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Mo. Stage Nd. Soc.

HflNDBOOK OF PRINTING

Gopurightad I896. Price, post-paid, $l.25.

$35.53.}

fiEAD FIRST THIS PREFACE, and when you want information

on any subject, refer to the Index. An effort has been made to
use every line of space, and many a single sentence contains information
of special value. If properly studied, this little volume will be worth
many dollars to whomsoever it comes. The price is put at one-half
what it should be, so that none will fail to get the worth of their
investment.

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING contains my practical experience, ac-
quired by study and hard work, aided by the excellent trade journal,
The Inland Printer, which you should read regularly or you neglect
your opportunities.

\Vhile looking through the book to make the Index, I found that
all I know about printing has not been told. As no one man can ever
know all there is in the printing business, questions from any purchaser,
accompanied by postage, will be answered to the full extent of our
knowledge on the subject.

This book is respectfully dedicated to those who can use it, by

the author, . Aha/m
w. Ff/fiATCLIFF.

«racers»?

PUBLISHED BY

RflTGLlFF PRINTING GOMFHNY.

ST. LOUIS, MO.

2 HANDBOOK OF' PRINTING.

PRINTING ROLLERS.

EVERY printer and pressman soon discovers that the essentials for
firstclass printing are good rollers and good ink, and that the better the
rollers the cheaper the grade of ink may be and still secure the same
results. Good work depends almost wholly upon the rollers, and a
roller is in working condition as long as it is not too old to have suction.
The suction of rollers tends toward holding the ink on their surface,
stingily letting it off, thus distributing the ink evenly over the surface
of any type or plate with which they come in contact. This same suc-
tion, or hold-on tenacity, is the element of the rollers that gives them
value. Hence, without suction good printing cannot be executed.

The component parts that give suction to the rollers constitute their
delicate nature, which should be thoroughly understood and appreci-
ated by every one who uses rollers. Every change of temperature and
atmosphere effects the composition to a certain extent. The most es-
sential parts of rollers are very delicate. You can very quickly wash a
flat place on the surface of a roller. Every care is necessary to pre-
serve the working condition of such a delicate compound, the service of
which is always very severe.

The life of rollers varies on all presses, especially on presses run-
ning continuously on large forms with heavy book or cut ink. The
face soon becomes warm and, unless the adjustments are carefully
made, wears rapidly with constant running over the edges of book
pages. The yearly average of cylinder presses, counting make-ready
and all stops for stock, etc., is about 7,000 impressions daily. This is
as high an average as can safely be figured on in estimating the cost of
work, though we have a four-roller Miehle that easily and almost nois-
lessly makes tfioo impressions an hour, and with no noticeable wear
on any of the rollers in three months’ steady running, except where the
folios wore on the form rollers. The same press has been run 2,100
per hour with perfect register, but as the machine is used principally
for colored work where perfect register is absolute, we calculate that a
little slower Speed will add to the life of perfect register in the press.

On most presses the amount of friction on the rollers is enormous
and indicates what they have to endure. Many rollers running regu-
larly have to be replaced in a month, while six, nine, and even twelve
months’ good and continuous service are rendered by others that are of
the same make. Should the surface remain smooth and the composi-
tion become hard, some of the processes of reviving, as given in this
book, would replace the lost elasticity.

655'. 3,.
Fl gfo 2L HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 3

‘ It is advisable to always have a set of old spring rollers on hand
when the hot days of summer come. \V'ith a ltttle water their working
qualities can be made as good as new, and as long as the pressis kept

. ' A going they will do good work. Leave the ink on them during the
knight. The probability of melting them down 15 rare should they
have to be set very snug against the vibrator,—which lS unnecessary
agiwhen the face of the rollers is even. A hard roller may be set very
‘, tightly against both the form and vibrator for a short time,.to warm it
“to the work, but it should be reset after running a while, as it Wlll print

1 .better and wear less on the face and at the journals.

$ When cuts or grooves appear in the face of a roller, it is running

too heavily on the form, and if it cannot be raised slightly and still
print satisfactorily its full length, the surface of the roller has become
untrue or the core bent. If a perfect surface is necessary, the only
remedy is to recast it.

If rollers are warm when taken from the press, they should he
stood on end and reversed every twenty minutes for an hour. Ifntaken
out of the press at quitting time, it will pay to give a boy extra time to
stay with the rollers an hour, distinctly impressing upon him the im-
portance of keeping the rollers true on the surface until cool.

Continued wet weather will change the condition of all printing
rollers in an office, always improving their working qualities and perma-
nently benefitting the old ones. As long as the rain continues the air
remains the same and there is no noticeable effect on running rollers,
but when heat follows the precipitation, new rollers running with stiff
. ink soon get sticky and begin to pull off the face. This condition of

the atmosphere often continues several days and is a source of great an-
noyance in the pressroom.

. In the process of manufacturing glycerine the fat is removed, so
_ ,that there is scarcely any grease in roller composition, leaving the prin-
-x'cipal parts of rollers—glue and glycerine—with an affinity for water,
Efwhich creates persistent trouble when rollers begin to take water from

the air and stop taking ink. This often happens on fast running ma-
chines when a scant supply of very stiff ink is used. Friction generates
heat and prepares the composition to receive the moisture that is in the
,, gfair, so that in a very short time the rollers will absorb so much water
gmhat ink will not adhere to them.

§= _ It is necessary to stop this absorption. There is no permanent
$remcdy for all occasions. The best first-remedy is to run soft news ink

r' '(m the rollers as soon as the pulling is noticed and place the soggy rol-
\Q ~llers in the closet, or in a cool corner away from the circulating moist

11

a38l83

4 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

atmosphere. By all means keep them out of the air, as in it are the
conditions that cause all the annoyance.

If the rollers must be used, let them stand thirty minutes with the
soft ink on them, when they should be taken out of the press and
cleaned as quickly as possible with lard or lard oil, first cleaning the
disk or plate of the press so that the rollers may be put in as fast as
washed, as it is important to get their surfaces covered with fresh ink as
soon as possible. Don’t wash the rollers with any mineral oil that can
have the least taint of water in it, as the parts of the roller that are sol-
uble in water are in the proper condition to absorb that element as soon
as they come in contact. The oil in the ink and the oil used in wash-
ing will stop the action of the moist air on the rollers, and there is pos-
sibly nothing else that need be done for the balance of the day’s run.
If the rollers are new they will be injured by the moisture considerably
quicker than old rollers, and in such case it is necessary to get some of
the water out of the rollers after cleaning off the ink by rolling them on
a dusty floor. The more dust the better. The objection to this is the
diflieulty with which the gritty dirt is removed, as it must be done with
a liberal supply of lard oil. Magnesia is nearly as efficacious as the dry
dust. All that is usually necessary with old rollers that take moisture
on the surface is to stop the action of the dampness on their surfaces.
The rollers must be put back into the press as quickly as possible after
being cleaned, and fresh ink run on them immediately. If a small
form is printing and the rollers run without ink at the ends, it will be
necessary to occasionally put on a little ink at the extreme ends to keep
them from pulling. For this purpose use a fine, soft ink, and by the
time it works over to the form the distribution will be so thorough that
it will work equally as stiff as the ink with which the job is running.

It often happens that this simple remedy fails, when there in none
other as certain as the use of finely powdered alum, which is eventual
destruction to any roller composition. The rollers should be washed as
previously stated and the alum sprinkled over their clean surfaces.
The alkali or potash of the alum instantly absorbs the water that has
been drawn into the glue of the roller. The action of the alum on the
face of the rollers is as severe as that of strong lye, and possibly more
so, as the sulphuric acid burns the glue, which will sluff off gradually
throughout long runs and you will find the dead composition on the
plate and in the fountain. Alum will answer for immediate relief, but
in most cases you will soon discard the rollers on which it has been
used.

Many makes of rollers can be brought out of a soggy condition by
simply running soft ink on them and letting them stand for thirty or

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. s

forty minutes, when they should be washed quickly with oil or benzine,
as nearly as possible giving the surface a benzine bath, using a clean
rag or sponge. Wipe dry and put them into the press immediately,
and work a good coating of soft ink on them by running the press
slowly, and then let them stand for about one hour, when the chances
are that they will do good work the remainder of the day. It will be
necessary, of course, to sheet off the soft ink, using a strong paper that
will not leave fiber on the rollers, and also to wash the plate if a table
distribution press; but under no circumstances wash the rollers. Should
the ink refuse to work clear and sharp, take a little heavy ink and into
it thoroughly mix a small quantity of balsam copaiba, or gold size.
Distribute a sufficient quantity on the rollers to cover their surfaces,
and the work should be good. Should the atmosphere remain heated
and moist, the same proceeding may be necessary each succeeding
day, during which time new and solid rollers should be making.

This plan is more often successful than otherwise; but should it
fail, there is no use to waste further time and try to save the rollers;
use alum and let them run as long as they will, or rub a heavy coating
of grease on the sticky rollers and place them in the closet until the at-
mosphere becomes dryer.

If the situation is such that the press has to wait for new rollers,
the pressman should decide the quickest remedy. Time may be gained
by cutting up and recasting the troublesome rollers, to which, when
melted, add two ounces of venice turpentine for every ten pounds of
composition. Before stripping the composition from the stocks, ascer-
tain to a certainty that it will remelt; and if there is no new composi-
tion on hand, add two or three pounds of glue, properly prepared, to
make up for shrinkage and trimming. The rollers may go directly
from the mould into the press, but should be carefully set in the ma-
chine and constantly watched.

It is a bad plan to cut off a roller before you see if it will remelt.
A roller may be soft and elastic, yet could not be reduced to a fluid
state by heat by the most expert roller maker; and if it cannot be re-
cast it will become useful again after standing a few days.

All manufacturers of rollers or composition will tell you how to
take care of rollers: That they should always be kept in a tight box
when idle a day or two; that old rollers should have oil or soft ink on
them; and that new ones that need seasoning should be washed clean,
except in damp, hot weather, and so on. You cannot know too much
about rollers, and after everything is told there yet will remain more to
learn by experience. The object of keeping rollers in a tight closet is
to keep them from the air, in order that what little water is required in

6 HANDBOOK or PRINTING.

them may not evaporate. In many cases where the humidity of the at-
mosphere has ruined the working qualities of a roller, the object is to
prevent further absorption of moisture by placing it out of the air. It
is also necessary in many instances to coat the surface with machine oil.
to completely counteract the action of the moisture in the air.

There being no fat or grease in roller composition, the affinity of
glue and glycerine for water causes all of the trouble when rollers be-
gin to take water from the air and stop taking ink. This happens often
on fast running machines where a scant supply of very stiff ink is used.
Friction generates heat enough to melt the composition and prepares
the glue and glycerine to receive the moisture in the air, so that in a
very short time the rollers will be so full of water that ink will not ad-
here to them. It is not oil that causes the trouble. It then becomes
necessary to keep the moisture from entering the composition, by a
coating of lard oil or thin ink. This will stop the action of the damp
air on the parts of the rollers that are soluble in water, but the moisture
that has gone into the composition remains there and may cause further
trouble. If all of the doors and windows of a pressroom could be
closed and the air of the room kept in circulation with fans, there could
not be any loss of time or any inconvenience caused by moisture in the
atmosphere. Enough has been said on this matter so that you will un-
derstand the source of the trouble and know to a certain extent how to
proceed to remove it.

Clean rollers quickly with kerosene or grease, the latter always if
the rollers are new, rubbing lightly so as not to break the surface of the
composition. Never wash rollers with anything as strong as lye, or
any acid that will burn or bite the fingers. Remember that the glue
in the composition is but little tougher than your hand, and as easily
burned if placed near a steam pipe or a fire.

\Vhen rollers get old and dry they lose suction,—the quality that
makes a roller good. \\'ashing with water gives suction. Rubbing
with spirits of turpentine will often create a proper suction in a roller in
the damp, hot months of summer, when the use of water would be det-
rimental.

Rollers cast in January or February will give most satisfactory ser-
vice during the summer. During these months a set of new rollers
should be cast for every machine in the office, it being understood, of
course, that those in stock are worn out or rough on the surface. Rol-
lers cast at that time are the best that can be secured for summer use—
the season that is the hardest on roller composition. The composition
of a winter or Spring roller will stand a larger proportion of glycerine
and molasses than could be used in rollers cast in the summer, and from

HANDBOOK or PRINTING. 7

this fact it makes the best possible rollers for summer, getting thor-
oughly seasoned by the time the heated term is reached, and will run
through the hot months without causing any trouble, always retaining
its softness, elasticity and suction. These are the kind of rollers that
give the best service, and the chances are favorable that they will last
well into the winter, when, should they prove to be too hard, or cut full
of creases, they may be cut from the stock, remelted, and sufficient
glycerine added to make the composition soft. Rollers so recast give
good service through the cold months of winter and sometimes will run
through the second summer. It is generally useless to attempt remelt-
ing a second time.

Avoid making rollers in the summer months and as late as Octo-
ber, except for immediate use, as the life of rollers made in the sum-
mer goes out with the warm weather. The October roller is too hard
for use in a few weeks. A summer roller will become too hard for use
as soon as the cold season arrives and can seldom be recast, being made
almost exclusively of cooked molasses and glue.

Should it be necessary to make rollers in hot weather, use a greater
proportion of glue than at any other time, and just enough glycerine
and molasses to keep the glue from resuming its original hardness too
soon, and there will be no difliculty in recasting. Don‘t cook either
the glue or the molasses. Rollers made in this manner will not endure
severe friction or continuous runs without rest, and in consequence re-
quire more attention to keep from melting them when a scant supply of
ink is running at the ends away from the form. Rollers running dry
at the ends is the principal cause of the majority of the cases of melt-
ing down while running, which seldom occurs when a full supply of
ink is running from the whole length of the fountain. From this fact
it is plain to be seen that when running a small form in the center of a
cylinder press it is best to shut off the ink between the form and the
ends of the rollers and let on a supply at the extreme ends, which will
distribute over towards the form and be used without showing a too
heavy supply at the edges.

After all that has been said and Written about rollers, it still re-
quires some experience to find just how roughly the delicate surface
may be used. Some pressroom folk handle them as though made
wholly of india rubber and iron, soon to find out by the loss of a good
roller that a more careful handling would save time and trouble.

Many rollers deteriorate after sixty days’ use, causing much trouble
to the pressman. The cause is in the quality of the glue used in the
manufacture, and sometimes by the custom of the roller maker in re-
casting the composition that comes back to him on worn out rollers

8 HANDBOOK or PRINTING.

The day is rapidly approaching when stocks will go to the roller maker
stripped of composition. It would be far better to pay a higher price
than run any chance of getting a recast composition on your stocks,
when you expect new rollers. The life of such a roller is short, giving
satisfaction for only a few weeks on job presses, and only for a little
longer time on cylinders, where tight setting will counteract some of
the inequalities caused by rapid shrinkage. Every one that gets a new
roller that does not run as long as expected will charge the maker of
furnishing second-hand composition. This may be true sometimes, but
the roller maker will not acknowledge it.

 

MAKING ROLLERS.

EVERY printer and pressman should know how to make good rol-
ler composition, and how to melt and cast it perfectly, besides knowing
how to remelt old composition. Not that it particularly pays in all
cases to be able to do these things, but because it is a part of the trade
and an art that should not beJost to but a few. It will pay any estab-
lishment running large presses to make and recast rollers, provided, of
course, that the person to whom the task falls knows how to perform it
intelligently.

The essential necessary to success in making rollers is good glue
and how to use it. Glue and water alone, in proper proportions, will
make good rollers, though they would be short lived on account of the
rapid evaporation of the water. This fully explains the principle of
roller-making. The glue is the main constituent, and too much water
at the start spoils all. If the glue absorbs too much water while soak-
ing, it must be evaporated out, but not by cooking. Keep the glue
melted by having tne water in the bath only warm. Continued boiling
or cooking of glue impares and ultimately destroys the characteristic
properties that make it the essential constituent of roller composition.
Always procure the best glue, and that made from hides and skins,
called cabinet maker’s glue, will be found the best and strongest.
Wash thoroughly and cover with water for half an hour—stirring the
mass several times in that short time—when all the water should be
drained off. Soft or rain water is preferable. After draining off the
water, let the glue stand for at least one hour, occasionally stirring it up
from the bottom of the vessel and breaking all stiff pieces. It is also a
good plan to keep the vessel covered with a blanket or several thick-
nesses of damp paper. \Vhen all the large pieces are spongy, the glue
is ready for the melting pot and should melt readily, being stirred con-

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 9

stantly. This should be thick enough to stir up stiff, so that quite a
chunk of it will hang to the paddle, when it is ready to take out of the
bath. The object is to have it melt and still be as near dry glue as
possible. Unless you are a success at making rollers, it is best to let
the glue cool over night to determine its solidity. If the glue cuts up
into solid, tough cakes, it is of the right consistency and ready to make
first-class roller composition. It should have the appearance of finished
heavy composition, which is the spring and elasticity that enters into
the make-up of good rollers.

Do not guess at anything when beginning to make roller composi-
tion. A batch can never be made too thick; but when once finished,
it is difficult to thicken it if made too thin. Weigh out the glue before
putting it to soak and prepare it to the letter as above stated. Some
glues soften in two hours, others in ten hours, which fact makes it nec-
essary to watch the glue closely, that it may not absorb too much wa-
ter. Two vessels of any kind, one smaller than the other, that will,
hold boiling water, will answer in which to make roller composition.
Tin or copper is preferable for the inner vessel on account of its smooth
surface, which is easily oiled and cleaned, and it should be thoroughly
cleaned and oiled before putting in the material to make composition,
or before remelting. Two sizes of a common wash boiler will make a
good pair of kettles, with two short flanges soldered on to each side of
the smaller one to keep it from sinking to the bottom of the bath.

Place the outer kettle on the fire with enough water to come up
above where you judge the top of the material in the inner kettle will
be, and by the time you have thoroughly scoured the inner kettle with
a cloth and lard oil, it will begin to warm. You may put in the sugar
or Syrup at once. The slow heat will dissolve the sugar, and when mo-
lasses is used, evaporation begins as soon as it commences to warm.
Molasses will stand a good deal of cooking when used in a summer rol-
ler, but if for any other time of the year, thorough amalgamation is all
that is necessary. You can put in the various ingredients, and as soon
as all are melted the composition is done. A few days seasoning is all
a winter roller requires, while with a summer roller there is a vast and
almost unexplainable difference. A week is none too much time in
dry, hot weather to season a roller, and even then it should be kept out
of air currents, the dryest hot air of summer always containing more
penetrating moisture than the cool days of tall and winter. During a
hot spell after a rain a summer roller will not season, but absorb moist-
ure to such an extent that it will become soggy and useless. There is
but one way to season a summer roller properly, and that is to place it
tn the dryest part of the ofiice and let it stand for two weeks. If it

[O HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

must be used as soon as cast, it will require the most careful setting and
watching. Should it begin to pull at either end, it is easy to stop it for
an hour or two by rubbing machine oil over the heated parts with the
hand ; give it a continuous but gentle rubbing, clean off all of the oil,
set the roller and start the machine. Elsewhere further explanations
are given with regard to treacherous summer rollers.

Melting old roller composition is a very easy task—if it will melt.
First cut a piece about one-half inch thick from the end of the roller
and through to the core, and if the freshly cut edge will melt when
placed against the stove or hot steam pipe, it will always melt in the
kettle. Wash the face clean with hot water, giving it a severe rubbing,
when the part that is dead can be easily scraped off with the edge of a
knife. Cut the composition up into cubes about one-half inch in size
and soak in water until it is spongy; then place it where it can drain
over night. Put it into the kettle and melt, adding a small quantity
each of glycerine and molasses, if in the winter; but if for summer use
add only the molasses. If the composition appears too dry to melt,
add a half pint of warm water, which will evaporate while melting.
Stir constantly and take out of the hot water as soon as melted. Fol-
low the usual directions about well oiled and heated moulds, and pour
the composition as soon as you can scrape off the skin that forms on
top. Should a summer roller pull to pieces or have to be remelted on
account of some accident, it should be left in the hot water at least one
hour after being melted to evaporate as much water out of it as possi-
ble. As soon as melted put sufficient cold water in the outer kettle to
keep it from boiling and cooking the composition.

Unadulterated cane sugar and sugar-house molasses are composed
of twelve parts of carbon, twenty-two parts of hydrogen, and eleven
parts of oxygen—which means about two-thirds water. For this reason
very little water need be added when melting sugar. The sugar house
molasses is the drippings from cane sugar, which, if unadulterated, is
the best saccharine matter for use in the manufacture of rollers.

The next best molasses is sorghum—and even as cheap as it is,
there is doubt of any being on the market that is not adulterated with
glucose. Glucose is not good in roller composition, so it looks like there
is a necessity that compels the use of the raw sugar, or possibly honey,
which is better than any other substance, though its higher price gen-
erally precludes its us:. One-half each of sugar and molasses is pref-
erable to all of either, and counteracts the evil effects of the adultera-
tion. \Vith good glue and pure molasses any person should make first-
class rollers.

On account of the prevalent custom of adulteration of every kind

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. I!

of molasses, it is advisable to use cane sugar for making roller compo
sition. Unadulterated cane sugar is principally composed of the ele-
ments that are in water, so that if the best “A” sugar is placed in the
melting pot with a very little water added, a gentle heat will dissolve
it and it will be ready without boiling, to put in with the other constitu-
ents of roller composition. This will save the time of cooking the mo-
lasses for summer rollers and greatly facilitate the making of good com-
position.

Melt composition in a bath—that is, place the vessel that contains
the composition into a larger one containing the water. Have the ves-
sels so arranged that water cannot boil over into the composition. Al-
ways have the composition kettle clean, and oiled with machine oil
before using. Have roller moulds perfectly clean and evenly oiled,
and use plenty of graphite, lamp 'black, or even soot from the stove
pipe, on the swab, which will cause the rollers to slip easily out of the
moulds. Do not use too much oil or it will cause creases on the face of
the rollers. The moulds should be warmed before pouring in the com
position, by standing them by the stove or by pouring hot water on the
outside. It is a good plan to wrap stocks their full length with small,
rough twine, givingit a half hitch every few inches as a sort of smooth
tie, which will prevent the twine from becoming loose. Wrap a little
closer at both ends, to give more strength and make a perfect adhe-
sion, which will keep oil out when washing the rollers.

Additional advantages are gained by painting roller stocks for
large presses, also wrapping vibrators their full length with twine.
The paint should be dry before casting and the painted surface never
touched with oily fingers. Composition is more easily removed from
painted stocks than from stocks wrapped with twine; but the twine is
necessary to strengthen the composition where but a thin layer is cast
on the stock. A roller is better for having a thick coating of composi-
tion, but some presses are made so compact that only a thin layer is
cast on many of the most important rollers. This is a fault and short-
ens the usefulness of the roller, the thin coating of composition heating
and pulling to pieces quicker, besides losing suction so much sooner
than where a thicker body of composition is used.

Glue and Molasses Rollers.

