grendl löfkvist wrote:

PTD wrote:

Nicholas wrote:

> > > I'm still puzzled by the recesses cut into a
> > copper plate, and how they
> > > became flat-topped type slugs.
> >
> > I don't know where a copper plate comes into it?
>
> Are you possibly thinking of the matrix itself? The
> punches were cut out of steel, and then they were
> impressed into a softer metal to create a recess,
> which became the mold for the lead. This softer metal
> was usually copper or brass.

But it can't be considered a plate -- the working bit is no bigger than
the piece of type itself with margins for the walls of the matrix.
--
Peter T. Daniels grammatim@...