuí linotipista en "La Gaceta" de Guaymas, Sonora, en 1960.

We have two of these exact machines at work. We last used them about 5 years ago. A couple of guys buying old equipment offered use two grand for both machines, but we were too attached to them and wanted to hang on to them to show my grandchildren someday.

Andrew, I have been very careful to select a proper mold. The only squirt I've had was when I cast a a border slide and had put it in upside down. A waterfall of molten type metal came pouring out of the top. It took hours to chip it all out. The only burn I've gotten from the machine was from the light fixture. After that I changed to a compact florescent and haven't been burned since.

Worked on both Intertype and Linotype - wished I own one. It's an amazing machine, so many cogs doing there bit. from: the Old Composer

A very inforamtive video, thank you.

Many thanks, jimgard2609, for the interesting info about a fascinating machine. Best wishes.

There's no metal vapor. The type metal is a eutectic alloy of lead, tin, and antimony at 535 F (280 C). The machine is pre-OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) in the U.S. Some later machines had more guards. Yes the seat is missing the back, but I use it because it has wheels - I can roll back from the machine. I come in contact with type metal every day of my life. When I last had a blood sample they checked for lead - none was found. Fear lead paint, not type metal.

@jennhoff03

5 жыл бұрын

Your replies are so interesting to read! This machine is amazing. I can't believe I'm only discovering it for the first time in my 30s.

thanks for the cool video, really interesting machine!!

That's the SMALLEST press I've EVER seen !! I notice you lock up the type in the chase with _screws!_ Never seen that before! I was at the Smithsonian, looked at their printing exhibit, and noticed they showed "coin keys" !!! Can you even believe it? Everybody (in printing) knows it's quoin keys!

@jimgard2609

Жыл бұрын

The Baltimore No. 10 has screws in the chase because it's too small for quoins. It was never meant to have slugs, just a few lines of hand-set type.

Super ! Thanks.

The keyboard is an etaoin shrdlu layout. Mergenthaler could have used the qwerty keyboard that was becoming popular with typewriters of the time, but chose to use this much more efficient layout based on character frequency of use. The alphabet mat fits all 26 letters into a 6 point square. I have a couple of these mats and the Pecks enjoy it so much they insist that I put the little square into printing work I do for them.

Go Jim! That is Way cool!

As one compositor typesetter to another, you did a great job Jim Gard. I was never good enough to "hang" lines during production but many of my colleagues were. I concentrated on accuracy of typing so less corrections had to be done. Beware of the "front and back splashes"!!!

@jimgard2609

9 жыл бұрын

Neptune Hugh Thank you. Occasionally I'm setting the short little date code slugs that are only a few characters and I can hang one and watch it wait to go on the elevator. But the text I set carefully and I never get ahead of the machine. Only had a couple of squirts - my fault in both cases.

@Neptunehugh

9 жыл бұрын

Jim Gard Good man Jim. Occasionally I would forget to change the ejector blade and ruin a . . . I have forgotten the correct name for the item that determines the slug length in ems and the body width in points. A change of . . . I must Google it and find out. Keep up the good work. Printing was such an interesting job when I was in the trade in the '70s through to the mid '90s. Our company changed from hot metal to "New Technology" (computer typesetting) in the mid '80s but alas went bust in the mid '90s.

@Neptunehugh

9 жыл бұрын

Neptune Hugh Just remembered. A liner. My old brain cells (aged 60) are still ticking over!

@jennhoff03

5 жыл бұрын

Neptune Hugh- What happened when you typed a letter incorrectly? Did you just manually pull out the line and put it where the arm could take the matrices back?

This is a wonderful machine but long ago I guess I'd still like to use the older Gutenberg method with some people or in the 1900s, use a typewriter or something. This type of stuff makes me VERY thankful that we have had wordprocessor machines since the 80s and computers with modern word procesor programs and printers since the 80d too.

hell yeah, I definitely wanna be an engineer

Amazing machines - do they jam like a typewriter can or are there interlockings to prevent that? Also, how much does one weight?