IF YOU want simply an old style glue and molasses roller, weigh
theprepared glue and put it in the kettle to melt, and when thoroughly
melted add one quart of the best New Orleans molasses to every pound
of the glue. Rollers made of these two substances are what may be
properly called emergency rollers, and should never be set aside unlws

!2 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

covered thoroughly with soft ink or machine oil. They should never
be washed with anything but lard or lard oil. The life of such rollers
is short, but for clean and perfect work on large, solid surfaces, there
can be no better made.

Summer Rollers.

DON’T make rollers in hot weather as long as you can make the
old ones perform good work. The face of a summer roller is very
treacherous and will give trouble when least expected. Rollers made
in hot weather are expensive to start with, and their usefulness ends
with the season for which they are made.

First prepare the glue as previously stated, getting as little water
in it as possible. Put six quarts of best molasses into the inner kettle
of a proper bath and thoroughly cook it for at least one hour, at the
end of which time and while the molasses is still hot, add two ounces
of venice turpentine, and stir until it is thoroughly mixed with the mo-
lasses. Now add 25 pounds of cabinet maker’s best glue (which should
be prepared the day before), putting it in as fast as it melts. When
the glue is melted, add four ounces of pure glycerine and let the mass
cook thirty minutes, stirring it constantly, when it will be. done and
should be removed from the bath. This makes about fifty pounds of
solid composition, and if the molasses was of a pure grade, the rollers
could be used steadily after one or two days’ seasoning. Dry air soon
seasons a roller, which is simply letting the outer surface toughen.

Rollers south of 34 degrees north latitude should be made without
glycerine, and a few ounces of pure rubber, dissolved in carbon disul-
phide, added to give additional strength to the composition. The same
may be advantageously incorporated into summer rollers for any clim-
ate where the temperature ranges above eighty degrees Fahrenheit.
The carbon disulphide will evaporate in a few moments after being
stirred into the hot composition and leave the rubber completely incor-
porated into the compound.

Winter Rollers.

To MAKE forty pounds of winter composition, prepare the best and
strongest glue in the usual manner. Cut up into one-half inch cubes
about one pound of this glue and as soon as melted add four ounces of
very thick venice turpentine, and to this as soon as thoroughly mixed
add the remainder of the glue as fast as it will melt, stirring constantly.
Now pour in slowly one and one-half gallons of best New Orleans mo-
lasses, to which add twelve ounces of pure glycerine. Stir twenty min-

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. I3

utes, when it should be taken from the bath. If it is your first effort
at roller making, it is best to let the composition stand over night to
cool, and if solid and elastic, remelt and cast the rollers the next day.
We make the composition and cast it as soon as made, and you can do
the same after a few trials if you follow directions explicitly in prepar-
ing the glue. Should the composition be too soft, add a few more
pounds of the solid glue, but do not let the composition cook any. Re-
move as soon as melted and let stand about twenty minutes before
pouring into the moulds. Skim off the skin and bubbles that gather
on the top, and the composition will flow easily into the moulds.

Equal parts of glue and glycerine will make excellent rollers for
cold weather for use on presses running exclusively on book papers with
quick drying inks. The addition of a small‘ proportion of molasses will
add to the life of the composition.

Roller Brevities.

ROLLERS made the first of the year prove most servicable as sum-
mer rollers, being tough, elastic and tacky.

ROLLER moulds should be thoroughlyand smoothly oiled, using a
little lamp black on the swab to fill the small pores in the mold and
make the rollers slip out easily.

SEVERE cold weather dries the face of rollers equally as fast as the
heat of summer. A protection is to leave thin ink or oil on them until
wanted, and wash before placing them in the press.

A roller that shrinks and becomes uneven on the surface should be
recast at once. It has been made with too much water, and the rapid
evaporation of that element is the cause of the unevenness. It will re-
cast readily. ’

If it was in man’s power to incorporate his life blood into roller
composition, it would have the same senses of touch and feeling that
man has, and any person who can imagine this as a fact will not need
instructions about how to take care of rollers.

Old rollers are best for colored inks when a full color is printed,
and new ones for tints. When a full flow of color is required for a
solid printing, a new and tacky roller often takes the oil and leaves the
color, producing Streaky work. Thorough mixing or grinding in of
dammar varnish will prevent it.

Many a good roller is melted down at the ends when the adjust-
ments have been correct in every particular, and from no other cause

l4 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

than that the rollers have been running dry at the ends. If the form
is in the middle or at one side, shut off the ink clean in the space from
the form to the end of the rollers, and give a flow of ink from the ex-
treme end of the fountain, and there will be no melting down of the
ends of the rollers from dry running.

Every printing office should have a closet to put rollers in—as
nearly dust proof as possible without being air tight, and rollers that
are not in use should be kept in the closet. If rollers need seasoning.
clean and hang them in the air; otherwise always leave soft ink or
oil on them. \Vhen rollers have too much suction, caused by taking
moisture from the air, always leave a heavy coating of oil or soft ink on
them, whether left on the press or placed in the closet.

There is a difference of opinion among printers about washing rol-
lers. Never wash a new roller in anything but lard oil. Any roller
that has a face that feels tough can be washed with coal oil; but the
washing should be done quickly when more suction is not desired in the
roller. Never use any washes with lye or potash in them, as a very
weak solution of either of them has a chemical action that kills both
glue and glycerine; and when such action takes place, the composition
is similar to a piece of skin that has been burned off your hand.

If rollers are cast on the premises, you can virtually say that job
rollers cost nothing, or next to nothing, for the moulds may be got
ready when cylinder press rollers are being cast, and filled when there
is more composition than is required for the larger casts. Small rollers
may be made at any time from the trimmings of the cylinder rollers.

A good thing to remember about making rollers is the difference in
the proportions used in summer and winter. Equal proportions of glue
and molasses for winter; half as much molasses as glue for summer;
and other variations to suit the climate and machine on which the rol-
lers are to be used.

 

THE simplest, best and most effective way to prevent electricity in
paper during the process of printing, is to occasionally oil the tympan
sheet with machine oil. Do not use benzine or coal oil as both have a
tendency to wrinkle and weaken the tympan sheet. When sheets are
coming from the press so thoroughly charged that a distinct electric
shock is felt when taken hold of to remove from the fly table, and so
that a dozen sheets hang to one, try this simple remedy. With some
paper it is necessary to oil the tympan four or five times a day, but the
time occupied in this way will he saved when jogging up the sheets.

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 15

About Rollers, Always Remember,

That a smooth surface and adhesiveness are essential,

That rollers that crack on the surface have too much glue in their
make-up. They are worthless and should be recast, with glycerine or
molasses added; *

That glue and any of the numerous resins give strength and elas-
ticity to rollers, water and glycerine add the suction, and syrup or su-
gar, by compounding with the other elements, prolongs the working
qualities;

That with good rollers you can produce good work from any object
on the surface of any kind of stock. If your work is running badly,
there is something wrong with the rollers or the ink—generally the
rollers;

That the addition of-a few touches of venice turpentine will usu-
ally put suction in a roller that is loosing its suction by running continu-
ously in soft or oily inks.

That roller moulds should be kept clean. Wrap cloth or paper
over the ends before putting them away. Rust inside of roller moulds
may be scoured out with fine emery paper, which is placed around the
swab to reach spots any distance from the ends. Where the emery is
used, an energetic swabbing is necessary to smooth the surface. If
graphite, soot or lampblack is used with oil on a swab, there will never
be any difficulty in slipping rollers out of the moulds;

That only old and well seasoned rollers are suitable for printing
with copying inks. The color is ground in glycerine instead of oil, and
the glycerine will affect any roller and soon ruin a new one;

That in extremely dry- weather it is well to have a cup of water in
the roller closet, especially during the winter months. Use your judg-
ment in this respect, and keep water away from new rollers and those
having too much suction;

That rollers made in winter outlast those made at any other time.
More glycerine and saccharine matter are used in proportion to the
glue, and the water absorbed to soften the glue evaporates in a few
weeks, leaving the roller thoroughly seasoned and tough, with only the
glycerine and resin to retain the suction. Should the proportion of mo-
lasses be about four to one of glycerine, such rollers are almost certain
to pass through the hot, damp weather of July and August;

That glue and glycerine rollers can be recast, no matter what the
age; but when saccharine matter is embodied in the composition. re-
melting is difficult and sometimes impossible

16 HANDBOOK or PRINTING.

DOCTORING ROLLERS.

THE roller composition has not been made but that with age it
must be doctored, remelted or thrown away. Many rollers are dead
in six weeks after being cast, but a properly made roller from new
material will last many months without any attention further than
proper care. Some soon reach a condition that makes them useless
without manipulation of some kind to renew their life, suction, and
even their elasticity, which is easily and quickly done. In many cases
we have found that it would have been far better to remelt than doctor.
In other cases the renewed rollers were worth more than new ones.

A composition, the glue of which has been killed by cooking, is
the most difficult to renew when the rollers have lost their usefulness.
If water is applied to them, it merely enters the glycerine and molasses
and makes the surface soggy. Th‘e springiness that should be revived
in the glue will not appear, and the glue being dead it is only loosened
from the other elements of the composition to work off into the form or
on the ink table, where it gathers in ridges. It could not be remelted,
and very little time should be expended in trying to make the rollers
do good work. Rollers of this kind are either a recast by the roller
maker or have been burned in the making, which may always be dis.
cerned by the lack of elasticity, though they may have every other
appearance of good rollers. The usefulness of such rollers from the
first is limited, and they are the kind that last not more than three
months. But rollers that last three months of continuous work have
produced more profit than the same investment would in any other
department of printing.

When rollers are smooth on the surface and have become too solid
to use without wearing the type rapidly at the edges of the form, the
water in their make up has simply evaporated. For immediate use,
a simple remedy is to wrap a wet woolen blanket tightly around each
roller and leave it over night. Wring the water out of the blanket so
that it is merely wet—not soaked. The rollers should stand about one
hour before use after removing the blanket. Merely putting in the
water in this way will put the rollers in excellent condition for several
days, but if there is no immediate need for the rollers they may be
made equal to new by rewrapping the blankets on them, with as much
water as they will hold and still be wrapped tightly. Rewrap them
twice in an hour to prevent a ridge forming at the edge of the blanket.
In an hour's time as much water as they. need has gone into them.
Now rub into them with the hand as much molasses as they seem to
absorb and place them in a closet for a few days, when they will work

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. I7

as well as new, but not as long a time as if the composition had been
remelted and the molasses compounded by a gentle heat. By a pro-
ceeding of this kind hard rollers for proof and country hand presses
may be kept in fine condition for years.

\Nhere small rollers have become hard and lost their suction and
are so made that recasting is an impossibility, hanging them in water
to soften the surface is preferable to wrapping with blankets and avoids
the possibility of any unevenness in the expansion. The ends of the
rollers should be painted and allowed to dry, or daubed with ink, and
the face of the rollers cleaned perfectly. After having been in the wa-
ter about thirty minutes take them out and thoroughly wash them with
a cloth, to remove any oil that has been forced to the surface by the
water, and the expansion thereafter will be uniform. Let them re-
main in the water as long as the face retains its solidity, but remove
them at the least sign of sogginess of the surface. Let them stand
until dry, when the molasses should be applied.

A purely glue and molasses roller is difficult to renew otherwise
than by remelting, and if in the winter glycerine should be added to
it, thereby making a more lasting roller. Except for immediate use in
summer, there is no need to make a composition of simply glue and mo-
lasses. The working life of rollers from such composition is too short
in comparison to a roller properly made.

We have found it quite profitable to doctor both small and large
rollers. Other printers claim that it does not pay. We produced good
work on a drum cylinder with a pair of rollers six years old, and the
work executed was as good at the last as the same rollers produced
when new. We made the rollers in 1879 from Van Bibber Rough and
Ready. They had been revived many times and always retained a
rubber-like solidity. From first to last they were the best rollers we
ever used, but only as an experiment did it pay to revive them up to a
working condition the last time used, when they had been on the stocks
over six years without recasting. They were first soaked their full
length in water for eight hours and then taken out and gently scraped
with the back of a knife, which made the hard ink shoot from the pin
holes in long slender pieces. They were then put back in the water
and left during the night. They were solid and springy the next morn-
ing and apparently no larger than when placed in the water. After
hanging in the water over night, they were gently but quickly rubbed
with a cloth saturated with acetic acid. This threw the finely pebbled
surface into a perfectly smooth condition, which was retained by a
quick application of glycerine with as gentle rubbing as possible. Af-
ter standing during the day the rollers were washed with water and an

18 HANDBOOK or PRINTING.

application of molasses given them and left on during the night, and
washed with water the next morning. They looked like new rollers.
'1‘ hey were put in the press and run within a few hours of twelve days
on fifty-cent red ink, being washed and coated with oil each evening.

We had Crutsinger composition rollers on a four roller Potter that
run over four years without recasting, though they were revived many
times. After bringing them back to suction and pliability, they would
last nearly or quite as long as if newly cast. The process of doctoring
was similar to that mentioned in the former paragraph, except that it
was not necessary to use the acetic acid, the surface of the rollers al-
ways remaining smooth, even if left in the water over night.

Some rollers are easily revived after becoming as hard as the orig-
inal glue used in their making, while others are difficult to do any thing
with from the time they first begin to skip the form. But if the glue
has not been burned in the making, there is less trouble in reviving
than in recasting; besides, rollers that will not remelt can easily be
revived. While it does not pay to doctor worn out rollers, and rollers
that are cut full of creases, they may be made to carry color as a fol-
lower to a good roller, where such becomes necessary. In the damp,
hot season, a doctored roller is simply a pressman’s salvation. It can-
not acquire too much moisture, and often improves its working qualities
while all other rollers are piling up trouble in “heaps.”

Presuming that the rollers have lost all suction and would not re
melt under any test, wash them clean with coal oil, finishing with hot
water, rubbing hard and quick. Hang in a bath of cold water for an
hour, when, by rubbing carefully over the surface with the back of a
large knife, bearing on as hard as the composition will permit without
tearing the face, all the dry and hard ink that fills the pin holes will
come out and the roller will be as clean as if new. Any old roller may
be cleaned in this manner and work the finest tints and colors without
changing their shades during continuous running; but if a roller is to
be merely cleaned of the dry ink that is in the pin holes, the age and
condition must determine how long it should hang in the water. The
roller that is being revived should be placed in the water as soon as
cleaned, and if it is a tough and hard roller it may remain in several
hours, but it must be examined often to see that it does not get too
much soaking. A tough glue, glycerine and molasses roller may re-
main in the bath twelve hours without absorbing too much water. But
you must know the composition to risk leaving it in the water during
the night. When the composition has acquired the soft springy feeling
of a new roller, rub into it all the glycerine you possibly can .with the
hand and let it stand eight or ten hours, when it should receive: the

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 19

same kind of treatment with the best sugar-house molasses. The more
of the molasses you rub in, the greater the success of the operation.
This makes the roller as good as new and it will last nearly as long as
if fresh from the mould. Remember that glycerine should not be
used in any case if in the middle of the summer.

When Bingham or Crutsinger rollers lose their suction and not
their elasticity, manipulation to suit any kind of job or ink is simple.
By placing them in water for thirty minutes and in air free from draft
for one hour, they will be ready for any work in soft inks, and the fol-
lowing day they will work like new rollers even with the stiffest ink.
Other simple plans for the application of water to rollers will be found
under subject of T we or More Colors at One Impression.

A roller for a hand press, made of only molasses and glue, equal
parts of each, and without any cooking, merely heated until thoroughly
mixed, lasted over six years for taking proofs. About once a month
the roller was thoroughly cleaned and placed in water for two hours,
and then left in a cool place over night. A coating of soft ink was put
on it the next morning and it was placed in its box. The roller was al-
ways put away with oil or soft ink on its surface and it kept a face like
a new one.

Most job press feeders know how quickly the small rollers in their
spiders get hard and lose all semblance of suction. Lack of care is the
principal cause, and care and doctoring is the remedy that will secure
a good distributer all the year round. Every night distribute oil on the
roller and plate. The ease of washing up in the morning will well re-
pay for the trouble; besides, the composition improves by having the
protection the oil gives its surface from the rapid drying inks and var-
nishes that are usually left to dry on its face every day. Treat these
small rollers the same as indicated concerning the country hand press
roller, and the small spiders will always be as good as new.

 

LARGE FORMS of type and cuts that cannot be washed in lye and
water may be cleaned perfectly and the ink absorbed by a cloth by
first dampening the cloth with water and then using benzine with which
to wash the form. The washing can be done in less time and with less
benzine, and the coloring is not washed down into the type as when a
bmsh is used. By going over the form a second time with a clean
woolen rag and benzine the surface will be left bright and clean.
Benzine used in this way also quickly removes gold size and quick-dry-
ing colors from rollers.

zo HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.
BALSAHS AND VARNISHES.

Balsams. All balsams are resinous,—a natural compound of
resin and essential oil, the proportions such that the substance is in a
semi-fluid condition, which hardens on exposure to the air. One of the
constituent parts, the essential oil, takes the form of an acid when ex-
posed to the air, and aids in the rapid .drying of ink to such an extent
that when used in good colors and on hard papers, it cannot be slurred
ten minutes after being printed. Balsams can be made from any of
the numerous resins of commerce, but any druggist will supply the oleo-
resins in their natural condition, the best for use in the printing indus-
try being those that are free from cinnamic and benzoic constituents.

Balsam Copaiba. Balsam copaiba is the printer’s balsam. It
is entirely destitute of cinnamic and benzoic acids, and is a fluid oleo-
resin of a straw color. It is a product of tropical America. Its judi-
cious use makes the best kind of a dryer for every grade of printer’s
color, and prevents ink from drying on type or rollers. Being free
from the cinnamic and benzoic constituents that turn to a slow drying
acid when exposed to the air, is what makes copaiba preferable for job
press inks. When the balsam becomes hard it may be reduced with
alcohol or ether.

Balm 0f Gilead. Balm of gilead is almost exactly like balsam
copaiba, except that it becomes harder with age.

Dammar Varnish. Dammar varnish is a solution made by
boiling powdered resin in spirits of turpentine, to which more turpen-
tine is added after cooling, to bring the preparation to the consistency
desired for use in printing inks. Its source is the same as copal, and
its uses similar. Its peculiar eflects on the working of inks are most
noticeable in small experiments on job presses. If a script card fol-
lows an envelope or card job in cheap ink, all that is necessary to get
line results is to sheet off the surplus ink, put on two drops of the var-
nish and distribute thoroughly. By the time the press is made ready
the ink will have a tackiness that will make it print like a three dollar
ink. Experimenting on this line with all colors will give satisfaction.

Turpentines. Turpentines in whatever shape are balsams of
the oleo resinous class. Venice turpentine and canada balsam are true
turpentines, from which oil of turpentine is manufactured, and when
thinned with alcohol make excellent reducers for inks where a clean
print is wanted on soft or uncalendered paper. The oil of turpentine
is a fine reducer for poster inks, and gives best results when mixed just
before the press is started. When used to thin blue or red inks the

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 21

colors may be reduced very thin and dammar varnish added to coun‘
teract the effect of so much oil, and assist in holding together the color
and oil and give the necessary tack to the distribution.

Canada Balsam. This is a very transparent substance, some-
what fluid when run from the tree but thickens considerably with age.
It contains 24 percent of essential oil, 60 percent of resin soluble in al-
cohol, and 16 percent of resin soluble only in ether. For thinning it is
necessary to use alcohol first and then ether, and when reduced with
these liquids the balsam, when mixed with colors of any kind, becomes
a rapid dryer and makes the colors run smoothly. The essential oil
contained in the balsam is a slow dryer and makes it important to use
it-sparingly in inks for cards and hard papers.

Varnishes and balsams are dryers because the air acts promptly to
harden them, partly through the evaporation of the spirits used in their
reduction, and through the prompt action of oxygen on both the var-
nish and the oil used in the manufacture of the ink. Too much dryer
will pull the rollers to pieces, but as much as the roller composition will
stand will have no effect on printing on hard papers. Should too much
varnish be put into the ink, a little parafline will modify its tenacity.
Enough dryer is put into some inks by the manufacturer, and if you do
not know the ink your experimental judgment will have to be used to
guide you. There is no known test by which to judge a new ink, ex-
cept to try it on the press.

DRYERS AND REDUCERS.

In poster printing, coal oil and turpentine are extensively used for
thinning inks.

Tm: judicious use of balsam copaiba makes the best kind of dryer
for all kinds of ink.

An excellent substitute for the wonderful Inkoleum is a mixture of
eighty parts of kerosene oil with twenty parts of ether.

Pure linseed oil varnish alone should be used in color work, when
two or more colors are printed on top of another, to prevent sticking
and offset.

One quart of spirits of turpentine and six ounces balsam copaiba
mixed with poster ink is an excellent dryer; makes the ink work freely,
smoothly and brightly. Mix sufiicient to work easily with spatula.

22 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

A very simple dryer, only to be used on small jobs and added to
the ink for immediate use, can be made by taking one ounce of or-
dinary brown sugar and dissolving it in acetic acid until it is in a heavy
fluid state; add a little balsam copaiba and mix with the ink. The ink
will dry fast and with a beautiful gloss.

All dryers for the use of the printer are balsams of a resinous na—
ture. There are several desirable results gained by their use,—suction
or tackiness in working, quick drying, and gloss. Any of the liquid
balsams will give the necessary tackiness, while such hard, lustrous res-
ins as copal add the gloss and drying qualities.

Paraffine. Parafiine is composed wholly of carbon and hydro-
gen and is solid or fluid, the latter being the most convenient for use
in printing inks. Extreme care must be exercised in its use, as it con-
tains carbon to such an extent that the process of drying is very slow;
in and of itself it will never dry. The touch of eupion oil contained in
it gives additional value and adds the fat that prevents it from drying.
It may be used liberally in all inks that are composed principally of
linseed oil and varnish, as oxygen will enter the oil of the ink and pro-
mote rapid drying as soon as it is spread on the paper. It will make
any ink work smoothly and true to color, and the heaviest coated paper
will leave the form without pulling off the enamel or tearing the paper.
It prevents all inks except steel blue and red from drying on the rollers.

A little parafline run on the rollers at quitting time in the evening
will enable presses to be started early on cold mornings. If the form
is a heavy one, with large wood letter or illustrations, it will be neces-
sary to thin the ink in the fountain with varnish. Coal oil is even bet—
ter than varnish when the paper used is not calendered. There are no
inks that paraffine will not add smoothness and luster to, and with
bronze blue and steel blue, or any of the gloss colors, it is almost an in-
dispensible adjunct to perfect work.

Here is a mixture of common oils of commerce that will thin stiff
printing ink, prevent gumming, and enable the prompt starting of
presses when the temperature is near zero: 1 quart of coal oil; %
pint of common ether; % ounce of essential oil of sassafras; and %
ounce of essential oil of cloves. The ether and essential oils evaporate
rapidly, forming a slow drying acid which saves much washing of rol-
lers, and presses may be started promptly on cold mornings without
warming the plate or ink, washing the plate or rollers being necessary
only when they are covered with lint or dirt.

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 23

OILS AND INKS.

