Photos of the cast metal type process

ebensorkin27 Aug 2007

I took some photos while I was visiting Jim Rimmer in BC Canada to learn about casting metal type after TypeCon. They are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ebensorkin/sets/72157601705177162/

Here's a sample:

This 'a' is from the monospace I had critiqued at TypeCon.

I found the experience fascinating. All the materials awareness is amazing. The wrong brass. Your done. Wrong mix of Lead, Tin & Antimony. It's over. Done. It goes on & on. There are so many ways to go wrong. It really shows you what was involved in getting superior printing. The machines themselves are amazing too. They are hugely precise - to the thickness of cigarette paper, 1/1000th of an inch. And Jim was a very very nice guy.

Thanks again Jim!

Here's hoping you will be at TypeCon in Buffalo.

Ricardo Cordoba29 Aug 2007#

Thanks for sharing these, Eben! Loved 'em!

I signed up for a couple of letterpress workshops at past editions of TypeCon and thoroughly enjoyed the experience of setting small blocks of metal and wood type.

Dan Gayle29 Aug 2007#

Man, I gotta get up there to visit Jim sometime. Sounds like a blast!