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== Types of typesetting ==
Two different approaches to mechanising typesetting were independently developed in the late 19th century. One, known as the [[Monotype System|Monotype composition caster]] system, produced texts with the aid of perforated paper-ribbons.
The Super-caster, another machine produced by Monotype, was similar in function to the Thompson, Barth, pivotal and others casters but designed to produce single type (including even larger sizes) for hand setting.
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It was a source of pride for trained operators to boast of being able to ‘hang’ a line – to keep a line waiting in the delivery channel while the machine was casting the previous line and the operator was composing the next one.
The metal pot was kept filled by the operator tossing in small ingots of type metal every few lines, or later, by mechanical feeders that carry large ingots of type metal (and which often carried two ‘pigs’ at a time to be consumed in turn, the operator hanging a fresh one when one was consumed). These feeders are actuated by various methods (by cam, either elevator, or distributor shifter), but the
From time to time, the slug galley is transferred to the composing table to be set in the form, and once the press run is completed and the slugs removed from the form, they are tossed into the ‘hell box’ for remelting into new ingots. At intervals the lead is remelted and the oxidized metal (dross) skimmed off. As part of this process, ‘plus metal’ is added in the form of small ingots to replenish that portion of the alloyed metals that was lost by the formation of dross (by oxidization of the metal in the machine's pot or during the remelting stage). The type metal is poured into ingot molds – small molds for manually feeding the metal pots or larger molds for the metal feeders. (In the latter case, special attention must be given the ‘eye’ end as it has to support the weight of the entire ingot. Failure often results in it dropping into the pot and splashing molten metal everywhere.)
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Towards the end of its life as a common [[backshop]] type setter, the Ludlow was often joined by the "Super Surfacer" a specially designed surface plane that would smooth the surface of the freshly cast type and ensure it was exactly type high. A Ludlow slug was just the letters overhanging a central spine about 12 points wide (T-shaped viewed from the end). It needed to be bolstered by Elrod slugs on either side for support. The number of slugs above and below the central spine could adjust the white space above and below the type making it a very flexible system for large type.
The Elrod was a machine used to cast rules and spacing material (leading) of a specific width: 1, {{frac|1|1|2}}, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, or 36 point.
All these line-casting machines used various alloys near the [[eutectic]] point and which typically consisted of approximately 4% tin and 12% antimony and the balance being lead. These alloys were proportioned such that the type metal would solidify as rapidly as possible at the lowest possible freezing point.
=== Monotype ===
[[File:Matrixcase-bembo-16pts.jpg|thumb|right|A Monotype composition case showing bronze matrices struck from steel punches
The [[Monotype System]] took a different direction in hot metal typesetting, with the ability of the Composition Caster to cast loose type using a paper tape-operated automatic casting machine. The paper tape would be first generated on a keyboard and then used to cast the type; the tape could be stored for future casting for subsequent editions. This was a popular system for book work. Text was produced completely aligned, with all spaces in each line exactly the same width. Corrections and complex work could be done on the text by hand after the bulk of the text had been set by machine. The Super Caster and Orphan Annie were used to cast fonts of loose type for hand setting as well as spacing material and patterned rules.
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