OILS are essential both in the use and manufacture of printing ink,
but only the class containing linoleic acid, known as drying oils, should
be used. Ink requires oils that have smoothness and drying qualities.
Linseed oil is the best class for the printer in making or thinning colors,
its elements being hydrogen and carbon. In the raw shape it will re-
tain its fluid condition indefinitely if kept from the air, but on expose-
ure to air oxygen enters rapidly and thereby hardens it into a solid,
translucent body. In a thin layer like that produced in tints or chrc»
motypes it is transparent. Oils dry by evaporation or by the entrance
of oxygen into them, and in linseed oil the drying qualities are so dom-
inant that if a bundle of rags is saturated with linseed oil and exposed
to air for a few minutes, oxygen will be absorbed so rapidly that the
friction will create heat intense enough to produce spontaneous com-
bustion. It is the lack 'of oxygen that renders linseed oil so essential in
printing inks, especially where one color is printed on another. It dries
quickly and is transparent, the under colors appearing as if printed
last.

Colors into which linseed oil is incorporated dry very rapidly when
spread on the paper in the thin coating that comes from the forms in
printing. On some grades of super calendered book, fine inks thinned
with pure linseed oil that has not been boiled, will dry almost as soon
as the sheets are delivered from the press, especially in pressrooms
where fresh air circulates freely.

It seems hardly possible, from the natural action of this oil, that
too much could be embodied in ink, but it is a fact. There is no
doubt about the ink drying when once spread on the paper, but to get
a clean and sharp print without a dauby or oily appearance, and still
retain its drying qualities, is an important matter and one that requires
much thought, experiment and care. It is necessary to have a tacky
constituency, which linseed does not have; but it is readily added by
the introduction of a small quantity of any kind of balsam. The resin
in the turpentine that is used to cut the ink will answer for soft papers,
but on all hard surfaced stock, some of the many varnishes or balsmns
are necessary—preferably dammar varnish or balsam copaiba. It is as
impossible to do without the one as the other.

Inks are thinned to make them flow. It is essential that an ele-
ment be incorporated in the ink that will hold together the elements
that the oil cuts apart; and this same element must act on the rollers in
such a manner that they will try to retain this smooth, oily substance.
A dryer of a resinous nature will do this. Hence, always thin the color

24 HANDBOOK or PRINTING.

before adding the dryer, and always remember that neither the thin-
ning oils or dryers are the same for all kinds of paper.

To keep inks in good condition, pour a little machine oil on top,
put the lid on, and securely seal at the joint by pasting a strip of pa-
per clear around the can. This takes but a moment and is the only
remedy against skinning.

To give dark inks a bronze or changeable hue, take 1% pounds
gum shellac and dissolve it in one gallon 95 percent alcohol spirits of
cologne for 24 hours; then add [4 ounces aniline red; let it stand a
few hours longer, when it will be ready for use. Add this to good
blue, black or other dark inks as needed, in quantities to suit, when,
if carefully done, they will be found to have a rich bronze or change-
able hue.

A bright, attractive and lasting red can be produced from vermil-
ion to which a few drops of dammar varnish is added and thoroughly
ground or mixed.

Red and green inks give good results when thinned with spirits of
turpentine and worked with dammar varnish previously thinned with
raw linseed oil. The oil is a quick dryer and the varnish keeps the ink
tacky.

Any ink of good quality may be made to print smooth and perfect
by the judicious use of oils or dryers. The more thorough the grinding
in mixing, the better the ink and the higher the price. A medium-
priced ink in which varnishes and dryers are judiciously incorporated
will do better work than ink at double the price which is used directly
from the can; still it is best to try an unknown ink as it comes from the
maker. Solid surfaces or large letters can seldom be printed without
an admixture of some substance to give the color a smooth or greasy
run. \Vhen the printing has a mottled appearance, the ink is running
so stiff that it is sucked off the printing surfaces by the rollers, which
have a greater aflinity for the stiff color than has the lifeless surface of
the metal. Coal oil, paraffine and turpentine are the reducers used,
according to the stock, and a little experience is all that is necessary to
know how to use them. Should too much oil be stirred in, the addi-
tion of fresh ink will counteract the effects; but by putting in a small
quantity at a time and watching the results, the possibility of thinning
too much will be avoided. Colors are generally rUn too heavily, which
is the main cause for much of the mottled or (lanthy work produced.
Experience with inks cannot all be told. Some Colors can be thinned
with turpentine, as thin as common molasses, and a quick dryer added
to it will make it work splendidly, while without the dryer the work
would not pass among the poorest judges of printing.

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 25

A brilliant scarlet may be made from the dry vermilion by grind-
ing in boiled linseed oil or heavy varnish. A dryer is added after-
wards to hold the oil and powder together and aid in smooth spreading
over type and rollers.

Any colored powder from a metalic pigment will make a perma-
nent colored ink, by grinding in any oil in which it is insoluble,——for
hard papers, linoleic oils; for soft papers, turpentine and alcohol. Col-
ors from organic material will make the finest and brightest inks for
transitory uses, while the vegetable coloring principles that enter earthy
bodies and form the numerous lakes, will give permanent colors in inks
when ground in pure, crude linseed oil. After a thorough grinding in
the oil, it is necessary to grind again after mixing in a small quantity
of spermaceti and heavy copal varnish, or balsam copaiba.

Black inks in all grades are the most easily made, the powder or
soot being absolutely free from grity substances of any kind. Good
black news and book inks can be made without grinding; but by grind-
ing the quality is immensely improved, the thorough mixing as it goes
through the mill giving it a softness that otherwise would not be .ob-
tained. The addition of an ounce of venice turpentine to every pound
of boiled linseed oil gives the ink more body.

A ten pound can of jet black book ink can be made as follows:
Mix six pounds of the best lampblack into a solid mass with heavy
printer’s varnish, and grind thoroughly in a mortor. Prepare two
pounds of Chinese blue in a similar manner, but with more energetic
mulling. If for use as soon as made, add ten ounces of venice turpen-
tine and mix thoroughly again. If you have succeeded in getting the
mass a thick paste, its working qualities will be improved by pounding
it with a round-faced hammer before reducing it with linseed oil to the
proper consistency for printing. Thorough grinding will improve it
tenfold, and if you have not a mill to run it through, you must not ex-
pect as fine printing as from thoroughly ground inks.

When cinnamic and benzoic elements are a part of any essential
oil, the oil is a slow dryer when exposed to the air, an acid forming
that tends towards retaining the fluid condition. For solid colors on
soft papers it assists the easy flow and even printing of large surfaces.
It is most prominent in canada balsam and venice turpentine, and is
found in liberal quantities in cloves, sassafras and cinnamon.

 

GLUE and molasses rollers were introduced into the United States
in 1826. The composition was a secret at first, but it was so great an
improvement over the leather dauber that nothing could hold it back
from the progressive printers of that day.

26 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING

Other Ways to Make Rollers.

THAT there may be a wider range of experience in roller making,
we give a number of recipes from other sources than our own, from
which good, practical ideas of the different means to the same end
may be obtained.

To make a good roller that will last, take of glue eight parts, of
syrup three parts, of glycerine one part. Soak the glue until springy,
then spread it out until it dries to a sticky consistency, then put it in
your pot and melt thoroughly; then add your syrup and glycerine and
boil till a thick scum gathers on the top. It is then ready for the
moulds and by pouring slowly, taking care that the scum is removed,
you will have rollers that with proper care will last you as long as any
you can buy, and at fifty percent less cost.—Press News.

Best white glue, one pound; concentrated glycerine, one pound.
Soak the glue over night in just enough cold soft water to cover it.
Put the softened glue in a fine cloth bag, gently press out excess of wa-
ter, and melt the glue by heating it over a salt-water bath. Then
gradually stir in the glycerine and continue the heating, with occasional
stirring, for several hours, or until as much of the water is expelled as
possible.-—Printer’s Register.

Ten and one half pounds of genuine irish glue; two and one-half
gallons of black treacle, or honey; one pound of india rubber dissolved
in alcohol; two ounces of venice turpentine; twelve ounces of glycerine;
fot.r ounces of strong vinegar. Soak glue over night, and drain in the
morning by means of a covered colander for one hour. Boil treacle
and skim for twenty minutes. Add the india rubber and stir until it
combines with the treacle. Add glue and boil for forty minutes, occa-
sionally stirring the mass. Put in venice turpentine and glycerine; boil
six or seven minutes and pour. This is the recipe for making the mys-
terious “black composition,” so durable and elastic, and known to but
very few persons until recently. If properly handled it cannot be ex-
celled, and contains every element required in a roller. Caution must
be taken that only purified rubber is used.—Kellogg’s Union.

In the manufacture of inking rollers, great care should be exer.
cised in the selection of the glue; use none but what will make a stiff
jelly with water, in proportion of sixteen of water to one of glue, at a
temperature of seventy degrees. It should be free from adulteration.
Soak in cold water until the water has penetrated half through the
glue, then drain off the water and wait until the glue has become soft;
then melt in a water bath. If glycerine is used, let it get hot in the

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 27

melting kettle before the glue is added. When the glue is dissolved,
add the molasses, syrup, honey, or other saccharine matter, and cook
the whole until the water in the glue has nearly all evaporated. The
quantity of glycerine and saccharine matter to be used depends wholly
upon the strength of the glue, the season, climate, press to be used on,
and work expeCted to be performed. —Samuel Bingham.

The following 15 my formula for making roller composition: Good
hide glue, five pounds;c crude glycerine, eight pounds; New Orleansvor
sugar- -house molasses, quantity sufficient. I use a very thin glue. Plac-
ing it on a piece of thin muslin or cheese cloth about a yard square, I
take hold of the four corners and submerge it in clear cold water about
a minute, then take it out, shake'out all the water I can, and hang it
up for a while, until all of the glue is perfectly pliable. Now put it in
the kettle and cook from two to three hours, add the glycerine and
cook forty to sixty minutes, so that the ingredients become thoroughly
mixed and of the same temperature, then pour off into a flat pan. It
will keep 1n this shape for months and will readily remelt. To make
rollers, add the molasses to suit the weather. You can cook the mo-
lasses, say thirty to fifty minutes, and add the composition and cook
until thoroughly melted; or you can melt the composition and add the
molasses and cook about fifty to sixty minutes. For winter rollers it
will be necessary to add as much or more syrup as you have glycerine.
Have used rollers made after this formula from one to two years on
cylinder presses on all kinds of work. —R. Rees, in Inland Printer.

In answer to a correspondent, that excellent printer’s journal—
The Inland Printer, Chicago—gives the following concerning a good
country- -oflice roller:

The old formula of one pound of glue and one quart of molasses is
the best. A first .quality glue only should be used. Put the glue to
soak over night, letting it take up all the water it can, until each and
every piece is soft; then drain it thoroughly, after which place it in a
kettle constructed-upon the same principle as a regular glue kettle—
the outer shell filled with water, the inner one with the composition.
Boil (we do not mean simmer) until the glue is all melted, leaving no
hard pieces, then add the molasses (the old-fashioned New Orleans'
molasses is the best) and stir constantly for about three-quarters of an
hour. It is important that the roller mould should be well and thor-
oughly oiled, so that the roller when cast can be removed, which must
be done steadily and without haste, else the face of the roller will be
marred. Do not attempt to remove the roller from the mould in less
than twenty-four hours. In warm weather use more glue in proportion

28 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

to the molasses; in cold weather, vice versa. The roller being cast and
successfully removed from the mould, should not be used for several
days, until it is thoroughly surfaced. To keep it always 1n good con-
dition it should not be cleaned either with kerosene or benzine, as they
burn out the molasses, leaving an unyielding mass of glue, full of
cracks and perfectly useless. Wash the roller in oil, wipe off with a
rag, and you will have a roller that is always reliable.

The very latest “good thing” on rollers 15 given as follows, by the-
Inland Printer, in answer to a correspondent in Central America:

\0 fixed rule can be given for the exact proportions of glue and
molasses; or glue , sugar and glycerin; or glue and glycerin, for roller
composition; because the temperatures of summer and winter would
render it null. Still, for a temperature of sixty-five to seventy degrees.
we state that one pJund of pure glue to one quart of molasses would
do quite well. A great deal of the success attendant on roller making
depends on the quality of the ingredients made use of for the compo
sition. Select glue that will break off short and snappy, like glass, and
that is perfectly clear; sugar-house molasses is best for a syrup; and
glycerin should be refined or a considerable degree removed from the
crude state. If the glue is in thin flakes it should be soaked in clean
water until moistened about half through, when it should be spread
out on a clean board, slightly inclined, to allow the water to drain off,
after which it should be put into the melting kettle. \Vhen the glue is
thoroughly melted then add the molasses or sugar, and when these are
well incorporated by simmering, to nearly the boiling point, for about
two hours, then add glycerin, paris white or tar, as the case may be.
As soon as these have become properly mixed in the melting, stand the
kettle off the heat for about fifteen minutes before pouring the compo-
sition into the mould. The mould must be well oiled and warmly heated
to receive the composition so that it will not be chilled and become
streaky as it flows to the bottom of the mould. Pour the composition
slowly and steadily, to allow air-bubbles to escape at the mouth of the
mould. Here find a few recipes for making roller composition: No. I
(roller for fine work)—-eight parts glue; twelve parts sugar-house molas-
ses, a tablespoonful of tar. No. 2 (middle temperature roller)—
Cooper’s fine glue, eight to nine pounds; two and a half gallons extra
sugar-house molasses, one pint of good glycerin, and about two ounces
of venice turpentine. No. 3 (winter roller)—ten parts glue, ten parts
refined sugar and twelve parts glycerin. No. 4 (durable and elastic
roller)—-ten to eleven pounds of Buffalo glue; one gallon best maple
syrup or sugar cane molasses; one pound purified India rubber shavings;
two ounces Carolina tar; twelve ounces glycerin, and about four ounces

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 29

of strong vinegar. No. 5 (superior roller for job presswork)—three
pounds Cooper’s best flake glue; four pounds rock candy, and three
ounces refined glycerin. Pure sugar-house molasses should have a
deep greenish sheen, be fairly thick, and very sweet and void of acid.
Rollers should not be washed with strong lye. If lye must be used,
let it be fairly weak and mixed with a little common table salt to kill
the effects of the alkali on the face of the roller.

 

NOTE.—In regard to the foregoing, we want to state that vinegar
is a form of acetic acid, and that when used in glue it kills forever its
elasticity without effecting its adhesiveness. As far back in the years
as 1877 we made rollers from a recipe by Mr. R. Rees. We have
made as fine a roller from his last recipe, as here re-printed, as ever
was made by any person from any recipe or composition, but the roller
was made in ONE HOUR from the time the water was hot in the outer
kettle. We prepared the gluelas given in our recipes, and cooked the
composition only enough to compound the different ingredients. We
work with glue as it comes from the manufacturer, who has given it all
the cooking necessary.

ON PAPER RULING.

THERE are several little machines before the trade which enable
any printer to rule a small quantity of paper to any pattern required
without the delay and trouble of sending it to a regular paper ruler.

In using these machines much difficulty is experienced sometimes
in operating on some kinds "of paper, not through any defect in the
apparatus, but owing to a want of knowledge of the art itself. For
instance, certain sorts of sized paper do not take the blue ink properly,
that is to say, in ruling technicality it does not “strike.” The lines are
composed, in fact, of a series of bead-like dots, instead of being solid
and unbroken.

The amateur ruler should know that paper requires a certain
quantity of gall mixed with the ink. Ox gall should be procured if
possible; if not sheep’s g'all may be used, but a larger quantitywill be
required as it is not of the same strength as the other.

Supposing you have.prepared your ink to the proper tint required,
mix well with each quart one tablespoonful of gall. This is sufiicient
for all ordinary sized papers. Increase the quantity ,of gall as you find
the paper hard or greasy; at the same time bear in mind that the flan-
nel over the pens must be kept perfectly clean by being washed every

3O HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

other day in a little clean warm water. If the acid in the blue ink has
not been properly destroyed all the gall you may use will not prevent
the bead-like lines.

Particular care must be taken, likewise, that all the pens have the
same hearing; if not, the one that presses too heavily will give a thick
line, whereas the one that hardly touches the paper will show a dotted
broken line.

Assuming that each pen is of the same length—that is, projecting
the same distance from the slide—regulate the bearing of them by the
regulator or screw attached for that purpose to the carriage of the
machine. This carriage is the part that grips or holds fast the slide
'wherein your pens are inserted. Let the nibs of all the pens'be of the
same slope or bevel, which must be done by drawing them over sand-
paper several times.

Do not work your pens too much on the slant, but tolerably up-
right. The cars or the parts that carry the carriage will regulate this.

Paste blue is sold by the ink-makers, which is very convenient and
is used thus: It is of about the same consistency as paste. Dip a
brush into the paste and rub three or four times round the basin. If
your ink has been standing, say all night, it will then be necessary to
turn it backwards and forwards in two basins. It will then be as
bright as if it were just made.—British and Colonial Printer and
Stationer.

 

“food type and solid surfaces in metal plates that are injured at the
press by accidental lifting of type, or by hard substances in the paper,
can be mended so as to print as good as before the mishap by a simple
mixture of warm glue and spanish whiting. The injured part should
be at least six-point deep, or deeper would be better, if a large surface
is injured in a wood letter, with an undercut bevel, to make certain
that the patching is permanent. Work the mixture into all the breaks,
leaving it a little above the surface, and when perfectly dry and hard
dress it down with emery cloth secured to a true surfaced block. When
dressed as close as possible without scratching the surface of the type
or plate, dress it smooth with tripoli powder or rottenstone with a
block covered with thin leather. These blocks will also be found very
effective in smoothing any rough places that may occur in stereotype
plates.

 

COPPER electrotypes should be thoroughly cleaned with turpentine
or benzine before putting them away. If ink or grease remains in the
fine lines, an acid generates that will destroy the electros.

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 3!

PADDING.

FOR the perfect understanding of padding compositions it is only
necessary to remember that the essential is glue, with its brittleness de-
stroyed without effecting its strength. Acetic acid does the former and
leaves the glue pliable or liquid, according to the proportions mixed;
without changing the adhesiveness of the glue. This alone makes
good padding, but dries slowly. Alcohol or ether adds the rapid dry-
ing quality.

With the recipes following, padding for all purposes may be
made:

For Office Stationery. 4 02. best American glue, soaked
2 hours in 8 oz. acetic acid. Heat in' common glue kettle and add 3
oz. of glycerine, and when ready for use add 2 oz. of cloroform, ether
or alcohol, to aid the drying. Apply while hot. This makes apliable,
strong padding.

Soak 8 oz. of best joiner’s glue in 6 oz. acetic acid or pure cider
vinegar. Dissolve 3 oz. gum benzoin in 4 oz. of alcohol and add to
the glue as soon as it is dissolved to a paste, stirring it until thoroughly
mixed. Cover with a sheet of book paper and a cloth, fold over the
edge of the vessel and tie tightly with a strong string to prevent evapo~
ration, and let it stand over night. Apply cold, and if work is in a
hurry dry by a stove. If too thick to spread readily with a brush,
thin with wood alcohol, if the smell is not objectionable; otherwise use
the spirit alcohol. The benzoic acid in the gum benzoin contains
enough essential oil to give a pleasant odor to the compound. This
makes a semi-flexible padding, and if 3 oz. of indiarubber be dissolved
End added it will remain in a sheet until the pad is used to the backing

card.

A simple and inexpensive tableting compound, for the common
run of work, is made by dissolving 9 oz. of white glue in 16 oz. of
acetic acid, and incorporating thoroughly I 02. of glycerine and I oz.
of .venice turpentine while the mass is slightly warm. This spreads
most readily when warm, but may be thinned with alcohol and applied
cold. ’

A flexible tableting composition that will allow work to be cut up
after blocking in gangs, is made of 3 oz. crude indiarubber (which may
be procured of any druggist), dissolved in 3 oz. of carbon disulphide;
and add 2 oz. glue dissolved in 6 oz. of acetic acid. The carbon
disulphide is an explosive and must be kept away from the fire. A

32 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

few drops of oil of bergamot will change the disagreeable odor of the
mixture. Apply cold.

Padding for Cheap Work. For pencil tablets, railroad work
and laundry lists, a strong adhesive compound is made as follows, and
applied hot: Glue, 2 lbs.; glycerine, 1 1b.; raw linseed oil, % 1b.;
granulated sugar, % lb. Soak the glue in water until soft, melt in a
water-bath, and add the sugar and glycerine. Remove from the fire
while stirring in the linseed oil. Apply with a common paint brush.

Still cheaper than the above and fully as good, if not better, may
be made from old roller composition. Shave off the hard surface of
the roller, cut from the roller core, chip the composition fine and put
the quantity you will use in a week in twice its weight of acetic acid.
Let it stand for a day, heat in water-bath and apply hot. If too thick
a little alcohol may be added, which will shorten the time for drying.

Aniline Colors in any shade or in any quantity may be used to
give attractiveness to the padding. Carmine, green, blue or purple are
good colors. Purple is made by mixing green and carmine. Any
offensive odor in the compounds may be counteracted by using a few
drops of tincture of myrrh or oil of bergamot.

 

Clear Printing. Any kind of ink can be made to work clear
and sharp, whether on solid plates or light lines. When the ink on the
press is too cheap for the stock, or possibly contains too much oil for
the proportion of drying material, you will always find a remedy in the
use of gold size or balsam copaiba. Either will make a cheap ink
work brighter and any good ink will give the results of the very best
grades. Script, light-face letter, or dotted and line brass rule that are
printing greasy or indistinct, will show up clear and Clean after the ad-
dition of a very small quantity of copaiba or sizing. The balsam is
colorless and can be used with any of the colors without changing
them, but the gold size is preferable where the color is not an objec-

tion.

It work is running streaky whether on large or small presses, thor-
oughly distribute thereon with a briar, a small quantity of whichever
of the two articles is preferable and the ink will acquire tackiness and
work smoothly immediately, provided, of course, it is cool weather.
\\'hen the atmosphere is saturated with hot, damp moisture, a proceed~
ing of this kind would increase the pulling of rollers that were already
taking moisture from the air.

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 33
COLOR PRINTING.

lHE steady increase in popularity of color work of every class adds
interest to that branch of printing, and incites the trade to continued
efforts to supply the demand. Not only are its attractive colors pleas-
ing to the printer who likes to work them, but customers want bright
colors on everything from stationery to catalogues and advertising.
The extra work necessary for each color, and most colors require more
care and time than black, gives additional chances for profit to the
craft; and the close competition now prevalent causes the majority of
concerns of every capacity to cater to the class of work that brings the
best prices. There is also a fascination about colors, and a scope for
changing the appearance of even common work. Any piece of work,
no matter how plain the setting, can be made much more attractive by
bright and well chosen colors; but the work soon demonstrates that
there is a varying cost and experience connected with each separate
transaction. And right here it is appropriate to quote the axiom,
“Keep up prices.”

