Stern booklet (image courtesy of P22 Type Foundry)

Following the release last July of the typeface Stern, designed by Jim Rimmer, a great deal of willpower had to be summonsed to prevent me from placing an order for the metal version of the typeface. Unfairly placed just above an image of a shimmering newly cast fount of Stern, the ‘Order’ button on  The Rimmer Type Foundry microsite seems as irresistable now as when I first hovered over it!

Apparently, the simultaneous release of Stern in both digital and cast metal versions was a first and it is encouraging that the first ‘Subscription Casting’ sold out quickly and there is now a wait of at least two months of new orders. Perhaps I should give in to temptation and click on that little, harmless, ‘Order’ button… It would be a pity to not be able to add Stern to my collection of letterpress type!

The metal version of the typeface is cast to order by Jim Rimmer, in foundry metal. It is cast only in 16pt on an 18pt body and further information can be obtained from  The Rimmer Type Foundry along with details of the digital version, Stern Pro. It is heartening to see such herioc typecasting endeavours paying off and the making of the typeface is also to be made into a documentary, due for release this Spring.

Stern cast in 16pt on 18pt body (image courtesy of P22 Type Foundry)

I recently needed to source some ‘at’ symbols for one of these bespoke projects and I am greatly indebted to my good friend and fellow letterpress printer, Julius Stafford-Baker of the  Happy Dragons’ Press, for sending me a selection in 8pt, 10pt and 12pt. I would like add that Julius has recently opened a new and rather useful department – especially for letterpress printers – and it is called  The Composing Room Stores.

Julius has often regaled me with tales of his experiences in around printing firms in the City of London, from the late 1950s onwards, and how a “boy on a bike” would be sent out for ‘sorts’ if a compositor ran out of type for a job. These firms that loaned sorts have long gone but letterpress printers, like myself, still occasionally run out of sorts or require special characters. Julius hopes that  The Composing Room Stores will be able to help when situations like that arise.

In addition to loaning sorts,  The Composing Room Stores can also supply quoins, furniture, leads, spacing, make-ready material in addition to technical assistance. Julius’s  Poetry Book Shop is also well worth a look and his beautiful  New Garland Series of poetry books are all printed from hand set letterpress type and the original artist’s wood blocks and linocuts.

A small selection of the typefaces held at The Composing Room Stores, of which sorts are available.

A Ludlow setting stick resting on a case of matrices.

Hand-setting the matrices into the stick.

For the uninitiated, the Ludlow is a typecasting machine that produces type in the form of a slug (an entire line on one type body) as opposed to the Monotype system where each character is cast on a separate body. The brass matrices are assembled and justified by hand in the special setting stick, before being locked into place on top of the casting unit. A starting lever sets the mechanism in motion, the mould moves to the casting position and molten type metal is pumped into the mould and the slug is cast. It is not uncommon at this moment for a squirt of molten lead to be ejected vertically from the casting unit, in the direction of the operator, if the stick has not been correctly inserted!

The melting pot reaches 600 degrees Fahrenheit!

The completed line of matrices in the setting stick (note that the letters are spaced slightly).

The underside of the stick, showing the recesses in the matrices.

The newly cast Ludlow slug, ready for ‘dressing’ (trimming away the rough edges).

Assuming no duplicate slugs are required, the stick can now be removed from the machine and the matrices can be distributed back into case by hand. After printing, the slug can be remelted into fresh type metal and reused. In common with hand setting of type, the method produces no waste and is a perfect example of recycling long before the term became ubiquitous.

The finished slug, ready for printing!

Dave Boden (holding a Ludlow setting stick) and Len Friend (printing on ‘Heidi’ – his Heidelberg Platen) at the Crescent Card Company in Tiptree. Note the racks of angled Ludlow matrix cases in the background.