@mikeylik7051 I made a mistake. The Short Jaw is used for Quadding. This is out side the Vise at the very top. I’m convinced that the machine lost power in mid cycle. I’m having difficulties finding it in my manual. I have a index to refer to if you or anyone would like to suggest any. Most Thankfull

Excellent video! I am in the process of restoring a printing press. Do you know where I can purchase a smaller press for business cards?

When I was 10 years old, for the next 3 summers I ran a Linotype Model #5 built in 1900, 47 years older than this model for my dad in a small print shop in Buffalo, N.Y. Ours had a rare electric pot (most 1900 models were gas fired), and it had a brand new 1/3 hp 1160 revolution per minute 60 hz drive motor (most were 850 rpm ), I'm wondering what speed it ran at 65 years earlier since I would guess they just put a smaller pinion gear in to keep the clutch wheel running at 70 rpm. Mel is your machine a 3 phase motor or do you have a single-phase model?

@mikeylik7051 I was obsessed with that page last night. Noted! Thank you very much. Until next time I find my self out of sorts.

Total longshot, but if anybody knows of a working linotype in AZ I'd love to hear about it. I'm researching this for fiction & while the online stuff has helped, what I really need is an up close & personal view and hopefully to see one at work. Although I do hope lead has been replaced with some safer material!

? Could someone help me! I have a Lino model 8. And I can't open the vise. After the first elevator where the matrices are pushed left. I believe that the Short Jaw is not in it's appropriate place. I could be wrong, But it is located at the very top of the vise and is preventing me from opening it. Please help!

@mikeylik7051 I will try this tomorrow. I have no intention of forcing it. I found it! It’s the delivery with the short and long fingers together as if they contain no matrices. Directly above the vice before matrices are pulled down to the mold. I have "Linotype Machine Principles" published 1940. And I’m very new at this. Pleas keep in mind I am fully capable.

Interesting way to print stuff. How did the machine handle horizontal justification? Desktop publishing programs do maths to work out whether a word should be pushed over to the next line, squashed onto the current line or hyphenated so that it is partly in both lines. How did the Linotype user know whether the words they were typing would fit onto a line? Also, anyone know how expensive Linotypes were compared with today's PC+software combo? Thanks in advance & thanks for posting the vid.

@1958david1

6 жыл бұрын

robotMadeByEvolution spacebars m8.

Is this electric?

Yes, this one is all electric. A single 1/3 HP motor drives the mechanism and immersion heaters melt the type metal in the pot. The other common system for the metal pot is natural gas.

@lubovmazur6911

9 жыл бұрын

finally, I found it.

@jimgard2609

9 жыл бұрын

And - what did you think?

@lubovmazur6911

9 жыл бұрын

I thought it was very well done. Your delivery is very animated and comfortable. You didn't look like you in the beginning, but it was you all along.

I do love an amateur

Please - call it type metal. Too many misinformed people are afraid of the L word. The only part of the machine that has ever burned me is the light fixture on the front. I changed it to a twisty bulb and it's been okay ever since. Not to say it's never happened - I've had my share of squirts.

? Linotype Model 8 Success the cams are rotating every thing is moving and, Ya its not stopping! Once in a while it will after a cycle or many. The clutch works and the control handle works. I have Linotype machine principles if anyone can refer me to page and part. Thank you

So basically, this giant machine makes tiny stamps?

@jackaw1197

4 жыл бұрын

they might make thousands of lines that get assembled into plates for books or newspapers. The press in the video was very small, but you can imagine large, automated ones, printing whole pages of a newspaper. And there might be rooms with dozens of workers making these short lines.

Wait. Wasn't a 41, no such beast. 14.

i met him in real life lol

I wonder what those machines did to their poor operators' health. The engineering of a Linotype seems great but a Health & Safety Executive officer in the UK today would faint on seeing one: metal vapour in the air, moving machine parts near bodies, no arm or back rests on the seats and -- scariest of all -- molten lead close by! I'm a sub-editor. The Linotype operator's job is now part of mine. If it were not for computers I'd have so much lead in me I could probably wear uranium underpants.

it seems like a complicated, barbaric typewriter