Any printer that ventures into color printing soon discovers that
there is science in it, and that chemistry, art, and mathematical preci-
sion enter into its manipulations. A printer-artist reaches the highest
successes easily as to harmony, but any one that combines brains and
study can reach the same results, and often more correctly as to spe-
cific details. If an artist is void of energy, carelessness often gets pos-
session of him long enough to let slip in some inartistic effect, while
with the man of theories, care and study, everything works like a per-
fect machine. Color printing requires just that kind of a man, whose
care and attention never lag. What is learned today must be remem:
bered tomorrow, and every day’s experience must be jotted down
carefully on memory’s tablets, or some other handy place of ready
reference, to be put to practical use on shortest notice. Nothing can
be neglected in the simplest piece of color work and success attained.

Usually a card or dodger in colors will be the first attempt of any
printer, and if it be taken up without previous thought or study, the
difference between the result and what is expected, or possibly the
sample, is too plainly noticable. Perhaps the sample was the work of
an expert and the colors clear and bright—just the kind worthy of imi-
tation. The majority of beginners will fail in the last two essentials to
good work, on the first trial at least. It is necessary to have the inks
properly prepared and both press and rollers scrupulously clean. The
smallest particle of dark ink will destroy the life and brilliancy of
bright colors. For this reason, rollers that have to do all kinds of

34 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

work should be cleaned as per instructions for forcing the dry ink out
of the composition.

Never rush the first work you do in colors. Unless you have time
to execute a color job properly, it would be best to work it in black.
The glaring incompetency shown in some colored work is wonderful,
yet lack of time and insufficient pay is the cause of much of it. This
need not be so, as good prices can be secured and it is just as easy to
do good work at the press in colors as with black. Cleanliness, study
and choice of colors make the work easy. The best inks should always
be used, though a low-priced good ink can be made to do better work
than a more expensive, sparingly-ground color. The choice of colors,
as to harmony, is very essential in the production of pleasing and at-
tractive printing, which is fully outlined under heading of Harmony of
Colors, and should be referred to on all doubtful occasions.

It is usually advisable to buy inks from the manufacturer, and mix
them as needed. Very few inks are made but that a little thinning or
dryer is necessary to get best results, and it is better to stir up too much
than not enough on a job that must be of uniform color throughout.
Should any remain, see that it is worked into something else immedi-
ately or it will be wasted.

Some pressmen make the bulk of the ink used in colored printing,
while the majority leave this difficult work to the people who make a
study of color combinations and have the proper facilities for thorough
grinding. The use of dry color is advantageous, but study and expe-
rience are necessary to understand proper manipulation. Careful study
of article on Mixing Colors will give a perfect idea of the proper com-
pounding of colors, and shows thoroughly the component parts of inks
for various kinds of paper. There is great advantage in knowing what
inks are composed of, and the approximate proportions of oil and color.
With a thorough knowledge of this subject, it is easy to know just what
to do with any kind of ink. Experiments in mixing inks, according to
the formula: given elsewhere, should be indulged in at leisure, as it is
possible that the first lot of compounding would not work satisfactorily.
Mixtures of any grade are better and work best for a few day’s age.
But if you do not desire to mix any inks, it is advisable to have in stock
the dry colors to brighten a dull color of the same, or to change an ink
that has been thinned for soft paper back to a body suitable for stock
of a fine and hard finish.

Any honest ink manufacturer will tell you that inks made of ani-
line dyes are not permanent, and that attractive colors, like purple,
rose-lake, cardinal-cannines, and compounds therefrom, will fade and
lose their original brilliancy. If permanency is not essential, aniline

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 35

colors answer every purpose, and work easily and with a brightness
that cannot always be attained with the permanent colors made of
mineral. Fine, permanent colors are the most expensive, but should
be used when lasting qualities are desired. They are generally more
satisfactory in the working than most of- the cheaper inks.

There are three colors that cannot be made or compounded from
other colors, and they are the primary or original colors—red, blue and
yellow. Mixing any two of the primaries produces another color; and
thus three new colors are obtained, called secondary colors; thus the
two primaries, blue and yellow, when mixed together make the secon-
dary, green; yellow and red make orange; blue and red make purple,
and so on and on. If, instead of mixing these colors together, you
make them overprint each other the effect is approximately the same.
Thus, if you start with a red, and follow with yellow and then a blue
block, by simply making these colors overprint each other you produce
the additional colors, green and purple and orange. But inasmuch as
these last three secondary colors are each formed by two only out of
the three primary colors, you have in each case the third primary avail-
able to modify the three secondaries. ‘ Thus, the secondary green is
formed by the primary blue printing over the primary yellow. If the
third primary (red) is made to print over the green, it produces a brown.
Again, the two primaries, red and blue, make a purple; if the remain-
ing primary (yellow) be made to fall on this and print over it, you get
a yellow brown. If the primaries red and yellow be made to overprint
each other, and so produce an orange, the printing of the blue over
this will again create a brown. Thus, in those parts of the blocks that
are solid, although you are only using red, blue and yellow inks, you
are enabled to create, by overprinting, green, purple, orange, and
three tones of brown of different shades; and each of these shades may
be still further modified by appropriate treatment in the engraving. In
the red block, for instance, tint lines of varying strengthmay be cut so
as to give several tones of pink. The blue and yellow can be treated
in the same manner.

You have already seen that if you print the solid blue over the
"solid yellow, you produce a green; but it may be desirable to create
several tones of green. Suppose, for instance, that you require a green
of a very yellow tone; this would be obtained by tinting that part of the
blue block which prints over the solid yellow. If the tint is cut of the
proper strength, it should be just suflicient to change the yellow into a
yellowish green; the tone of this may be still further changed by caus.
ing a part of the red block which has been tinted to overprint it, and
will give to it a tawny or autumnal hue.

36 HANDBOOK or PRINTING.

Again. if you wish to produce a bluish instead of a yellow green,
you leave the blue solid and print a closely-cut yellow tint over it. In
cutting tints, it is possible to engrave them so fine that they print only
a mere shade of color; therefore, if you desire to get any pale tones,
print one very light tint over another. Thus, in one part of the block
you may cause the solid red to print over the solid blue, thereby pro-
ducing a full rich purple; while in another part you may cause portions
of the blocks which have been very finely tinted—in the same colors—
to overprint each other and so produce very pale shades of mauve or
lavender.

Take for an example of this kind of work, a chromotype in which
there is sky, landscape scenery, water and life. Three plates would be
required to produce the effect of the three primary colors. A good en-
graver will make the blocks properly and to a perfect register. Print
the first plate with lemon yellow, having previously mixed the ink as
thin as its body will admit and still work clean and smooth, using either
heavy varnish or parafiine. The solids in the yellow plate will appear
in the foliage and grass, and any place where solid greens or browns
will be made by the overprinting of the other two colors, and the tints
in the water and shadows. \Vork the red after the yellow, thinning
the color with best printer’s varnish to which a small quantity of dam—
mar varnish may be added. The tints of the red will give a soft hue
to the water and the sun tints to the distant sky and landscape, and
where the solid red falls on the solid yellow the color produced will
be a solid brown of a red shade. The red tint over solid yellow will
give a yellow brown; and where tints of yellow and red print together,
the shadings will be a pleasant mingling of the two colors.

Use cobalt blue for the third plate, thinning it with varnish and
adding a very little dammar varnish. The tints in the blue printing as
they fall on the varying shades and colors of the first two printings, will
make the clear sky, the dark shades in the floating clouds, the redish
purple of sunset, and dark shadows in the distance. \Vhere the solid
blue prints over the solid brown that was made by the red over the yel-
low, the color will be a rich blue black. The blue tints over yellow
produce light green foliage, while the same in solids gives the green
grass and dense woodland of the wayside.

The color-results in a perfect picture by the three-color process
gives shades and tones that blend together in pleasing unison; and a
student of the art will find more colors than it would seem possible to
produce with the three primaries. There would be, in a printing of
this class, intcrmingling tones and shades of green, purple, orange, az-
ure, sky and ultramarine blue, yellow and red browns, and solids in

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 3 7

blue-black and blue-green, with the three primaries showing clear and
bright in many places.

There is a certain amount of fascination in doing this class of work,
but the profit is often a doubtful quantity.

It is necessary to carry in stock a small assortment only of colored
ink, from which all other colors can be made as needed. Besides
yellow, red and blue, it is necessary to have a quarter pound each of
white, oarmine, and fine black, and one pound each of thin and heavy
varnish. This will answer for most occasions on tints or colors for fine
small work and for-experimental purposes. Larger quantities and
cheaper grades will suggest themselves when needed, and recipes are
given further on for mixing from the inks or pigments to suit every
case. It will be well to study carfully these recipes, if never used,
that you may get an idea of the constituent parts of printers’ ink, there-
by almost gaining a practical knowledge of the results of adding oil or
varnish to inks of any grade and for every kind of printing.

Printers’ varnish being the same substance as the body of the ink,
is merely used to thin the ink, or, after your color or tint is prepared,
to give it the proper consistency to make it work neatly and allow the
paper or card to leave the type after the impression, without tearing the
fibers of the stock, and in a clean and smooth manner. But if, as is of-
ten the case, the surface of the paper is hard and glossy and the ink
will not dry on it smoothly for a long time or at all, a drier of some
kind may be used to advantage. For this purpose a little balsam co-
paiba, balsam of fir, albumen, or copal varnish may be mixed in, tak-
ing care not to put too much in to start with, but gradually adding suf-
ficient to accomplish the desired results.

The judicious use of colors is essential to satisfactory results as to
appearance. A little study will enable you to produce choice, artistic
work. Many an otherwise unexceptionable specimen of colored work
is spoiled by a careless selection of colors, but this can be prevented by
a study of Harmony of Colors on page 60. The colors of a job should
not only harmonize,,but their location be properly chozen. Care should
be taken not to bunch the bright colors, but to print on only a few of
the most important display lines. Many a job in two colors only is
spoiled by too much glare of the bright c010r in all or nearly all of the
display lines. The better rule is to have as few bright lines as possi-
ble, say the heading, the object, and possibly the firm name and loca-
tion, in the attractive color. A circular with the heading in a bright
color and the body in a solid dark color, is always attractive. A busi-
ness card with the principal line bright, is always a good card; but the
presswork and register should be perfect.

38 HANDBOOK or PRINTING.

Fine inks must be used for the best of stock. Every effort of the
inkmaker has been to meet all demands, and in high grade or art col-
ors success has rewarded that effort. The results produced are such
fine tones as photo-brown, maroon lake, sienna, dragon and emerald
greens, sepia, violet black, olive, ochre, umber, etc. The photo-brown
gives a rich brown in the tints of a photoengraving and a dark red
brown in the solids. Sienna gives a brighter brown and sepia a yellow
brown. A little of any other high color will soon change any of these
to a lighter or darker shade. The study of a specimen book of inks
will be found very satisfactory. With a good blue and black you can
readily make a blue black; with green and black you have green
black; and with the plain umber you have a perfect brown without a
trace of red, blue or yellow. Bright greens are difficult to get by mix-
ing blue and yellow, unless the colors are absolutely pure and free from
the least taint of red.

\Vhen a bright red letter for an initial or when a prominent line is
desired, vermilion will be suitable, and this can be made glossy and
bright by the addition of copal varnish.

The foregoing makes it plain that every conceivable shade and
color is made from these three colors—yellow, red and blue; but by no
known process can any one of these colors be produced by mixing or
compounding. Exact proportions of yellow, red and blue give a dirty,
grayish white; and more wonderful still, the same quantities of the
same colors make black by thoroughly mixing the blue and yellow and
then adding the red. But different makes of ink will give a varying
shade of white or black. The mixture will more often be a green-drab-
brown than any distinct color. Different maker’s colors produce differ-
ent results, demonstrating that all are not pure colors. When you find
an ink that mixes into the tints you want, remember the number and
maker, for possibly you have found an unadulterated ink.

When work is on fine, hard-finished stock, try to use ink direct
from the can as the maker prepared it. Should the ink be too thick to
distribute smoothly, add a few drops of paraffine, mixing thoroughly.
Thinning has a tendency to deaden the color of any bright ink, and
for this reason great care should be exercised when thinning with oils
or compounds. It is an excellent plan to thin heavy inks with a thin-
ner ink of the same color, where the mixing will not change the grade.

A fine book ink is an excellent reducer for a heavy job or cut ink.
The ink that is found to be of proper consistency for a jobber would re-
quire thinning to a certain extent for a two or four roller cylinder, the
more perfect distribution having a tendency to supply the tackiness lost
by reducing the heavy ink.

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 39

An important requisite in perfect color printing is the rollers, which
should be in the best condition possible. Form rollers should be soft and
tough, smooth and true; they should be new and seasoned for tint
work, while pliable and firm for solid colors. Supply rollers and dis-
tributers should be in good condition, and press and fountain perfectly
clean. When changing old rollers fromblack or dark colors to reds or
delicate tints, it is necessary that they be made perfectly clean, which
cannot be done by washing only, for the old ink must be removed from
every crease and pinhole; but they must be cleaned by the process
given for getting the ink and dirt out of the body of the composition.

\Vorking colored ink is no more trouble, when every thing is all
right, than is experienced with black; but it is much more difficult to
have all the necessary conditions when you desire to keep up a bright
red or green. To keep these inks bright and fresh in color is no easy
matter, unless there is not a particle of dirt or other dark matter that
can work into the ink.

In blues and reds an old roller with an elastic, smooth face is the
best, and in damp, hot weather it is the only roller for the best results.
A roller that is too fresh will put the varnish on the form and retain the
solid ink—or rather, leave the color in the fountain. Varnishes are
used to produce smoothness of the ink, and dryers are used to give
tack or suction, and often prevent this separation of the oil and color;
but any trouble that may come, can more often be charged to the con-
dition of the rollers than anything else. Some colors require rollers
that are wholly unsuitable for others. For instance, browns made of
sienna and umber require fresh, new rollers, because the mineral dries
quickly on the surface of the composition. Vermilion, on the contrary,
requires a very dry and solid roller for all forms of printing. Chinese
blue and carmine require good, fresh rollers, as do also green lakes.

Red inks are the hardest of any on the printing roller, and pene-
trate the sensitive body of the" roller composition, often carrying the
coloring matter through to the core, which when dry rapidly ruins the
working qualities of the roller. The seasoned roller partly prevents
this penetration and better results are secured from it than from a new
one, the arsenic in the ink being kept on the surface and used up.

Use seasoned rollers on colored work or with stiff inks; new and
soft rollers with thin and oily black inks. Damp fresh rollers often re-
fuse to take ink of any kind, when a washing with turpentine and left
in a current of cold air for a while, will put them in working condition.
A new roller will often refuse to take colored ink at all, merely smear-
ing the varnish over the form. This same roller is usually the best for
Chinese blue and umber, whose rapid drying qualities soon dries the

4O HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

moisture from the surface of the roller. You will now see that the
roller is a very important factor in good printing of any color or shade.

Inks that will dry quickly on glazed paper, like that used for
labels and soap wrappers, can be purchased of any inkmaker that has
a brand named quick-drying gloss ink. In nearly every instance a lit-
tle thinning will be necessary, but a few drops of turpentine is the only
substance that will not deaden the gloss and still let the ink work free.
You can put the gloss and quick-drying quality into any ink with
quick-drying varnish, or copal varnish and gold size, but the ink must
be a good and well ground grade. It is a good plan to use quick-dry-
ing gloss ink with a good quality of job ink on all office stationery, as
a finer printing is obtained without an over supply of ink, and the
drying will be so rapid that there is hardly a possibility of offset or
blurring. ,

 

Number of Leads to 8 Pound.

BELOW is given a table showing the number of leads that go to a
pound of any length from four to forty-seven ems. Fractional parts
are not given, and it is advisable to cut a few over the number given:

4to 6to 8to

 

4to 610 8to

Lengths. Pica. Pica. Pica. Lengths. Pica. Pica. Pica.
4 ems, 144 216 288 26 ems, 22 . 33 44
5 ems, 1 12 168 224 27 ems, 21 31 42
6 ems, 96 144 192 28 ems, 20 3o 40
7 ems, 82 123 164 29 ems, 20 30 4o

8 ems, 72 108 144 30 ems, 19 29 38
9 ems, 64 96 128 31 ems, 19 28 38
10 ems, 56 84 112 32 ems, 18 27 36
11 ems, 52 78 104 33 ems, 17 26 34
12 ems, 48 72 96 34 ems, 17 25 34
13 ems, 44 66 88 35 ems, 16 24 32

14 ems, 41 61 82 36 ems, 16 24 32
15 ems, 38 57 7 37 ems, 15 23 3o
16 ems, 36 54 72 38 ems, 15 22. 3o
17 ems, 34 51 68 39 ems, 15 22 3o
18 ems, 32 48 64 4o ems, 14 21 28
19 ems, 3o 45 6o 41 ems, 14 21 28
20 ems, 28 42 56 42 ems, 14 21 28
21 ems, 27 4o 54 43 ems, 13 20 26
22 ems, 26 39 52 44 ems, 13 19 26
23 ems, 25 37 50 45 ems, 13 19 26
24 ems, 24 36 48 46 ems, . 12 18 24

 

25 ems, 23 34 46 47 ems, 12 18 . 24

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 4I

MARBLING BOOKS AND PAPER.

THE ART of marbling the edges of books and paper can be prac-
ticed by anyone who knows how to lay a “color carpet.” To know
how to lay a color carpet the operator must understand the principles
underlying the peculiar effects of gall and soapy water on colors. The
color carpet, in fact, is a combination of some gelatinous substance,
such as gum tragacanth, or boiled carragheen moss and water, which
will form a viscous fluid that will not absorb colored solutions, but will
allow the color to float on the surface. The “ground,” as the bath is
called, is used to give a smooth, flexible surface on which to float thin
colors mixed with gall, so that the workman can pick the colored pat-
tern that formed up from the “ground ” and transfere it to the edge
of a book or to a sheet of paper. The gall is added to the thin solu-
tion of color because gall makes the drops of color run together. Soapy
water sprinkled on a very weak colored carpet of two or three colors,
draws the colors together in fine veins, leaving the greater part of the
surface uncovered, and if the colors are then taken off the fine vein re~
mains, like fine-veined marble, on the edges of the book, the spots cov-
ered by the water remaining white.

A man who “marbles” the edges of books for a living, describing
the art, said:

“I learned my trade. in Germany, where the art of marbling the
edges of books is regarded as something higher than mere skilled 1a-
bor. The work is simple, and like all simple work the whole secret
lies in the “knacks” and tricks of the trade, and these only can be se-
cure'd by long experience. The utensils used by the bookbinder in
marbling are as follows: Several troughs of zinc or of painted iron;
some long bristle brushes of different sizes; rice-straw brushes or
brooms; different kinds of combs; a number of thin, well-planed slats
of hard wood, beveled on both sides; sprinkling screens and patterns.
The troughs generally are about 30 inches long, 10 inches wide, and 3
inches deep, so that books of all sizes can be handled in them. These
troughs contain the gelatinous ground or ‘size,’ on which we sprinkle
the colors, which afterwards are worked by means of the combs, or
‘styles.’ In marbling the edge of a book, the book is dipped into the
color carpet; the color sticks to the paper, and when the edge of the
book is removed from the trough the design is permanently colored on
the edge. The design is made by drawing combs through thethin
fluid, floating colors. If a comb is passed through the layer of color—
color carpet—the colors which lie close together in waves will be di-
vided without the mixing of the different shades, making a design

42 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

which will remain unaltered long enough for the operator to take it off
on the edge of a book or on a sheet of paper.

“The greater the number of colors sprinkled on the ground or size
the more varied the color carpet will be. Of course care is taken to
use only such colors as will harmonize. So you see all there is in mar-
bling paper is to sprinkle a thin layer of color on a ground Or size that
will not absorb the colors, and then take the colors off on a smooth sur-
face that has been dipped into them.

“The comb used in marbling paper consists of needles, or pieces
of wire, glued at regular intervals to a piece of pasteboard, so that the
needles project about an inch or an inch and a half beyond the paste-
board. The points of the needles are always accurately aligned, be-
cause perfect alignment is required for successful work. The comb is
used to produce lines in the colors floating on the ground, and it does
this by being pulled through the color. Comb designs, so called, are
those commonly used for business books and they are made as follows:

“The colors are first sprinkled on the ground or size evenly, the
ground, of course, being in the trough. Then the operator takes a
style or pin made for the purpose, or a piece of wood or bone, and
‘cuts’ the drops of color by passing it from one side of the trough to the
other, the colors following the pin in straight lines.

“After this has been done as carefully as possible, the comb is
placed in the color at the other end of the trough, and is moved across
the color lines. By moving the comb slowly, round feathers are
formed, and by moving it quickly, pointed ones are obtained. A
clever marbler will produce a great variety of designs by using combs
having different spacing of teeth, and by varying the manipulation of
the comb in the color. Of course you understand that when the de-
sign is formed and is floating on the ground, the marbler dips the edge
of the book in the bath and thus transfers the color carpet to the book.
In making fine-veined marble, the ground or size is sprinkled with two
colors: first, ultramarine blue and then a brown. \Vhen a pretty uni~
form color floats on the size, a rice-straw brush is dipped into a mixture
of gall and water, or of gall and a thin color, and then is shaken so
that only a little gall remains on the brush, and this is sprinkled over
the color, so as to form small drops. The drops of gall push the colors
together, forming narrow veins, showing the ground beneath.

“If very delicate veins are desired, the colors are sprinkled
through a sprinkling screen, and the gall is sprinkled through another
one. The variety of designs which a clever marbler can make are al.
most beyond number, and naturally, no two designs are exact]
alikc.”—Chicago Record.

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 43

TINT-S AND GROUNDWORK.

ATTRACTIVE and beautiful effects in color printing, on small work
at least, are produced by tints, which may be made of quite a variety
of material; of plain or engraved surfaces, or of border combinations
from the foundry. When border combinations can be used to produce
the desired effect and design, it is usually economy to procure them.
Their easy changes to varying shapes are in their favor. The impres-
sion is so light on tints that there is no appreciable wear; and the fine
line combinations that do not show any joints are very appropriate and
lasting. Many designs are now made that are very desirable for tint-
ings and may be set to almost any design.

Quite a variety of material is available for tintgrounds, and the
processes of preparation are simple. Whether you want a full page
tint, a band or ribbon in plain or mottled design, or a simple outline,
you will find means and material to prepare it quickly and econom-
ically.

Boxwood occupies firstlplace for all grades of tints where quality
and durability are considered, on account of its fine grain and ease of
perfect manipulation in the hand of the engraver. In boxwood, where
delicate tints allow the grain of the wood to show, and it is objection-
able, it is necessary to make an electrotype of the tint block, and es-
pecially is this necessary in large designs where intricate reliefs occur.
Unless the wood is thoroughly seasoned, shrinkage is certain to throw
the whole design out of register, and very little shrinkage would do it.
For bright red or soft, light tints, where it is essential that the color be
uniform throughout the run, the electrotype should be silver plated.
Boxwood in four or five grades is kept in stock by the type foundries.

