Re: letterpress printing, continued...

On Thu, 08 Dec 2005 11:00:33 -0500, Peter T. Daniels
<grammatim@...> wrote:

> 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.

Yes, but: The photos plainly show a large piece of sheet copper.
Apparently, a recessed image in that sheet is cut out and trimmed very
carefully. I have the feeling that several people in this thread didn't
look at the images; maybe I'm wrong.

Regards,

--
Nicholas Bodley /*|*\ Waltham, Mass. (Not "MA")
Lack of decency about New Orleans' future:
<http://tinyurl.com/8eqx5> (politics, too)
That should redirect to an article by Mike Tidwell.