Mein Kampf set in lead type

[stuka f]

...
Can you actually make a printing block from hot lead ! ? !
Or would you use existing type and set it yourself ?

I can.
I have quiet some different matrixes , even one type that might be the only one remaining in the world.
Making a block as shown at the begining of the treath takes 10 minutes to be made.....when the machine is running.
About sending thise items by post , that ain't that simple ; for one it is havy and so it becames expensive and lead in a parcel get you mostly in trouble with customs, as lead is mostly used by crooks to conceel "something " from X ray's.

[Walkwolf]

Yes.
That is why I don't believe in the authenticity of most documents.
So easy to do.

You can mount them onto wooden boards, throw some ink on
to make them look used, and voila !

[stuka f]

You can then mount them onto wooden boards, and voila !

I don't get you there, sorry!!??

[Walkwolf]

I don't get you there, sorry!!??

Like so, Kris, but this is a period etched piece made from copper.

Much thinner and therefor lighter in the post........!
also harder to make than lead...................... !

[stuka f]

I see what you mean, but that is a "cliché" (that is the name in french and flemish....??).
I have ton's of them.(just a few TR releated)
That, I can't make .....yet (lol!!)
Cliché's are mostly for pictures, drawnings etc before thise they where made of stone (also ton's of them).

[ELMO]

Thank you all for your informitive responses. However, I do feel like there might be a misunderstanding. Eventhough I referred to this as a block, I believe the correct term would be block of linotype. It may not be clear in the photo, but each line is a seperate line of type. Also, an ink copy was tried several times with very little success. Thanks

Elmo

[Walkwolf]

I see what you mean, but that is a "cliché" (that is the name in french and flemish....??).
I have ton's of them.(just a few TR releated)
That, I can't make .....yet (lol!!)
Cliché's are mostly for pictures, drawnings etc before thise they where made of stone (also ton's of them).

Talk about heavy !
Those 'early' typesetters must have had wonderful physiques !

I met an old typesetter once - one of the few remaining men that still typed
on a machine that then made hot lead type - in my Art School days (OCA)
in Toronto, back in 1978................He had been at the job all his life,
into his late 70's, and his fingers were crumpled and arthritic
from many 1000's of hours at the keyboard !

I think the cliche plates were etched with hydrochloric acid or something.....

[stuka f]

Thank you all for your informitive responses. However, I do feel like there might be a misunderstanding. Eventhough I referred to this as a block, I believe the correct term would be block of linotype. It may not be clear in the photo, but each line is a seperate line of type. Also, an ink copy was tried several times with very little success. Thanks

Elmo

Hey elmo,
no misunderstanding!
Normaly these blocks come withe seperate lines.
So if you got a page with 15 lines you would have 15 seperate lead bars with characters (or not; for the spaces..)
All thise bars are hold together in a block mostly with a small rope, with a special knot.
That is because the machine on witch they might have to go to can have very different holders for them lead blocks.
If thise in one block and the ink copy's where no succes, then in my opinion, they must have casted the original lyno type block in order to make more copy's of it, because they didn't had the machinery.
It can also be that the lyno type block is hold together by ink and grease or other filth.
But originaly a lyno type press makes line after line in one lead block.

[ELMO]

So I guess this is probably not an authentic piece of history?

Elmo

[stuka f]

Talk about heavy !
Those 'early' typesetters must have had wonderful physiques !

I met an old typesetter once - one of the few remaining men that still typed
on a machine that then made hot lead type - in my Art School days (OCA)
in Toronto, back in 1978................He had been at the job all his life,
into his late 70's, and his fingers were crumpled and arthritic
from many 1000's of hours at the keyboard !

I think the cliche plates were etched with hydrochloric acid or something.....

That is indeed no heathy job! And the lead fumes when melted!!!
I don't get often to print something.Just two or 3 times a year.
Finding them , fetching them and storing them is taking quiet some time as well.
And then i have got those other hobby's ....like collecting militaria...