Type metal and zinc plates make good tint grounds, but like elec-
trotypes, silver plating is usually necessary to prevent the metal wear-
ing into the ink and darkening and deadening the delicate tints made
from white and red, and sometimes yellow and green. Their surfaces
work excellently With all inks in full color. Any electrotyper can fur-
nish the plates. For many purposes the surface need not be shaved,
but a plain cast stereotype plate used. If a mottled tint is wanted,
make a cast on the bare iron surface of the stereotype casting box. A
smooth cast can be made by covering the top and bottom surfaces of
the casting box with tough check. No appreciable shrinkage or varia-
tion of surface is noticeable when plates are cast in this manner, care
being only necessary to have the metal sufficiently hot to pour readily.
Grinding the surface with a perfectly true block and oil will improve its

44 HANDBOOK or PRINTING.

printing qualities. The lead of the plate will mix with the oil and aid
in grinding a perfectly smooth surface.

\Vhen a solid tint is wanted without fine line or relief engravings,
maple, beech or pine are cheaper than boxwood and answer every pur-
pose. Solid tints are also readily made of pressboard or clothboard, or
any kind of cardboard that will not split in the plys. The process of
manufacture is simple and the results satisfactory. Securely glue a suf-
ficient number of pieces of the material you desire to use to any block
or level board about seven-eights of an inch thick until exactly type
high, and place it under pressure. \Vhen dry it is ready to trim for
the press, and if a simple tint is all that is wanted it can be made to fit
by measurements. If the design is in the least complicated, that is, in
curves and angles, make a transfer the same as for wood or metal.
Simple reliefs can be made in these pulp blocks by pulling a proof of
the form on two ply wedding cardboard and cutting out with a sharp
knife where the tint is not wanted. This top layer should be ready and
put on when making the block. Dots, ragged spots, or crazy designs
that are not too complicated to cut out of two and three ply wedding,
and also leaves, lace, etc., are made in relief in tints of this character,
by placing the design or article on top of the block before placing it
under pressure, when first glueing the layers together. In cutting the
tints, cut with as much bevel as possible so that the edges may have the
greater strength to resist the pull of the rollers. This makes a good
block for short runs. Thousands of impressions can be made from
blocks made in this manner, if given two coatings of shellac varnish di-
luted in alcohol. The surface will dry quickly, when the block will be
ready for the press. In offices where tints are extensively used, it is a
good plan to make up a number of blocks ten or twelve inches in size
and have them ready to cut up as needed. They can be sawed to any
desired size and are better for the thorough drying that they get whe
kept in stock.

Another tintground can be made of tough roller composition for
work that is to be printed with soft inks. Scour clean a job galley that
is free from scratches or bruises and place pica rule, slugs or reglet flat
on their sides around an open space a little larger than the tint wanted,
and fasten securely with other furniture. into which space pour tough
roller composition until the space is filled and the composition runs over
onto the reglet. Take any seasoned wood base, through which a num-
ber of small holes have been bored along the edges, and press it on the
catnposition until it rests solidly on the reglet. Put a slight weight on

to secure perfect adherence, and when cool it is easily trimmed to
the size desired. Should the galley not be perfectly smooth, place a

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 45

sheet of heavy writing paper that will not wrinkle from the heat of the
composition, which should be a little larger than the tint wanted, in the
bottom of the galley, on which the composition will form a smooth sur-
face. Fresh ink transfers can readily and correctly be made on this
surface by a slight pressure. By a similar process, intaglio or relief
plates are made by Mr. Moeglin, who explains the process by stating
that it can profitably be carried out in very little time and at very
littleor no expense, and is suitable for checks, specimen cards, etc.,
and a security to bankers and merchants, as a cast taken by this method
cannot be imitated. A proof is taken on dry paper of the card or check
intended to have a ground work; this proof is pasted on a piece of
wood or the inside of a galley. A frame of nonpareil reglet is then
glued on the proof, or only as much of it as is wanted to have a ground,
and serves as a mold; and plaster of paris mixed with thin gum ara-
bic is used to make a paste. With a pointed piece of wood dipped in
this paste and used as a pen, any design may be made on the paper,
according to the taste of the writer. Very little of the paste is neces-
sary, as the relief need not be more than a thick lead in heighth; and
as it hardens in about five minutes it must not be too thick. While
making the paste some roller composition is being gradually heated;
the mold is oiled and the melted composition slowly poured over the
design until it is slightly higher than the reglets; place on it the piece
of wood to be used as the mount, taking care that it be large enough
to rest on the reglets, then place some weights on it to assist adherence.
In an hour’s time the cast is ready for working, no making-ready being
necessary. Mr. Moeglin says the composition works well, no matter
how large the number, but it is advisable to use a thin ink.

Whatever material is used for the tints, the manner of locating
them accurately in the work is the same. The surface of the block
must be true and clean, which roll thoroughly with a perfect printer’s
roller, using gold size, yellow, or any light-colored, quick-drying ink.
A solid, thin coating of ink is absolutely necessary for a perfect trans-
fer of delicate lines and the only security against pealing off during the
process of engraving intricate designs or reliefs. The finest lines trans-
fer on a surface prepared in this manner. It is advisable to have a
coating on wood tints the same as metal or pulp, though for a simple
design in straight lines it is not necessary. The ink should be dried
thoroughly before making the transfer.

The form is made up for the press and a proof taken on strong
calendered paper with as much ink as is possible to use without sluring.
If the form is in sections or pages, cut- up the proof and lay each piece
down on the block designed for it, first touching some. of the blank

46 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

places with a little paste to keep the sheet from slipping. Take a solid
impression with any suitable press. A dry press or \Vashington hand
press is the best. For small designs a job or letter press will answer.
Make a transfer for every separate color, being careful to use the same
kind of paper for each proof, and the same impression. On a platten
press any kind of firm paper will answer. Any careful printer can do
plain engraving and should have a set of suitable too‘s. Wood is easily
cut with Chisels or regular engraver’s tools. Metal is difficult to work,
best results being attained with a routing machine; but with a little
care and skill any simple design can be cut without the machine. Care
should be taken in cutting out, not to trim too closely, but leave it large
enough so that the connections may overlap the least bit on the sur-
rounding colors.

The most attractive and unique borders, tints, and mottled designs
for color printing can be produced in the following simple manner:
Dampen a piece of blotting paper and place it in a stereotype casting
box and pour in melted type metal the same as if casting a stereotype.
Pour the hot metal slowly, which will, on coming in contact with the
damp blotter, cause a peculiar formation, giving a weired and pleasing
effect when printed in bright colors, or one color over another. By re-
peated efforts some peculiarly handsome spots and effects are made in
this way by the artistic or venturesome printer. Varied and finer ef-
fects are also produced by casting on the dampened bare iron of the
castins box and pouring in the metal slowly. The difference between
this and the former casting will be a closer and finer surface. Use
type-high bearers when casting for bands, banners or borders. Great
care should be exercised to prevent the hot metal from splashing on the
operator. Use a long~handled ladle to pour from and stand well at the
side while filling the mould.

The same results as to surface can be obtained in offices where
there is no stereotype outfit, on the bed of a hand press, and the plates
leveled by underlaying between the block and plate. Results are not
as good, but many a printer makes them this way. If made in the fol-
lowing manner, the trouble of blocking is dispensed with: For a ban-
ner four picas wide, form the space for moulding by placing two heavy
brass rules parallel with type high reglet to close the ends. Surround
this with true furniture to strengthen it, and lock up as a type form.
The casts will be true and work without shaving. Place this form on
the flatbed of a press. Pouring in the metal is a very easy matter;
and different degrees of coarseness are obtained by slow or rapid pour-
ing. The most weired designs are made by letting the hot metal in
drop by drop until the iron surface of the press is covered, and the:

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 47

filling to the top of the rule. This will produce as crazy a tint as is
ever wanted. The printings are as odd and artistic as your ability can
make them. Say you want quickly a band in two printings. Cut the
bands the length to fit the page; place brass rule on each side and print
in rich bronze, using bright red ink to which a little copal varnish has
been added. For the second printing, remove the brass rule, reverse
the bands and run through the press again to the same register and
with the same ink. Any shape imaginable can be worked, the ingenu-
ity and ability of the printer being the only limit. Bright colors printed
one over the other, with the plate reversed for the second printing, or
with another plate of the same size, give varying and pleasing effects.

Other attractive effects can be had from castings made from mot-
tled, diagonal and embossed book cloths. The metal should be hot
enough to slightly brown a slip of writing paper when thrust into it, or
the sizing of the cloth will burn and cause breaks in the even surface
of the plate. By a little experimenting in this direction, fine effects are
produced for head and tail pieces, catalogue tints and borders, or full-
page backgrounds.

With studied choice of light blue, pea green, orange yellow, and
some of the tones of lake, perfect granite, marble and stone imitations
can be made from plates cast on the cold surface of the casting box.
As many as three printings, with the plates reversed each time, are
made to produce stone and marble effects. Inks must be run very
thin, more varnish than ink, and only enough on the rollers to show a
tinge of the color when printed. Many more methods can be studied
out of castings made from type metal. A surface sufficiently smooth
for full tints on soft paper can be made by lining the top and bottom
of the casting box with tough check cardboard. The fiber of the tough
check affects the cooling and leaves the metal to solidify without per-
ceptible shrinkage.

In printing any of these tints, the usual way is to print the light
tints first, and for this reason special care must be taken as to register;
but it is often convenient and best to print the tint last. Tints of red
over a black key are printed last, but your judgment has to be the rule
to go by. A full tint is often worked last over the entire printed sur-
face. On first thought you will think that such a proceeding would
deaden the whole printing, but practice proves the contrary. 'Ihe over-
printing causes a richness and brilliancy not attainable in any other
way, the transparent tint sinking back of the first printings and adding
gloss to all the work. When properly executed, the tint appears as if
printed first, and gives grand and pleasing results; but it is proper to
state that everything depends on the ink, or rather the varnish, as suf-

48 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

ficient ink to give a very faint color to the varnish is all that dare be
used.

To print tint blocks, make press ready for light impression on very
hard packing. It is necessary to only touch the stock. Use the best
inks and run them as thin as the stock will permit. Thinner for soft
paper than for hard. The soft paper will absorb a greater. part of the
oil, and if run too heavy the tint will peal in subsequent printings; but
the first printing, when a larger proportion of crude linseed oil than
color is used, will toughen soft paper when the color is dry and allow
a stiffer ink for the final printing. Before starting press be certain that
all margins and the register are perfect. The tints should be as pale
as possible so that the overprinting will be clear and attractive. In
mixing tints, mix the color with the varnish, for there is more varnish
than anything else in a fine flowing tint. Add varnish just before
ready for use, thoroughly stirring it in.

 

Red on Black.

RED and black make a good contrast of color when printed from
either type or plates. A solid engraved plate, or in other words, a re-
lief plate, printed in black over highly colored paper gives the color of
the paper in relief, showing two colors at one working. If the margins
are trimmed off, the background will be black, the printing the color of
the highly plated stock, which would give the appearance of a bright
color printed on black paper. But when it is necessary to print a red
on black stock, or over other printings in black, it is necessary to run
the work through the press twice, the second time after the first print-
ing is thoroughly dry. As much strong varnish as the stock and ink
will stand should be used for the first run, and as much softening of the
color as it will stand for the second printing. '

On some stock where a bold, embossed-appearing red is de-
manded, it is necessary to print first with thin varnish, into which has
been worked a small quantity of gold size, and follow with two print-
ings in red, the first red being reduced with pure linseed oil, and the
second red in a smooth, soft ink.

The stock to be used determines the plan of printing. Any stock
that will stand a heavy varnish in an already stiff ink for the first im-
pression, and a second printing with an oily but solid ink, will produce
the same bright results as if the varnish had been run first and alone,
thus saving one presswork.

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 49

flALF-TONES.

HALF-TONE engravings are the finest reproductions for illustrative
purposes. They are nearer the photograph or steel engraving than cuts
made by any other process. The manner of etching them in c0pper
or zinc produces the design by cutting out the light and leaving the
shadow. The etching is very shallow and the tints exceedingly fine
dots, which make engravings of this nature difficult to print perfectly,
but when properly executed the results are nearer to nature or the
originals than any other process of engraving.

Very distinct c0py is necessary for the engraver to get satisfactory
results. Photographs, oil paintings, pen and brush sketches, steelplate
prints and photogravures are the kinds of copy from which best illus-
trations are made. A purple tone in a photograph that has a very
high finish, with a light background, makes the most distinct pictures,
and the clearness of the original is more certainly retained if the half-
tone can be made a shade smaller than the copy. This reduction con-
centrates the lights and shadows of the copy and appears to make up
for the loss of clearness in the original by the process of photography.
For this reason it is the rule to always allow for a shade of reduction
in order to secure the most perfect reproduction. Yet no reproduction
is absolutely perfect.

The nature of a half-tone is delicate, the fine dots caused by the
screen in the camera through which the light has to pass being imper-
ceptible to the naked eye. Unnecessary washing or a heavy impression
will soon wear down the lights and darken them, and destroy the
beauty of the picture. For this reason the pressman should have time
and patience when working with half-tones. A hard packing and
light impression are essential to good results and the longevity of the
plates. The best coated or supercalendered paper must be used, with
fine ink, good rollers and a perfect press. It is next to impossible to
print perfectly large half-tone illustrations on a press carrying less than
four form rollers; but if every roller is new, passably good results may be
obtained on two-roller presses having both vibrator and table distribu-
tion. The best of ink and careful watching by the pressman will be
necessary to prevent the cuts filling up and the coating of the paper
pulling off on the solids. Far better “farm out” your half-tone work
than attempt to print it on machines not constructed for fine work.

Half-tones are made on copper or zinc, but the close grain of the
copper and its durability gives it the preference. Climate and time
have little effect on copper when clean of oil. Where any oil remains
verdigris will form, and in a very short time destroy the fine lines and

50 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

roughen the smooth surfaces by corrosion. For this reason no careless
hand should be allowed to store away half-tones.

The cylinder must be dressed very smoothly and carefully for
three-color work,—the same as for long runs of large forms, on pages
90 and 91, with the only difference, if any, towards perfect solidity of
tympan. As much hard packing as possible should be used, in order
to have as few sheets as possible between the packing and the draw
sheet. The variation of the width of a fine line is not permissible, and
a springy tympan will often cause that much of a stretching or wrink-
ling of the sheet. One or two sheets of paper over the muslin draw
sheet, pasted in securely, will be all that are necessary over which to
place the sheet of manila for the make-ready. This sheet should be
smooth and strong, securely pasted in at the gripper opening, damp-
ened with a sponge and pasted near the reel. The press should stand
until this sheet is thoroughly dry, when it will be drawn snug and
smooth. This sheet is ready for impression as soon as dry, and to it all
the overlays should be fastened.

Most of the remarks concerning make-ready, the overlaying and
underlaying of cuts and illustrations, and the preparation of the tym-
pan, pages 88 to 95, are applicable to process illustrations, except that
most process cuts require a thinner stock from which to cut the deli-
cately varying lights and shades. In a half-tone the shades will admit
of a comparatively heavier impression than illustrations by any other
process. In fact, the extremes of light and shade are the perfections
of half tones. It is often necessary to use the engraver to give more
light than the photograph or copy contains, and by the use of gravers
in the hands of an artist this can be accomplished, and when properly
done adds great beauty to the illustration. Hand-tool engraving of
half-tones has proven a success.

A quick make~ready of dense foilage or mountain scenery can
sometimes be made with 80-"). stock for the first sheet and 18-1b. folio
for the second. Cut out all the whites, shaving slightly into the solids.
Accurately cut the tints and whites from the folio, and also any toning
in the shadows, and paste together, the folio on top. For fine results
in cuts from nature three or four sheets of varying thicknesses would
be required, the same as used in large half-tones.

Study the cutting of overlays for a process illustration containing
trees, rocks and water in the foreground, and sky, habitations and
mountains in the distance. Pull proofs for first sheet on 80-lb. hard
book; for the second sheet, 50-1b., and two sheets of french folio
for toning. From the first or heaviest sheet cut away all the sky
and water, and whites showing through the foliage, shaving a little into

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 51

the solids. Cut all the solids in the foreground, from the 50-pound,
accurately to the heavy outline, and paste them on the face of the first
sheet. From a sheet of the folio cut all the half-tints and white
clouds in the sky, and paste this underneath the first sheet. In nearly
every instance this will give perfect results, with possibly a little patch-
ing with cuttings from the remaining folio proof or fine tissue, which
may be done on the overlays after they are secured in their places on
the cylinder, or on a fly sheet put over the work to protect it from in-
jury by the steel bands or rollers while taking trial proofs. Impercept-
ible patchings can be made from tissue, which also makes the finest
shadows for objects reflected in water. Intense shadings in foliage,
rocks or mountains can also be made with the tissue. Should the
proofs show any lights or tints too heavily, cut them out of another
proof of the folio and place it back of all the make-ready on the un-
der loose or fly sheets on the cylinder.

The above plan would not be expeditious in instances where nearly
the whole design was dark. Use the same sheets, but cut all the solids
from the second sheet and paste them on the heavy sheet. Cut all
the lights and tints from one of the folios and leave only the solids and
shadows in the second sheet, and paste these under the heavy sheet or
on the cylinder before the first sheet is secured to its place.

These imaginary cuts, if properly underlaid might be perfect with-
out any overlay work, but in any event it would be suflicient in nearly
every case to use only the 50-lb. proof and the two folios.

A single portrait is often made ready by a simple cutting of an ex-
act silhouette of the object from fine tissue, or possibly a little thicker
paper like folio, or the very lightest calendered book paper. If as
heavy paper as the latter is used, the figure should be cut the slightest
shade smaller than the dark outline of the portrait. The shadings
about the eyes and mouth are more diflicult to tone delicately, the finest
tissue being often too heavy, unless the make-ready sheet is four or five
sheets deep from the surface of the tympan. When tissue is too
heavy for the correct toning of any tints or shadings a composition used
as a paste and described on page 82 should be used. The most deli-
cate shadings can be produced with a brush and this liquid.

In half-tones of machinery and buildings, where the shadings are
very delicate yet exceedingly plain, but little cutting would be done
from the heavy proof, cutting the solids from the so-lb. sheet only and
pasting them on the first proof exactly to outline, from one folio cut-
ting both the semi and extreme lights and from the other only the ex-
tremes. Paste these as indicated under the first sheet. On some illus-
trations of this kind, when the work is fine and the objects very intri-

52 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

cate, as many as five or six sheets of tissue or the folio would have to
be used to obtain the fineness of the engraver’s proof. With time and
experience only can the pressman make a success in this class of make-
ready.

The presswork on process cuts is what makes them of value for re-
production of subjects of an artistic nature. A half-tone may be the
finest plate made of a given subject, yet the artist’s idea, or the true-to-
nature of the original, cannot be given without fine machines and fine
material in the hands of perfect workmen. Experimenting is expen-
sive, but first efforts are really always close to that line. Take a half-
tone of mountain scenery and cut out all the white and tints from an
eighty-pound proof and use this for an overlay for the first printing
with yellow ink. None of the tints should show, except very lightly in
sky and water. For a light green printing, merely use two sheets of
tissue for overlays over the make-ready prepared for the yellow print-
ing, which leave intact. Cut all the lights from one tissue and paste
the sheet in place and then cut the shadows that appear in the sky and
water, and secure them to this tissue. Put back the draw sheet—-
which you have of course rolled away to get at the make-ready previ-
ously secured to the tympan—and distribute enough blue ink on the
press to change the yellow to a light green, and see the result. By
sheeting 03 some of the green and distributing fine carbon black on the
plate, the color may be again changed without taking time to wash up
the machine, thus giving good specimens for calendar cards in attrac-
tive colors at little cost.

But little make-ready is required to get attractive results from the
same cut, in portraits where a flesh color in the person is wanted, with
the background and surroundings of a different color. The cut may be
an Indian or a fair Anglo-Saxon. The results will be similar as regards
the work of the press and colors. First secure a clear impression on
the loose sheets on the cylinder by placing an extra thickness under-
neath in such a manner that it may be readily removed without slipping
the sheet on which the impression for the make-ready has been taken.
Get a proof on three-ply cardboard and cut out the tints and paste them
on the impression on the cylinder. The impression should be such that
only a light tint is printed. When ready to change to the finishing
color, whatever the color may be, all that is necessary is to change the
color, and make ready the work the same as for any other half-tone
printing except that none or very little of the tints should print. Many
attractive printings may be made in this way, but it cannot be well
done if haste is necessary.

Process engravings by the aid of photography are rapidly taking

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 53

the place of all other methods, principally on account of the accuracy
of the reproduction of the lights and shades of the subject. Perfect
register of the plates of three—color work is absolutely necessary. Any
up-to-date photographer can furnish the negative from which to pro-
duce the work in black, and the tints and colors can be arranged from
that. By making a regular photograph from the negative, whatever
the nature of the original subject may be, and coloring it artistically,
color-negatives can be made of each combination, and will be exact re-
productions of each tint or color of the subject. Process plates from
the three negatives required, printed with yellow, red and blue inks,
will print the exact tints and colors of the copy, as fully illustrated on
pages 36 and 37. In instances where negatives are made in the usual
manner, each will have the plain appearance of any other negative,
except that color screens are used through which one color only and its
tints can pass. For many half-tones sensitized copper plates are placed
in the camera for each color and a specially prepared glass screen used
through which only one color and its color-combinations can pass to the
gelatine film on the face of the copper plate. Three color screens are
used, each producing a plain negative for the color wanted, either red,
yellow or blue. Besides the color screens, it is necessary to use the
same quadrille screen that is placed before any object from which a
half-tone is to be made. This screen is of fine glass, specially cut with
many fine lines with a diamond. The lines are cut both ways and by
machinery that make them perfectly straight. These small squares are
thrown on the gelatine film with the picture and make the myriad of
fine dots that compose the printing surface of a half-tone. The action
of the light hardens the gelatine coating on the face of the copper and
leaves the film in its natural state wherever the shadow strikes it, and
it is readily washed off with warm water in a dark room, and leaves the
copper clean where the whites would appear in printing from the plate.
These blank spaces are etched to a proper depth with perchloride of
iron. Other methods of photo-engraving reach the same results in a
different manner, but the camera, chemicals and careful working are
required with all of them. The outline of work is simple enough for
anyone to easily pick out of books a knowledge sufficient to carry this
work to success; but study, carefulness as to detail, and numerous ap-
pliances will be found necessary. Space here will not permit a prac-
tical working explanation of zinc or copper etching, but we can recom-
mend a work on photo-engraving by Carl Schraubstadter, Jr., St.
Louis, which will put anyone on the way to successful results in the pro-
duction of process cuts now so essential to the printing trade.

Every pressman would know better how to handle ink and stock if
he knew the ingredients of both, but especially of the ink. Offsetting

S4 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

occurs principally from a lack of knowledge in this direction. Smuts
of any kind are seldom seen on work on soft paper, and cannot occur
unless the form is flooded with the color. Ink for soft paper is com-
posed principally of oils, which the fiber of the paper partially absorbes
quickly, and the coloring matter, with the aid of oxygen, dries so
rapidly that offsetting or blurring cannot well occur. With hard or
glazed paper the opposite obtains. On this class of papers the printing
must dry on the surface; none scarcely going into the paper. There
are quite a number of varnishes and dryers for use where the color
must dry and not depend on any absorption to take up the oil that is
used to carry the color. For glazed paper, use quick-drying gloss
varnish, or the gloss inks made by the inkmaker, using a small quantity
of parafiine to prevent pulling off the coating of the paper. For a
hard-finished surface, good ink properly thinned, to which dryer is ad-
ded, will give satisfactory results; but tint and other overprintings will
require the thorough mixing in of copal flock into all the colors after
the first printing. Quick-drying is essential in all overprintings, for the
reason that if there is a slow-drying oil in the color used last it has a
tendency to coalesce with the other printings and soften the mass so as
to allow offsetting. Valuable information about dryers and varnishes
may be found on page 21.

Embossing of designs or jobs that are too heavy or too large for
the jobber may be done on a country hand press by any of the plans
described under heading of Embossing, on page 84, or on a cylinder
press by having curved relief or counter dies, which have to be made
in special moulds to get the exact periphery of the cylinder, though an
expert stereotyper can warm a regularly cast plate and curve it ac-
curately to the circumference wanted, and when this is done the de-
sign is prepared the same as any large form, every few minutes taking
a slow impression into the builded-up sheets of paper, and letting it re-
main over night to dry. On account of the expensiveness of leather,
a relief may be made of a dozen sheets of eighty pound No. 2 book,
put together with thin paste, and a deep impression taken while wet and
allowed to remain impressed until dry. The guttapercha need not be
used for a job of a few hundred, but if a lasting die is wanted it
should be put on. This method may be made use of in quite a num-
ber of different ways: I. When a small pannel is wanted in a card or
circular; 2. When a smooth design or ornament is desired in any of
the fine rough or coldpressed papers used in programmes and folders.
In either case it is only necessary to cut or cast the design in typemetal.
Any design with straight lines may be made from hard wood. If the
design is embossed in the sheets, place the relief die on the tympan;
but if raised or regular embossing, the relief must be placed in the
chase.

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 55

IMPOSITION.

EXPERIENCE is not necessary to correctly locate pages for folios,
folders or book forms, most of the imposition of forms in eights, six-
teens, thirty-twos, and so on, being very simple. Some irregular forms
require planning in the make-up to save presswork, cutting up before
folding, and facilitate the work of binding. It is a good plan to
practice folding and paging a sheet for every size and style of imposition,
and when you have a sheet folded so that there are no extra turns of
the sheet in folding, and with the paging in the top folds, you need not
make mistakes in making up the forms.

Simply folding a sheet of paper in the shape wanted and number-
ing the pages at the folded or top edge will answer for all the even
forms of 8, I6, 32, etc. In order that we may be understood, without
making diagrams of each form, we will sit you down at a long table on
which lays a sheet of paper, say 25x38, the long way of the sheet be-
ing parallel with the table. On the edge of the sheet near you put
two or three cross marks to designate that edge as the register or grip-
per edge of the sheet, which will also always be the inside of full
sheet forms of 325, 645, etc. Now fold this sheet by carrying the
corner at the right over to the corner at the left. This first fold of the
sheet gives a folio or four page of this size of paper. Without having
moved the sheet, except folding the half over to make the first fold,
now reach across the table directly in front with the left hand and car-
ry the corner of the paper at the fold over towards you and lay it even
with the folded edge, creasing the second fold with the right hand.
This gives a quarto or eight pages. The experienced folder expe-
dites her work by moving the sheet while making the second fold, leav-
ing the folded edge straight across the table in front of her. The third
fold is made the same as the second, by carrying the opposite corner
with the left hand to the corner nearest the folder and creasing the fold
with the right hand, the same motion as for making the second fold,
and leaving the folded edge to the right and across the table in front
of the operator. This fold gives an octavo or 16 pages. The fourth
fold will give a 16 mo or 32 pages, while the fifth fold produces a 32
mo or 64 pages, and so on. It must be remembered that the folded
edge is the top or folio edge of every page and every fold after the first
is made from that edge, thus giving perfect register and assuring square
trimming.

After a sheet is folded it should be paged before unfolding and
the paging marked at the top or folded edge. By clipping off the
corner the closed in pages can be properly numbered.

56 HANDBOOK or PRINTING.

To impose an 8, 16, 32 or 64, spread this sheet on astone, roll the
end of the sheet until the folios of the first row of pages appear, which
chalk on the face of the stone. Continue rolling and marking until all
the pages are numbered on the surface of the stone. The cross marks
placed on the sheet before folding will indicate the register or gripper
side, which mark on the stone or chase. Proceed in a similar manner
on another stone to locate the reverse side of the sheet, noting particu-
larly the register mark on the sheet. Mistakes never occur when forms
are imposed from correctly folded sheets, and laid in this manner.
The forms are designated as inner and outer forms, and print both sides
of a full sheet of paper.

For heavy paper and work not bound through the saddle, or regu-
lar bookwork, a different makeup is required for what are called half-
sheets of 85, I65, 325, 645, etc., any one of which would be a continu-
ous running of the subject in one lock-up, the convenience of which
appears in having a press proof of the completed work as far as the
number of pages carries it. These forms are what are called work and
turn forms, or half-sheets; and the sheets are cut on the machine at
the second printing, or by the paper cutter after the ink dries. They
are also called 165, 325, etc., which indicates the number of consecutive
pages in the form.

To correctly locate the pages in such a form, it is only necessary
to fold a half sheet of the size of paper to be used, say the usual form
of [65. The size of the pages will determine the size of the sheet.
First divide the sheet into halves, and indicate along the torn edge that
that is where the cut will be made to separate the sheets after printing.
Spread this half sheet on a table, with what was the end of the whole
sheet next to you; place the marks to indicate the gripper edge on the
left hand edge of the short way of the sheet, and fold the sheet from
right to left, the same as if folding a full sheet. When the pages are
marked, unfold the sheet on a stone with the gripper edge next to you
and the torn edge across the center of the chase. Mark the folios for
the under side of the half sheet and then turn the paper over to the
other half of the stone, the same as if the “tear edge” was fastened to
the stone, and chalk the paging for that half of the form.

In the preceding paragraphs are given all that is necessary for
forms of 4, 8, I6, 32, etc. Stonemen and pressmen who lay forms
every day know the location of the pages for these common forms as
well as an old compositor knows the lay of a case, but even then mis-
takes occur in make-up. For this reason we always have folded sheets
to verify the correctness of the make-up before the forms go to press.
We use the same precaution for the forms of the trade that come to us,

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 57

and many times whole days at the press have been saved while the
forms were sent back to the printer to be changed.

GANGS.—Small pamphlets or folders of any number of pages up
the largest size of paper can be imposed and folded the same as any
common 8, lb, 32, etc., and stitched and covered in gangs before cut—
ting up. If you want to print a sheet of 165 that will fold in a gang of
three pamphlets, impose a form of regular 165, placing the three first
pages at page I, as if they were three verses of poetry, giving exact
margins between them and allowing only for trimming at the top and
bottom of the gang. Put three pages in 2, 3, 4, and so on, until the
full form is completed. By considering each set of duplicate pages as
only one page, there will be no difficulty in imposing gangs of. 2, 3, 4
or 5, up to the capacity of the press or paper. The forms for the cover
may be imposed by the same scheme in order to reduce presswork.

TWELVEs.—A sheet of twelve pages, to fold without cutting or
turning the sheet and to bind in the saddle, would be a form of twelve
pages printed on one side of a sheet at the first printing and backed on
the other side with the same form. Any oblong sheet of paper can be
folded from which to get the proper location of the pages. Divide the
long way of the sheet into exactly one-third length folds, folding from
right to left for both folds, and then for the last fold bringing the right
hand corner from across the table to the right hand corner next to the
folder. If the sheets are fed so that the back margin goes to the grip-
pers for the second printing, the sheets will have to be squared before
going to press. If the sheet can be fed so that the bottom of the pages
is the gripper register, the sheets may be fed to right and left hand
guides. To aid in accurate and rapid folding, place ashort rule in the
center of the margin between folios 8 and I I, and have the margin at
the end of the sheet at page 9 so that the printed pages will register
when the left hand corner of the sheet is folded over to the rule.

TWENTY-FOURS.—Fold a sheet of paper the same as for twelve
pages, but duplicate the last fold. This will bring the first and second
pages inside. Folding a sheet of paper in half and then folding same
as a twelve will locate the title page in the corner. Another fold of
the sheet will correctly locate the pages for a form of forty-eights.

These sheets will cut in two at the last printing, fold without turn-
ing the sheet and stitch in the saddle, or gutter,—or be a signature to
bind with others.

EIGHTEENS.—TO fold a sheet for [85, fold first and second folds
the same as for twelve pages; then fold this strip into thirds by bring-
ing the right hand corner that is across the table one-third of the length
of the paper towards you; then bring the corner just made by the fold

58 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

the rest of the way to the right hand corner near you; and on the right
hand corner remaining near you place a figure one. Cut the folds at
the comer so you can number the pages, and you will have a sheet of
185 that will fold to register without turning it around or over. In
making up the form, short rules must equally divide the margins be-
tween pages six and thirteen for the last fold, and fourteen and seven-
teen for the first fold. The margins between four and nine for the
inside fold, and one and twelve for the outside fold, must be twice
that of the margin around the sheet; and the paper should be squared
before printing. The binding will have to be through the side.

TWENTIES.—A half sheet of twenty pages is simply a twelve with
eight on the right hand end of it. Measure the long way of a sheet of
paper into five equal spaces and fold from right to left each space con-
secutively, commencing with the right hand. A folio fold of this
folded strip will give a form of twenty pages. A second folio fold will
give a sheet of forties. Both of these will staple through the saddle;
but rules to guide in folding must be put in along the gripper edge be-
tween all the pages except the first two. 'The sheets must be fed to
right and left guides, with the margins correctly made.

In making up book pages the even folios print on the left hand
side of the page, and the odd on the right.

 

Pressmen and feeders should study the construction of the ma-
chines they work with, and know every part and why it is built in the
machine. It is a good plan to investigate every device so thoroughly
that small breaks can be repaired immediately in the pressroom. Care-
ful oiling will save many expensive delays that are caused by the grind-
ing of rapid moving and delicate parts of a machine. A grinding or a
squeak should be found and stopped as soon as heard. When any un-
usual noise occurs in a machine, some one should be delegated to find
it. If it is grinding or squeaking, oil will stop it, and if a looseness of
some working part, the wrench or hammer is the remedy. Every ma-
chinist will know the importance of finding such annoyances and stop-
ping them immediately.

 

A cheap grade of colored ink will often gather in thick layers
over both rollers and type. Such ink will stand a large proportion of
the thinnest varnish or boiled linseed oil, to carry the color. Add also
venice turpentine to give suction to the rollers and aid in the drying.
Should the ink spread with an oily or streaked appearance, add a little
dammar varnish, but be cautious about the quantity and thorough
mixing.

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 59

INKS FROM DRY COLORS.

THOUGH makeshifts are not desirable at any time, it not infre-
quently happens that printers are, from circumstances, obliged to resort
to various resources to help them out of a difficulty. Printing inks are
now made in all variety of shades, and suitable to all descriptions of
stock; most printers keep a full supply of the standard colors ready at
hand; still emergencies arise when these are not to be had at the mo-
ment wanted. When we were young at the business, nearly all colors
used were ground and mixed on the premises, from the common colors
for poster work to the finest grades for enameled cards. These colors
were equal in every respect to the best productions of the ink manufac-
turers of the present day. Good varnish is requisite and will keep for
years, improving with age. The dry colors, too, must be pure, or the
brilliancy will be destroyed when used upon metal types or iron inking-
tables. The method is as follows:

RED INK.—If not for fine work or cuts, procure a few ounces of
the best vermilion powder, and mix well with varnish, letting the var-.
nish carry as much color as possible; when you commence grinding
with the color—stone and muller, do not despair if you find the mixture
form itself into a ball resembling a lump of india rubber or gutta-per-
cha; if this should be the case, add plenty of “elbow grease” and it
will assume the consistency required. If, when you attempt to work it,
you find the color adhere to the inking-table, the varnish attaching it-
self to the roller, and the printing looks meager and without body, add
a little thin varnish, which will remedy the defect. Thin varnish is
necessary for poster-printing.

DARK BI.UE.—This may be made in the same manner, by pur-
chasing a few ounces of dark Chinese blue, which will require a hun-
dred per cent. more grinding than the vermilion, and must be ground
in very small quantities at a time ; by just spreading with a palette knife,
you will see if it has a rough or smooth appearance—it will recover its
smoothness instantly; do not be deceived by it without this test.

LIGHT BLUE.-—A very pretty blue may be made by substituting a
few ounces of antwerp blue; proceed as m the former directions, but it
will take more grinding than the vermilion, though less than the chi.
nese blue.

LIGHT GREEN takes very little grinding, if the color be obtained
of the best quality, namely, the best “drop green”; in other respects
proceed as with the vermilion.

60 HANDBOOK or PRINTING.

DARK GREEN.—Any shade of green may be obtained by adding
to the light green a little dark Chinese blue.

YELLows, ORANGE OR LEMON.—It is difficult to obtain good or-
ange or lemon chrome; it should be slightly gritty, but as it is mostly
sold when the lumps are broken, it is smooth like flower, and conse-
quently clogs in working, proceed, however, as with vermilion, and
obtain the best results you can under the unfavorable circumstances.

CRIMSON.—Use the purest carmine, well ground to a thick consist-
ency; a very small portion of this added to the vermilion will give it
“fire”, and kill the “brick dust” appearance.

PINK.—Lower the carmine with flake white.

MAUVE.—-Proceed as with crimson, but substitute dry purple car-
mine.

BROWN.——For best brown, add a little dark Chinese blue to the
mauve. For common brown, add a little black to the vermilion.—-
\Voodcock’s Gazette.

Harmony of Colors.

Work in two colors :—
Scarlet and dark green.
Orange and violet.
Light blue and dark red.
Yellow and blue.
Black and carnation red
Black and light green.
Black and light blue.
Carmine and emerald green.

Work in three colors :—
Red, yellow and blue.
Light orange, black and light blue.
Light carnation red, dark green and scarlet.
Dark brown, orange yellow and dark blue.
Crimson, light green and black.

Work in four colors :—

Black, light green, dark brown and sienna brown.
Scarlet, dark green, brown or pale gray and black.
Ultramarine blue, vermilion red, bronze green and lilac.
Sienna brown, dark blue, light red and black.

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 61

Production of Shades and Colors.

Amber is made by mixing pale yellow chrome and carmine.

Brown—red and black.

Brown, rich—carmine, yellow and black.

Bronze green—yellow and black.

Bright or light green—yellow and blue.

Deep green—yellow, blue and black.

Chestnut—white and brown.

Flesh tint—white, lake and lemon yellow.

Green grass—lemon yellow and bronze blue.

Rose—lake and white.

Lead color—white and black.

Magenta—lake and purple.

Maroon—red, black and medium yellow.

Olive—red and green.

Olive green—medium yellow and purple.

Orange—medium yellow and red.

Pearl—blue and lead color.

Pink—white and carmine.

Scarlet or vermilion—yellow and carmine or deep red.

Sky blue—white and ultramarine blue.

Turkey red—vermilion and black.

Russet—orange, lake and purple.

Violet and deep lilac—carmine and blue.

Umber—white, yellow, red and black.

Ultramarine, white and carmine form the deep tones of lilac and purple.

Yellow and carmine produce scarlet or vermilion.

Carmine and blue make deep lilac, violet and purple.

Blue and black produce deep blue or blue black.

Violet and white make pale lilac and lavender.

Cobalt alone, or with white, is a lively pale blue.

Chinese blue makes a deep bronze blue.

Emerald chrome, pale lemon chrome and chinese blue make any tone
of emerald green.

Light brown is made from burn't sienna, shaded with lake.

Salmon is made with white, burnt sienna and a little orange chrome to
suit the taste or job.

Tints and shades of any desired depth may be made by using a
finely ground white ink as a basis, and toning it with the color desired.

62 HANDBOOK or PRINTING.

Varnish tints are made by adding color to full-bodied and well boiled
printer’s varnish, using a little paraffine, castile soap and drying prepa-
ration to make them work smoothly and dry quickly.

In mixing tints to print with, the muller should be used to rub in
the colors thoroughly, otherwise the work is liable to be Streaky. It is
advisable to mix no more of a tint than is needed for the work in hand.
Most colored inks work best if applied to the rollers a little at a time,
until the depth of color desired is reached, as colored inks distribute
slower than black and are more liable to thicken upon and fill up the
type when too much is used at once.

Black Ink on Tint-grounds or Colored Paper.

When printing with black ink on a tinted ground, or on colored
paper, it is necessary to observe that the black changes color in many
instances, or really loses its intensity. Printed on a blue ground, its
strength and power are lost; on red it appears dark green; on orange
it takes a slightly blue hue; on yellow it turns to violet; on violet it has
a green-yellow shade; and on green it appears reddish gray.

In the first instance, to get black on a blue ground, print with a
mixture of two parts prussian blue to one of black. On red ground,
use either prussian, bronze or indigo blue ink, and the result will be
jet black. On orange, use one part black to four parts prussian blue.
On yellow, equal parts prussian or bronze blue and black. On violet,
use blue~black, or equal parts of blue and black. On green, use one
part blue to four parts black.

The use of varnishes, dryers and compounds will be necessary in
quantities sufficient to make the inks work smooth and clean, and dry
without offsetting. Care and experience alone will teach how to get
satisfactory results.

The blues and greens are particularly difficult to work when solid
surfaces are wanted, the mottled or speckled appearance so often seen
in these colors being hard to overcome. A few drops of paraffine to the
pound of ink, thoroughly mixed or ground in with a mullet, usually
produces a clean, even print. Should this fail, then the rollers are too
soft and oily and should be changed for others; or, if time will permit,
wash them perfectly clean with oil, then give them a thorough bath and
rubbing with benzine. Stand them in the draft for an hour or two and
they will be ready for the press, and should continue to work satisfac-
torily the rest of the day.

HANDBOOK or PRINTING. 63

In order to make this subject complete, so as to preclude the possi-
bility of ever finding a case that could not be conquered, we reprint in
its entirety the following from the British and Colonial Printer and Sta-
tioner. We have experimented with some of the recipes and found
them satisfactory:

BLACK ON VERMILION PAPER.

Pure black ink is quite useless for this purpose. All the trials made
with the different qualities of black ink gave no satisfactory result. A
mixture of parisian blue and copal varnish, however, gave a good effect:
but the best was obtained by using pure paris blue, the recipe being:

 

 

Paris blue ______________________ 5 parts.
Varnish (middle). 8 “
“ (weak) 2 “

 

Copal varnish I u

 

BLACK ON LIGHT YELLOW PAPER.

The ink must be weaker than in the preceding case. The stronger
the black ink selected the weaker will the impressiOn be. The most
suitable ink was found to be that made from the following recipe:

 

 

 

 

Paris blue ......................... 5 parts.
Common black ink ..... . 5 “
Copal varnish .................... 2 “
Dryers _________ % “
Linseed oil ....... I “

 

 

BLACK ON DARK BLUE PAPER.

This can be satisfactorily done only by a mixture of one-third black
and two-thirds paris blue, the recipe being as follows :

 

 

 

 

Paris blue 6% parts.
Black ............. 4% “
Copal varnish. % “
Dryers ‘ “
Linseed oil l “

 

RED ON YELLOW PAPER.

The best recipe is:

Geranium varnish 5 parts.
Weak varnish 6 u

 

64 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

 

 

Varnish (middle)... 8 “
Copal varnish ..... ........... 2 “
Dryers ............................................................................. y, “

Instead of geranium varnish another red, for instance vermilion,
may be used; the other component parts need not be varied.

RED ON BLUE PAPER.

The following is a useful recipe for this very diflicult kind of
printing:

 

Vermilion .................................... 5 parts.
Varnish (middle) ............................................................ /2‘

“ (weak) .............................................................. 1-5 “
Tallow ......................................................................... % ‘
Lard .............................................................................. % “
Copal varnish ............................................................... . 1-5 “
Linseed oil ........................................... . .......................... % ‘

BRONZE 0N COLORED PAPER.

This, too, is a difficult kind of printing, especially as it is impossi—
ble to print with strong gold varnish. Let the following mixture be
prepared:

 

 

 

Mordant brown 5 parts.
Linseed oiL ............. .. .............. 2 “
Copal varnish ................................................................. % “
WHITE ON BLUE PAPER.

The recipe is the following:

White lead, ..... 1 part
Lard ................................................................................. 5 “
Varnish (weak) ................................................................ I “

A rather light white lead should be selected. It is impossible to
print white on hot-rolled blue paper, as the white is so easily rubbed
away.

BLUE ON SILVER PAPER.

Use the following :

 

 

 

Milan blue __________ 5 parts.
Varnish (middle) 5 “
“ (weak) ................... 5 “

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 65

FLOCK PRINTING.

THIS showy and ornamental typography is always in demand.
With proper attention to details the most perfect work is easily accom-
plished. The work is exceedingly rich in appearance, and a number of
very fine effects can be produced at slight expense. Good size and
fine stock are the essentials of first-class work, and it is a waste of time
to use any other. The best flock printing is done from solid relief en-
gravings free from any very small letters ; but success is obtained from
displayed type forms where the lines are sufficiently bold to carry the
stiff sizing without filling up. The best workers at this style of printing
use copal varnish to thin the size, which does not impair its adhesion,
and works similar to the sizing for gold bronzing. The printing should
be done on a platten press, the make-ready very uniform and hard,
and the rollers well seasoned and elastic, capable of perfect distribution
and even and liberal inking. Washing the form and rollers several
times a day with turpentine or benzine is sometimes necessary to clean
off the accumulation of gum. Size should be reduced in small quanti-
ties as needed, because it dries faster than it can be used.

A box six inches deep and from twelve to thirty-six inches square,
suitable for both flocking and bronzing, can be made by any one, as
follows: Take lumber six inches wide and cut for sides and ends, the
length you will be likely to need for any job that is wanted. Nail these
together so that you have a box six inches deep, without top or bottom;
then make top and bottom and hinge them to the same side, so that the
bottom will hang down out of the way, and the top open from the ope-
rator. Across the bottom tightly stretch a strong cloth. Make all joints
dust tight by painting inside and out. This is the box for flocking,
and can be made for bronzing by cutting two holes in the side next the
worker, large enough to get the hands through, with a slit a half inch
wide cut from one hole to the other, through which the printed work is
slipped. Close the bottom lid snug up against the cloth and shut the
top lid, and you will have a bronzing box that will save material, keep
bronze dust from flying about the room, and be better for the health of
the operator. A glass in the lid will further improve the box for bronz-
ing and dry dusting.

For flocking, the bottom is swung out of the way, and a strip of
paper should be snugly pasted over the holes that are cut in the side
for bronze work. You are now ready to proceed to flocking. Flock
can be purchased of any inkmaker and is a finely powdered wool, usu-
ally made from old woolen rags colored to any shade desired. To ex-
ecute a job of flock printing, take a quarter of a pound each of light

66 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

blue, green, crimson or scarlet red, purple and yellow flocks; one
pound of flock sizing, half a pound of frosting, some bronzes and a few
ounces each of powdered ultramarine blue, paris green and vermilion.
After the form is read y, mix the size to suit; roll, and take the impres-
sion the same as for a job to be done in bronze. If bronze is to be at
the bottom of the lines, apply that first with a camel’s hair brush; put
the sheet in the box, then scatter on such colors of flock or bronze as
may be desired, beat in the flock on the work with a round, smooth
stick by tapping dexterously on the outside of the canvas bottom of the
box, until the flock has spread all over the impression; shake off the
surplus powder and the job is done. The beating, which must be done
quickly, helps to set the flock on the sized surface of the printed sheet,
so that it takes hold and appears as if smoothly woven into the stock.
The more evenly inked and flocked the more perfect the product.

When frosting is added, beat it up as fine as possible, throwing it
on the impression before the flock is applied; this will show a frosted
surface through the flock, producing a beautiful appearance. In using
dry powdered colors, apply them the same as bronze. In using all four
of the articles on the same impression, apply the bronze first, dry color
next, then the frosting, and lastly the flock. By a little practice a
printer is able to produce highly attractive effects at a small cost over
color printing, and he can obtain as many colors in flock as are re-
quired, from one impression.

GUMMED LABELS.

MAKE a specialty of gummed labels or do as little of that class or
work as possible. The tendency of paper when gummed is to curl up,
which causes the trouble in handling small sheets and may be avoided
to a certain extent by adding a little salt, sugar and glycerine to the
gum when made. Use very little of the glycerine, as it does not dry
rapidly. The gummed paper must not be dried in too great a heat.
Another peculiarity of gummed paper is its greater liability to curl up
the thicker it is. The thinnest paper possible, under various circum-
stances, should always be used. The ready gummed paper sold by
dealers is preferable, when suitable, to any you can make,—but even
with that you will experience no end of trouble, especially in hot, damp
weather.

Printers of an experimental turn who desire or are compelled to
gum a piece of work can accomplish it readily by spreading on a gum

HANDBOOK or PRINTING. 67

with a broad paint brush. Leave about an inch margin on the work to
allow for trimming when the gumming is finished. Hold the paper at
the edges with furniture or iron sidesticks, or, preferably, with a light
metal frame, to keep it from slipping, and spread on the gumming
evenly and sparingly. Postage stamps are gummed in this manner,
the sheets being piled up between sheets of wire screening until dry.
The gum should dry quickly. Buy the gumming compound of the
maker if possible; but good gum can be made from the following, said
to be the recipe used for gumming postage stamps. Be careful not to
use too much water. The alcohol is used to facilitate the drying and a
little used while working will prevent painting on too much gum.

The mucilage used on postage stamps is made of two parts gum
dextrine, one part acetic acid and five parts water, dissolved in a water
bath. When dissolved, add one part alcohol.

Dextrine can be purchased from the druggist, but it will pay to
make it when large quantities are used. The process of making is
simple and results certain, when made as follows: Mix 500 parts of
potato starch with 1500 parts of distilled water and 8 parts of pure ox-
alic acid, and this mixture placed in a suitable vessel in a water bath
and heated until a small sample, tested with iodine solution, does not
produce the reaction of starch. When this is found to be the case, the
vessel is immediately removed from the water bath, and the liquid
neutralized with pure carbonate of lime. After having been left stand-
ing for two days, the liquid is filtered and the clear filtrate evaporated
upon a water bath until the mass has become quite a paste, which is
removed by a spatula, and having been made into thin cakes is placed
upon paper and further dried in a warm situation. Two hundred parts
of pure dextrine are thus obtained. When made for immediate use,
the solution can be used without the latter process of drying into cakes.
Boiled water, which is allowed to cool and settle and then run off with
a siphon, answers the purpose of distilled water.

 

TABLE OF FURNITURE FOR BOOKWORK.

THERE are a few printers who are not aware of the doubt and un-
certainty which pervades the typo or inexperienced workman when
called upon to impose a form, when he has to apportion the space be-
tween his pages. The tahle given below will be a boon not only to
him, but to the expert, as it will enable him to select his furniture be-
fore he gets the cords off his pages, with the certainty that he will not

68 102 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.
be compelled to make any changes in the margins, after the pages are
untied. It is only necessary for him to know the width and length of
his pages to find the proper furniture for his form. The figures in the
table are for pages of the usual proportionate length and width, but if
the compositor be told to make his page an em wider than the table
gives, he must subtract an em from his back and gutters; and so with
his heads and tails, if he adds a pica or a pica and a half in length to
preserve the symmetry of his pages. If, on the contrary, he be told to
reduce his page an em in width and length, he will add the amount so
reduced to the backs, gutters, heads and tails. The measurements in
all cases include cross-bars, and the length of the pages includes folios
and a white line at bottom.

A few words on some of the sizes of paper here given may not be
out of place. It is not claimed for the table that it contains nearly all
the sizes into which the paper might be folded, but it does contain
nearly all the forms into which the paper can be folded and still give a
well-proportioned page. It will be seen that some sizes afford only a
shapely 8vo, r6mo, 18mo, 24mo or 32mo. A square, or nearly square
page is an eyesore to most printers, but occasions may arise where it is
necessary to use such a page, and they will be found in this table. A
well-proportioned page is obtained by measuring from the folio (if at
the corner of page) along a diagonal line to opposite corner at bottom
of the page, which line should be just double the width of the page.
For a quarto-page, the proportion of the diagonal line to width of page
should be as 10% is to 6%.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Width Length' .

, | Back, Head. Gutter, Tail, Off-cut,
nu 0' PAPER 1:3:- i 1:13;: ems. ems. ems. ems. ems.
9 by 12 .. .16mo 14 22 3x 454 454 554 ,,,,,,,,

18 by 24 ...... 8vo 25 44 10 954 ............. .

18 by 24 ... . 121110 ‘20 39 ‘7 85 8% ........ 9%
19 by 25 ..... 8vo 26 45 11 11% ............... ..
22by'28.,...18m0 21 36 6% 7% 7% ...... 8%
22 by 32 ....... 8vo 36 5‘2 )2 12 ....... _ . . .......
22 by 3‘2 . 6mo 24 39 8% 9 10 10

22 by 32 obl' 163 26 43 6 6}; 7 1 .......
22by32 .. -mo 19 35;; 4x 8 554 ........ 9
24 by 36 ..... Svo 42 58 12 13 . . .. ................
34 by 36 .. lfimo 25 44 10% 10 “K 11 ........
24 by 36 .. 24mm 20 40 6x 754 7% .. 854
25 by 38 .. 161110, 26 45 11 115; 1254 1254 .......
25 by as .. 0. 2o 30 6x 7 m 854 ........
28 by 42 16mo g 29 49 12 13 14 14 .......
”but... .8v09 50 82 16 165.; ...... .. . .........
#2 by u 327m 24 39 354 9 9 10 ........

 

 

 

 

l

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 69

The size 9 by 12 (I6mo) is a quarter-sheet of 24 by 36, and is
given to suit the convenience of printers who have only a pony press or
perhaps only a half-medium jobber for their work. The page is nearly
as small as is called for in the ordinary way of business, but if the
printer is able to work 32 pages on a half sheet of 24 by 36, the furni-
ture will be the same as for 16 on a quarter-sheet; and they would be
the same for a full sheet of 64 pages. Of course the 64 pages would
not be imposed to fold as 64’s, but would be best imposed as four
I6mos in one chase, and cut up after printing. It will also be seen that
the furniture for 8vo on 19 by 25 paper is the same as for I6mo on 25
by 38 sheet, the only difference being the omission of the figures for
the tails.

Measurements for long, narrow pages will be found at 22 by 32
(24mo), and also at 24 by 36 (24mo). A square page is given by a
32mo of a sheet of 25 by 38. The oblong I6mo (22 by 32) will be
found a useful size for catalogue work where cuts are used, as they
generally work to better advantage and give more room for the intro
duction of matter on one or both sides of the cut than on the narrow
way of the page. The pages, also, are generally made broader and
deeper.-——H. Mortimer in Inland Printer.

_—

THE USE OF CAPITALS.

I. Every entire sentence should begin with a capital.

2. Proper names, and adjectives derived from them, should begin
with a capital.

. All appellations of the Deity should begin with a capital.

. Oflicial and honorary titles begin with a capital.

. Every line of poetry should begin with a capital.

. Titles of books and the heasd of their chapters and divisions are
printed in capitals.

. The pronoun I and the exclamation O are always capitals.

. The days of the week and the months of the year begin with cap-
itals.

9. Every quotation should begin with a capital.

[0. Names of religious denominations begin with capitals.

n. In preparing accounts each item should begin with a capital.

12. Any word of very special importance may begin with a capital.

OVJl-hw

00V

You will reach success quickest by getting a fair price for the work
you do and thereby keep up the standard of the craft.

70 HANDBOOK or PRINTING.

RULES FOR SPELLING.

WORDS ending in e drop that letter before the termination able;
as in move, movable; unless ending in ce or ge, when it is retained; as
in change, changeable, etc.

\Vords of one syllable, ending in a consonant with a single vowel
before it, double the consonant in derivatives; as ship, shipping, etc.;
but if ending in a consonant with a double vowel before it, they do not
double the consonant in derivatives; as troop, trooper, etc.

\Vords of more than one syllable, ending in a consonant preceeded
by a single vowel, and accented on the last syllable, double the conso-
nant in derivatives; as commit, committed; but except chagrin, cha-
grined.

All words of one syllable ending in I, with a single vowel before
it, have II at the close; as mill, sell.

All words of one syllable ending in I, with a double vowel before
it, have only one I at the close; as mail, sail.

The words foretell, distill, instill and fulfill, retain the II of their
primitives. Derivatives of dull, skill, will and full also retain the II
when the accent falls on these words; as dullness, skillful, willful and
fullness.

\Vords of more than one syllable, ending in I, have only one I at
the close; as delightful, faithful; unless the accent falls on the last syl-
lable; as befall, etc.

\Vords ending in I, double the letter in the termination ly.

Participles ending in ing, from verbs ending in e, lose the final
e; as have, having; make, making, etc.; but verbs ending in ee retain
both; as see, seeing. The word dye, to color, however, must retain the
e before ing.

All verbs ending in Iy and nouns ending in meat, retain the fi-
nal e of the primitives; as brave, bravely; refine, refinement; except
words ending in dge; as acknowledge, acknowledgment.

Nouns ending in y, preceeded by a vowel, form their plural by
adding 8; as money, moneys; but if y is preceeded by a consonant, it
is changed to les in the plural; as bounty, bounties.

Compound words whose primitives end in y, change into I; a
beauty, beautiful.

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 7I
Printing Consecutive Numbers.

IT Is no unusual thing for a printer to receive an order for a set of
numbers to be printed from type, usually of a kind of which the fonts
are small. Instead of undertaking this, as many do, by setting up the
numbers in consecutive order, it is much easier and more profitable to
do the work in the manner described below. Suppose that we have to
furnish five sets of numbers from 1 to 200. We first set up the ten
digits in a column and print 240 copies from it, to the right of the
sheet. Then we shift the sheet on the press so as to print ten copies
with the same column printed side by side with the first—this makes
the 11, 22, 23, etc. Then remove the cipher from the bottom and
place it at the top, so that the column reads 01, 12, 23, etc. Then the
9 is placed at the head of the column, causing it to read 91, 02, 13,
etc. One by one the figures are transposed from the bottom to the
top, until we have a column reading 21, 32, 43, etc., of which, as with
the others, we print ten copies. Then we set up ten 1’s and print
them on five of each of the forms we have already done, except the
first, and also changing the lower 1 to a 2 on the column ending with
00. This, it will be seen, gives us all the numbers from 1 to 200.

The above operation can, perhaps, be better illustrated by the
following table, showing the successive printings. Bear in mind that
the right-hand column (1 too) is printed on all at the first running
through the press.

1 1 or 91 81 71 61 51 41 31 2 1
22 12 02 92 82 72 62 52 42 32
33 23 I3 03 93 83 73 63 53 43
44 34 24 I4 04 94 84 74 64 54
55 45 35 25 I 5 05 95 85 7S 65
66 56 46 36 26 16 06 96 86 76
77 67 57 47 37 27 I7 07 97 87
88 78 68 58 48 38 28 18 08 98
99 89 79 69 59 49 39 29 I9 09
oo 90 80 7o 00 50 40 3o 20 1o

00 00v own-ht» N -

It will be seen that but twelve forms (including the 1’s) will be re-
quired for this work, while much less time will be spent in making
changes than would be occupied in endeavoring to print after the old
method. Of course, if the numbers and changes run above 200, it
will only require a greater number to be printed on each form, with

72 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

the corresponding addition of higher numbers for the hundreds.
—Lithographer and Printer.
[This is a valuable scheme. Not long ago we run a similar job,
varying in the number and quantity, being 1,000 each from I to 500.
Much time was saved on the work, each figure being justified to the
size of the largest to facilitate the transpositions. The work was from
six line wood type and we have failed to figure the time saved on this
one job. We also put a slug the full length of the column of figures,
which greatly facilitated the changes]

BRONZING AND GILDING.

IN THE various styles of gilding and bronzing. use is made of
bronze, gold leaf and dutch metal, the bronze being most generally
used. Dutch metal is largely used when brighter effects are desired
than bronze will give on showcards, ball programmes and souvenirs,
while gold leaf figures in book titles, fancy stationery and badges.
Bronze powders are made in many shades of color and milled to vari-
ous degrees of fineness; in some of them the particles of metal are so
minute that the bronze powder is almost as fine in texture as flour,
while in others the metalic particles are much coarser in grain and may
be seen with the naked eye. The fine bronze will go twice as far as
the coarse but will not leave the paper as readily as the coarser bronze,
which is the best and most brilliant for all classes of cheap bronzing.
For the purposes of the color printer, bronzes of coarse grain are, inde-
pendent of the question of quality, preferable to the fine ones. Coarse
bronze never soils the paper, if printing on ordinary paper; and, if the
form in bronze is a last working and prints over colors, there is much less
liability of a coarse bronze adhering to the printing than there would be
if a fine bronze was used. For work of high quality and bronze over
other printing, always choose a coarse, bright bronze; but for common
work, especially if enameled paper be used and economical considera-
tions are important, a finer bronze may be used. The quick drying
quality of gold size in general use causes most of the unsatisfactory
bronze work. The same tenacity of the size, with a slow drying qual-
ity added, gives perfect results; and this can be secured by grinding in
some body color or very strong varnish—often a greater quantity of
varnish than of the gold size. The gold size sold by the inkmaker gen-
erally contains burnt sienna, umber and strong varnish, the preparation
a very strong dryer in itself and suitable for some hard papers; but on
many grades of stock its use alone would spoil the work, the prepara-

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 73

tion being quickly absorbed into the paper and leaving the bronze so it
rubs off the printed surface almost as cleanly as it does off the paper.
When the size dries too rapidly, always add varnish or some suitable
ink.

Silver bronze is made from sterling silver and white metal, the lat-
ter quality soon losing its lustre. Pure silver bronze is so cheap that it
hardly pays to buy any other kind of white bronze.

Dutch metal is an imitation of gold leaf and is used as a substitute
on account of its cheapness. It is more difficult to work than gold leaf,
and good results can be had only from the best grades. In all metal
leaf printing, the excellence of the work depends upon two main con—
ditions: that the metal be soft and ductile, and that the adhesive me-
dium used should have strong tenacious qualities; and this can always
be secured by a preparation made of the strongest varnish and brilliant
lake, or a chrome that prints smooth. A rapid dryer must be avoided
for soft paper, as body is as essential as drying qualities. When work-
ing with pure gold and silver leaf we always find them so soft, thin and
even, that when the work is wiped out, the gold and silver lines are as
sharp and perfect as if they were printed in black. This is not the
case with dutch metal, which is liable to break away, peel off in scales
and break irregularly at the edges of the work, thus showing a serrated
instead of a sharp and clean outline.

In order to get the best effect in metal printing, it is necessary to
have a flat and hard impression that does not indent the paper in the
least, as it is essential that the surface be perfectly smooth. It would
be diflicult to force the metal leaf into an indented surface with the
wad of cotton, or pad generally used for pressing the leaf to the printed
surface. Where large surfaces are gilded, better and clearer work is
made by running the sheets through a press to squeeze the leaf into ev-
ery part of the impression and cause perfect adhesion; and where large
quantities are to be run it will pay to make a cylinder press ready with
an even impression on a type~high board or smooth surface, and put the
work through for the purpose of squeezing the leaf flat to the adhesive
pfinfing.

The important part of all leaf and bronze printing is the adhesive
preparations used in the inking, and this varies as the stock changes
from hard to soft finish. In some papers the absorption is so rapid that
the sizing dries in and leaves the metal loose on the printed surface.
This difficulty appears where gold size alone is used. To prevent this
the stock must be examined and the ink mixed to suit the finish. Gold
size as made for the trade will answer in most cases by the addition of
strong varnish. For a soft paper the proportions would be about four

74 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

parts of heavy varnish to one part of gold size, and in some cases a lit-
tle vermilion should be added, to give body to the printing and keep it
on the surface of the paper, to which the bronze adheres. On a hard
calendered paper or card, body color may nearly always be dispensed
with, and a preparation made of two parts of extra strong varnish with
one part of thick gold size will usually answer the purpose. A prepa-
ration of this character is infinitely better suited for fine engravings or
small type, than one made with the addition of umber or sienna, used
extensively by some printers. In the first place, the absence of all
body color will make it work more cleanly, while the omission of the si-
enna or umber will be certain to keep the rollers in better condition
than would be possible if those quick drying pigments were present.
Gold size is a rapid dryer, and when umber or sienna is added its dry-
ing qualities increase. It is for this reason that varnishes have to be
added to prevent drying before the bronze adheres to the printed sur-
face. In mixing ink with gold size to give body to the printing, choose
colors as near to gold as possible, that any imperfections in the adhe-
sion of the bronze will not be noticeable.

Again, when dealing with papers of exceptional softness, primrose
chrome and lake brilliant are recommended as a means of preventing
the bronzing preparation from sinking into the paper; and for this pur-
pose it may be used with success, when an ordinary gold preparation
would be absorbed as if it were thin varnish. For a very quick drying
gold preparation which will bear up on any sort of paper, take one and
a half ounces of long varnish and mix with it half an ounce of brilliant
lake; grind this well with the muller and then add half an ounce of
strong thick gold size; the lake in this preparation not only prevents it
sinking into the paper, but it powerfully supplements the drying prop-
erties of the gold size. The work may be immediately placed without
injury in the drying room, and at the expiration of two or three hours it
will be perfectly fixed and hard so that it may be at once milled.

There is one other cause, which it is necessary to mention, for
bronze not adhering, and that is when the preparation is radically weak
in its character; this may arise from the presence of thin varnish or oil,
or from a miscalculation in the quantity or character of the gold size
used. If too little gold size be used, or this be too thin, the prepara-
tion does not set at all, but remains moist; the same thing occurs if thin
varnish is used in excess, but in these cases the symptoms are different
from those in which the bronze wipes ofl through the too rapid drying
of the preparation into the paper; where thin varnish or oil is added,
either through an error of judgment or surreptitiously, it remains wet
and greasy and may be smeared with the finger. Nevertheless, it must

nannnoox or pnm'rmc. 75

not be assumed that the use of a little thin varnish is absolutely prohib—
ited; it must, however, be used judiciously, with careful regard to the
character of the paper which is being used. If the paper is soft, it
would generally be dangerous to attenuate the preparation with thin
varnish; if, on the contrary, it be a very hard-sized one, a good deal
may be used with perfect safety. Thus, if we were dealing with a
bronze—blue glazed paper, a preparation made of equal parts of thin
varnish and gold size would prove effectual; the hard character of this
paper would prevent absorption, while the gold size would be suffi-
ciently adhesive to both fix the bronze and cause the preparation to dry
hard; while, if this were used for an ultramarine paper, the work
would be undoubtedly spoiled. It is an obvious advantage to make a
gold preparation as easy to work as possible, and the key to the guiding
principles in this respect must be found in the character of the surface
we are printing upon. If it be very hard, the preparation may be thin,
but the gold size must predominate; if it be soft, the preparation must
be thick and dense, and the gold size should be present only in suffi-
cient quantity to cause the long varnish to dry within a reasonable time.

Always test the adaptability of the size to the paper when begin-
ning a big job of gilding or bronzing. Mix the gold preparation as
your judgment dictates, pull a proof and let it lay ten minutes, when,
if the bronze adheres readily to the printing, it shows that the paper is
not absorbing the sizing and it will be safe to proceed with the work.

It is the case very often that in printing bronze as a finish to a
piece of work, a part of the impression falls on the blank paper and an-
other part on the printed surface. The sizing that would be suitable
for the ink surface would not do for that part that printed on the sur-
face of the paper. In an instance of this kind, make the gold prepara-
tion to suit the paper and there will be no doubt of perfect results on
the rest of the work.

Bronzes are quickly applied to the sheet with a piece of cotton,
but where much work of a large character is done, a machine or bronz—
ing pad becomes a necessity. A box for bronzing purposes is described
in the article on Flock Printing.

A GOOD size for attaching gold leaf to silk and satin is made by
beating the whites of eggs thoroughly, allowing the resultant mass to
subside, forming liquid albumen, reducing the albumen by the addition
of an equal quantity of water. The size is applied and allowed to dry.
The gold leaf is laid on and the type or die is warmed and pressed
upon the gold leaf. Wherever the albumen size is heated by the die

76 HANDBOOK or PRINTING.

it is coagulated and rendered insoluble. The leaf remaining on the
other portions of the fabric may be brushed off or wiped off with a
damp cloth.—Scientific American.

PRINTING \VITH GOLD LEAF.

A CORRESPONDENT of the London Press News gives the following
concise and practical instructions for the use of gold leaf in printing:

“To print a line or lines of a job in gold is not an economical
process, but it is genuine when done. Its use will generally be con-
fined to a prominent display line on a fancy showcard or something
similar. The line to be laid with leaf should be made ready first, be-
fore any colors or bronze, and made ready as for ordinary work. Use
good gold size, and if for a line as large as 4-line pica or larger, thin
the size as much as possible compatible with clean, sharp outlines. To
handle the leaf rapidly and successfully, use a palette knife such as is
used by bookbinders for the same purpose. Cut the leaf in strips wider
than the size of the line to be printed. Nothing less than considerable
practice and the loss of Some leaf will enable one entirely ignorant of
its texture to remove the sheets from the book intack. It is best ac-
complished by leaving the knife-blade across the sheet of leaf and
carefully blowing, with the merest breath, the edge of the leaf over
the knife, when it may be removed whole to the cushion and cut up.
A piece of ordinary leather with a few sheets of paper under it an-
swers well for a cushion. Now make your impression as you would for
bronzing the line, being sure that the form is sufiiciently rolled to give
the face of the letter on the printed sheet a full, smooth, even body of
the color. This is imperative, as upon it depends the close, adhesive
and smooth finish of the leaf. When you have thus printed the
line, lay the card upon your table, take a strip of paper as wide, or
nearly so, as your strips of cut leaf, and holding it by the ends, draw it
across the bare forehead or breathe upon it on one side, and lay that
side upon the strip of leaf, which will lightly adhere to it, when it may
be carried to your printed card and applied to the line, to which it will
immediately closely adhere, leaving the strip of paper clean. If in this
operation any size is accidentally taken from the print upon the strip of
paper, another clean one must be used for the next application. If the
line of type is longer than the strips of leaf, a second strip must be put
on, or so much of it as may be needed to cover the line. The whole
operation thus far is the same as that practiced by bookbinders in
marking books, etc., and any printer can become conversant with it in
a short time by visiting a bindery. But if there is any merit in my

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 77

method of working, it is in what follows. When the leaf is laid all
over the line, place your card again upon the press (having, of course,
been very careful in feeding, that the two impressions may be in per-
fect register), lay over the card a piece of thin print paper, and make a
second slow impression. Upon removing the paper from over the card,
it will be found that the leaf is closely and smoothly, with almost the
beauty of varnishing, fastened upon the impression, and after it has 4
had a few moments to dry, the waste leaf may be, with a piece of cot-
ton or a silk handkerchief, brushed clean away leaving the outline of
the letters as sharp and perfect as if printed with the finest ink.

“To most printers this method of printing cannot, from its expen-
sive nature, be often useful; but it is well to understand it—to be able
to, do it well, for to any printer the time may come when he can turn it
to good account. It is only a few weeks since the writer found it pe-
culiarly valuable in putting an elegant monogram on a hundred elabo-
rate silk badges for firemen. The price to them was not a consideration
—what they wanted was a fine job. They got it, in pure gold leaf, as
it could have been done in no other manner.”

BRONZING PARAGRAPHS.

WHEN sizing becomes too dry on the inking rollers, distribute a few
drops of turpentine on the disk.

STRIVE to work the bronze first on all jobs. Where bronze is to
be on top of tints or other printed matter, it must be printed last. As
soon as the ink on the work is dry, rub over the face calcined magnesia
(burned magnesia), when the bronzing can be done without soiling the
colors printed.

THE USUAL method for printing for bronzing is to take impressions
with ink composed of french yellow mixed with strong varnish, and
then apply the bronze with a wad of cotton. When the ink is dry,
clean off the superfluous bronze with a soft cotton rag.

A FEW drops of white copal varnish in yellow or red ink makes a
good substitute for gold size, and a little gloss varnish added to gold
size will warrant quick drying, bright and permanent bronzing.

BRONZING on plated and coated paper or cardboard is trouble-
some, on account of the coating quickly absorbing the sizing so that the
bronze will not adhere. The remedy is to run the sheets through the
press twice, the same as for a two-color job, bronzing in the usual man-
ner after the second impression. The first printing fills the pores of the
paper and leaves a firm ground for the second coating of size, to which
the bronze adheres firmly. Careful register is necessary.

78 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

PRESSWORK.

THE platten job press is the simplest printing machine made and is
very easily managed. It is also just as easily mismanaged. Among
the variety of forms that are arranged for the job press, where rapid
preparation is always expected, is the form that is really too large for
the machine, possibly with a full page or heavy line in one corner and
2. light line or nearly nothing directly opposite. The screws will be
used to make the impression in order to save the time that proper make-
ready would take. This results in injury to the press. If the light
line is distinct, merely build up the heavy section and not tamper with
the platten screws. The most perfect register may be had on the job
press, everything depending on the operator, the closest register in
colors being possible on a worn out jobber. A wom cylinder machine
cannot be made to print to accurately to line.

If a new job press and new rollers be had, only a little judgment
and care of the operator is necessary to get good results and profit out
of a quarto medium jobber. If the press is old it will be necessary
to test the springs that carry the rollers. When springs get weak and
will not hold the rolls snug against the bearers, new springs should be
put in. We have pointed out this defect on many machines that were
giving trouble undiscoverable by the feeder.

The number of rollers a jobber has determines the limit of its ca-
pacity. No press should have less than three form rollers, and four is
better; and even then the inking is not all that can be desired on some
classes of work that fall to the job press. To do good printing the ink-
ing must be perfect, and this cannot be if the springs are weak enough
to allow the rollers to jump over the form. On small forms bearers are
extensively used inside of the chase to aid the rollers in smooth-running,
but they are a dirty and disastrous nuisance and are dispensed with as
much as possible. Press builders will probably come to the printer’s
relief in this regard some time by making adjustable bearers on the ma-
chine, but they are a long time in getting started what may properly be
termed an innovation. Adjustable bearers would be a great improve-
ment over any kind that the face of the roller must run over. They
would save the wear that soon destroys the ends of the toughest and
best rollers; and bearers are almost indispensible when printing light-
face jobs.

Making ready a platten press is quite simple, yet judgment and
skill are required to do it well and quickly on the various styles of work
that are done on jobbers. Any strong paper is suitable for a tympan
surface, say three sheets of the thicknes of 24 by 36—40 lbs Under

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 79

three thicknesses of this weight of paper place one sheet of thin press-
board to take away any spring of the paper that may be caused by the
fold at the clamps. Cut pressboard and all underlaying sheets a little
smaller than the platten. The platten should be set so that with a
tympan of this thickness at line of script or a small address job will
merely print its outline on the surface of the top sheet. Before taking
an impression the pressman should know that it will not be too heavy,
as one hard squeeze taken on script or light-face letters ruins them.
Especially is this true of electrotyped lines and jobs in script and dot-
ted rule, the soft metal with which the shells are backed giving away
easily under much pressure. An electrotype will wear longer than
type, but it will batter most easily under heavy printing. Time is
saved on small work by getting the margins and placing the guides be-
fore making the job ready. Remove the pressboard so as not to get
the gauges through it, and then replace it and take a proof on the stock
for the job. If the printing is perfect, all that is necessary is to watch
the ink and go ahead. Should the fine lines of the script be too heavy,
remove the pressboard and take an impression on heavy writing paper,
or two ply pasted wedding, and with a sharp knife or rubber eraser re-
move a portion of the surface of the card where the lines or points are
too heavy, and build up with tissue any heavy lines that are not dis-
tinct. Place this make-ready under the second sheet of the tympan,
accurately to the guides, and secure it with a little paste. The pins be-
ing through the sheets makes it possible to get it accurately in line with
the form. Sheets of hard paper may now be placed under the tym-
pan until the impression is heavy enough.

If the platten travels true to the surface of the bed, most of the
work on jobbers will require but little make-ready, simply placing
sheets of hard paper under the tympan until the impression is suffi-
ciently outlined on the tympan to get margins and place the guides.
Take an impression on the stock to determine about the make-ready.
Should the impression be uneven, get a proof on any firm but light pa-
per, which must be fed accurately to the guides. Cut out the heavy
and build up the light places, and paste this sheet on another that has
been feed to the same guides. Feed this make-ready sheet under a
sheet of the stock to be used on the job, and if no further patching is
needed, fasten the make-ready sheet on the top of the third sheet of
the tympan, which will leave the thickness of two sheets of the tympan
on top of the make-ready sheet to even up any abrupt impression at the
points where letters or parts of lines have been cut out. If the impres-
sion is even but not distinct enough, pressboard or a sheet or two of
thick hard paper may be placed under the tympan. Care must always

80 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

be taken not to get too heavy an impression, for if an indenture is once
made in the tympan it acts the same as if that much thickness had been
cut away.

On a half or full form for the job press the make-ready is entirely
difierent from that of small jobs and cards. A mixed form of light
and heavy type, or cuts, rule, fancy border and type, requires more
cutting out and building up—here a tissue, there a piece of folio, and
possibly in another place a very heavy overlay of book paper.. These
are quickest made on the top tympan sheet. A tympan sheet arranged
as per the preceding paragraphs is all that is required, with hard pack-
ing sufficient to get a dim impression on the tympan. First place
guides or bent pins in the tympan sheet to feed make-ready sheets to.
These may be placed anywhere and at random and removed as soon as
the make-ready sheets are fastened to the tympan. Now feed accu-
rately to these temporary guides two or three sheets of thin book paper
and take a proof. If the job is distinctly outlined, print a second
sheet. Any lines of rule that show heavy should be cut out of both
sheets, and any part that shows only a slight indenture should be cut
out of one sheet. Patching may be done on either or both of the
proofs. When every point has received its proper attention, touch a
little paste on the blank places on the tympan sheet, feed the sheet that
holds its shape best and on top of this feed and paste the second make-
ready sheet. Take a proof on the stock intended for the job and if
further patching or cutting is needed, do it on the sheets that have
been fastened to the tympan. Should it be impossible to remedy the
defects by working on the sheets already made, get another proof on a
separate sheet and proceed with the patching or cutting. When the
printing has been made to show clear and perfect, put a strong tympan
sheet over the make-ready, placing it under the bottom clamp first,
and drawing it tight and even with the top clamp.

On some job presses the clamp on the platten isso constructed that
there is a risk of moving the tympan sheet by attempting to put on a
top sheet after the make-ready is completed. When such is the case
the top sheet must be pasted on; but if the rollers pass in sufficient
space between the bed and platten to permit a top sheet to lay in a roll
at the bottom of the platten, the sheet may be put in at the start and
rolled down out of the way until all of the make-ready is finished, and
then securely pasted into position. When the platten has a top and
bottom clamp arranged to open independently, only care is needed to
clamp in the sheet to cover the make-ready; and when every part is
finished, the top sheet should. be pasted near the side edges to prevent

HANDBOOK or PRINTING. 81

any slipping or changing of the tympan by the impression or the pound-
ing of the grippers.

The tympan must be specially and very securely prepared for
chromotypic or three-color work. The variation of the width of a fine
line is not permissible, and a springy tympan will often cause the sheet
to move slightly from the gauges. Dampen a sheet of smooth, strong
manila with a sponge in the same manner as for taking a planer proof.
Place this sheet over several sheets of strong book and the needed hard
packing, as your judgment must decide, getting it smoothly under the
clamps, and let the press stand until the sheet is perfectly dry, when it
will be drawn snug and smooth. The necessary hard packing should
be arranged under the sheets of book, because the clamps must not be
raised after the manila has become thoroughly dry. The 'sheet is
ready for an impression as soon as dry, and the process of .make-ready
the same as on other illustrations. As the overlaying progresses, re-
member to always have a sheet the thickness of the final top tympan
under the stock on which the test proofs are taken, that the building-up
may not be too heavy when completed. The top sheet must be strong
manila, which paste to the back edge of the make-ready tympan, and
as soon as the paste holds it fast, dampen slightly and secure with
strong paste to the front edge of the tympan. This sheet should be
dry before proceeding to take an impression by which to get margins
and place the gauges, which should be pasted to the tympan so that
there cannot possibly be any variation of the sheet in feeding. If
quads or pieces of reglet are pasted to the sheet for guides, cardboard
should be pasted on them with a projection of about a quarter of an
inch, which will keep the sheets nearer the tympan surface and prevent
them from slipping over the gauges. It is hardly necessary to say that
the feeding must be accurate.

The hardest packing possible is best for most of the commercial
work done on the jobber, a light but solid impression being possible on
the largest mixed form of cuts, rule and type, depending entirely on
the make-ready for any unevenness of type surface and light and heavy
lines. The class of work for which a softer packing should be used
may be designated as solid type forms and small posters that would re-
quire too heavy pressure to get clear printing, most of which it would
be better to put on small cylinders. Either a very thin sheet of rub-
ber, a common woolen blanket, a sheet of heavy blotting paper, or one
or two sheets of fine muslin placed under the tympan, are suitable for
these heavy forms, and will prevent much of the heavy strain that oth-
erwise would ultimately injure the machine. Many instances will occur
where sufficient soft news paper will be preferable to anything else.

82 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

For printing the full side of envelopes the blotter is best; for linen and
other rough papers, the muslin; and for dodgers, posters and solid type
forms, the softer kinds. Only impression sufficient to get a good print
should be given, and with good rollers and ink the lightest touch is all
that is necessary. Should a press be old and worn, the impression will
need to be slightly heavier on that account, and consequently wear the

type more rapidly.

Underlaying the only heavy faced line in the job will often take
the impression off of the balance of the lines so that no further make-
ready is necessary; besides it is often easier to underlay than to overlay
small work. Additional advantage is also gained by underlaying the
prominent line, by the slightly heavier inking it receives by being the
thickness of paper higher than the lighter portions. Underlaying is not
as practical in all cases as overlaying, but the experienced pressman
will quickly decide the best proceedure as soon as the proof is taken.
An illustration that shows indistinct in the center is always improved by
a small underlay on the bottom; and we have had cuts that could not
be brought out without removing the metal from the base and placing
an underlay between it and the wood base.

Half-tones are difficult to work perfectly on the platten press,
principally on account of insufficient distribution of the ink. It is nec-
essary to have a tympan as hard as iron and the lightest possible touch
of the paper and cut. The tympan must be made up specially from
the start. Clamp in one sheet of extra hard book paper over enough
packing to get a clear print on it, then on this put two more sheets of
the same paper, removing the temporary packing. Take two proofs on
West India or stereotyper’s tissue and from one cut out all the heaviest
dark shades and paste them on the other, and from it cut away the ex-
treme lights; accurately fasten this to the tympan sheet nearest the iron
surface of the platten. If the engraving is a portrait, merely cut the
outline of the figure from one of the sheets and paste it in place, and
do any other patching that is necessary, getting an impression on the
stock with about the thickness of tympan that will be required to print
satisfactorily. Judgment is required to know when everything is just
right. Whatever packing is necessary must be placed under the sheet
on which the overlaying is done. Should any abrupt or irregular
edges of the building up appear, put a sheet or two of fine paper, folio
or tissue, on top of the make-ready, and if this does not have the de-
sired eflect, careful patching will be necessary. In such instances a
touch of paste is often a quick remedy. An almost imperceptible touch-
ing with a flexible glue that never hardens, (which is made by dissolv-
ing glue in acetic acid and adding a little glycerine), is a delicate

HANDBOOK or PRINTING. 83

builder for shading about the face and eyes of portraits, and other
shadings of a fineness that will not permit of cutting or patching. The
liquid glue must be very thin and spread on with a camel-hair brush,
the quantity on the brush being not more than enough to show when
the brush touches the paper. It is also a good plan to have the liquid
slightly colored with red aniline so that it is easily seen where put on,
that you may not go over the same place before getting a proof to de-
cide the effect. You can go over the same spot any number of times,
but it is difficult to remove any without injury to the make-ready sheet.

It often happens that a line or letter, or the corner of a job does
not print clear and solid as the rest of the. form. This will occur even
when the impression shows strongest where the printing is not perfect.
The cause is a sunken or worn place in the rollers. By cutting one or
two thicknesses from the under tympan sheets and placing them back
of the type exactly opposite the point of difliculty, the defective print-
ing will be remedied without changing the impression. Reversing one
of the rollers will sometimes be the easiest remedy.

To get a clear and bright print on linens and the rough or cold
pressed papers that are so much in demand for artistic and fashionable
folders and stationery, it is necessary to have fine but soft inks. Take
any stiff color and put into it enough heavy varnish to let it work smooth
and easy with a spatula, then add a few drops of dammar varnish to
give it permanency, gloss and clearness. Remember that the more oil
that is added to the color the less the gross, and that but little is re-
quired to make the stiffest color work easily. For blacks and blues
use rollers that have abundance of suction and elasticity. If a bright
red is wanted, use old rollers that have not lost their elasticity, with a
vermilion ink into which copal or dammar varnish has been energetic—
ally incorporated. If a glossy or glistening appearance is wanted, use
the color as stiff as it will thoroughly distribute, with venice turpentine
or dammar varnish well mixed in. The use of varnishes will be thor-
oughly understood by studying their elements, as given elsewhere.

Rollers for jobbers are more difficult to take care of than the larger
ones on cylinder machines, because the coating of composition on the
cores is much thinner and has not the quantity to attract or resist the
various elements that affect them. Their turning motion depends on
the friction of the composition surface on the distribution plate or cylin-
der, and the rolls on the bearers, which is not always the same when
the press becomes a little worn and lets the rollers go bounding over
the form, and possibly jump from the disk to the form without the rolls
touching the bearers. Of course this is severe on a new roller and

84 HANDBOOK or PRINTING.

soon cuts up its smooth surface, while a roller that is hard enough to
stand such usage soon wears off the type along the edge of the form.

They will dry up quicker and in hot weather pull to pieces sooner
than rollers having greater body. Many a good roller is soon ruined
by its diameter being too much larger than that of the rolls, so that its
surface is traveling faster than that of the rolls when it reaches the
edge of the form, when the composition must give enough to make the
difference in the rate of travel. Cutting the surface of the roller is the
result unless the composition is very tough and elastic.

Job press rollers suffer most when the muggy air in summer works
into them. There is now no known way to keep out the water that per.
meates the air after rains during this season, but as soon as a roller be-
ging to pull or refuse to take ink it is too full of water, and the water
must be gotten out of it. It is quickly and easily done by rolling the
roller in any dry substance that will absorb the moisture without injury
to the composition. The dry dust of the floor or street will take it out
in ten minutes, when any lard oil persistently rubbed over the face and
thoroughly cleaned off to remove all particles of dirt or grit will put the
roller in shape to again proceed with the work. You will be surprised
at the efficacy of this simple remedy, and the thicker the dust the bet-
ter. At quitting time cover the rollers thickly with soft ink or heavy
oil, and keep them in a cool place and out of the air as much as possi-
ble until the atmosphere becomes dryer. Wash them only with ma-
chine oil.

Embossing.

BOTH intricate and simple designs in embossing may be done on
the job press, care being required not to injure the machine by too
much impression. The work is artistic, profitable and pleasing, a very
common job being made fine by embossing the prominent line or oma-
ment in it. When the work is printed and embossed, the printing
should be done first. If the work is of an open design, with large let-
ters or ornaments, where cutting with a knife can be done, the positive
and negative dies may be made from card or binder’s boards. Intric-
ate designs or lines of small type will require the use of the engraver
or stereotyper.

Simple and open designs may be made as follows: Print six proofs
on four-ply strongly-pasted cardboard, paste two of them together with
strong paste and with a sharp knife cut a relief through the thickness
of the top card of the part desired to be embossed. Glue or paste this
relief to the bottom of any type-high wood-base electrotype, or the
bottom of a wood type (first protecting their faces with a thickness of

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 85

heavy paper), and lock up the same as a form. Now, paste two more
of the cards together, and when dry cut away the white about the de-
sign to be embossed, cutting close to the printing so that it will fit into
the relief previously cut. When fitted together, put on the face of the
strong manila tympan a liberal supply of strong paste and take an im-
pression, dwelling time enough to have the card securely held to the
surface of the tympan. As soon as perfectly dry an impression will
show the result. If not heavy as desired, add sheets under the tym-
pan, and if any part is too heavy, the embossing may be toned by
overlaying the places in the relief with tissue paper or by scraping down
that part of the design of the positive.

The embossed work may be fed to the same guides as that of the
job if the relief is of such a nature that the whole design can be cut
out from one card and cut square and smooth clear through, by lock-
ing up the block, coating it With paste or glue and taking an impression
on the relief card carefully fed to the register of the job. When this
plan can be adopted much time will be gained, and the register be
perfect. When an office is supplied with a stereotype outfit a plan by
its use is preferable.

To emboss intricate jobs or single lines of small type, use the
stereotype process for making the dies. Have at least a twenty-four
point bearer around the smaller designs to give strength to the matrix,
which is to form the relief die. If the matrix is made specially for the
embossing dies, it will be well to use less whiting or put on the last tis-
sue with paste only, using chalk on the flong and a little oil on the type
to prevent sticking. Cast the plate a nonpariel thickness. Trim the
matrix, dip it in a thin varnish or lacquer made of copal varnish dis-
solved in spirit alcohol, and place it on an old electrotype block that
has been coated with tenacious paste or glue. Keep it from curling
until the glue sets. By the time the positive or punch die is dressed
up, the relief may be locked in the chase and placed on the press. Put
a little paste on the margins and fit the metal cast to the matrix, place
glue on the tympan or back of the metal stereotype and run the press
up slowly and dwell on the impression until the adhesion is sufficient to
hold the positive firmly to the tympan. It is difficult to securely paste
metal to paper, and to guard against the possibility of slipping, strips
of paper should be pasted across the margins of the metal plate to se-
cure it firmly to the tympan. The margins may be filed very thin,
thus making the plate of less weight and avoiding the possibility of a
strong impression on the flat surface of the margins, which has a ten-
dency to loosen the plate from the tympan. Give plenty of time for
the paste to dry before taking an impression. It often happens that

86 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

some parts of an embossed design are too rough, or strong enough to
break the stock at the edges of the embossing, which may be toned or
softened by pasting soft tissue overlays on the places in the relief, by
cutting the relief a shade wider, or by scraping the edges of the posi-
tive die on the tympan sheet.

When the punch die is made in a form with other matter and
made space deep, it will be necessary to shave down any very promi-
nent spacing before dipping in the lacquer. This is difficulty to do,
and for that reason the matrix had better be made specially for em—
bossing and no greater depth than the thickness of four-ply card-
board.

In offices not fitted for stereotyping, an electrotype of the line or
job may be procured from the foundry, and this securely fastened to
the tympan. Lock in the centre of a chase a block three-sixteenths of
an inch less than type high; slightly dampen a heavy piece of harness
leather, on the flesh side, secure the other side to the block with strong
glue, and take a deep impression into the leather. If not as deep as
desired, slip a sheet or two of cardboard under the tympan and take a
second impression and let it dwell there while a thin sheet of gutta-
percha is being heated to adhesiveness on one side, which stick to the
positive die, which has been previously rubbed over with an oily cloth.
Give plenty of time for the adhesion to become solid and for all damp-
ness to disappear from the leather, and the embossing will be as clear
cut as if the relief was cut in metal. The finest lines will be repro-
duced accurately in the pliable and elastic guttapercha and very abrupt
embossing on cards will be smooth and soft along the edges. .

A little ability, backed by care, study and experience will enable
any one to do good embossing from the plans given above, and the
added attractiveness to the work will pay the customer many times
over for the extra he has paid the printer.

 

LONG RUNS of red cannot be made from copper electrotypes with-
out changing the color to a darker shade as the work progresses. If a
dark red is wanted the work can be run from the copper face; but if
uniform bright red is desired, the electros must be coated with a silver
solution made as follows: Two drachms nitrate of silver, 27 drachms
water, I drachm salammoniac, 4 drachms hypo soda, 4 drachms pre-
cipitated chalk. Shake thoroughly and apply with a brush or cloth to
all the printing surface.

WHEN verdigris gather: on the face of brass rule and it will not
print sharp, take a little diluted oxalic acid and wash the face.

HANDBOOK or PRINTING. 87

Cylinder Presswork.

THE variety and complicated work that is done on cylinder presses
makes an explanation that will be readily understood a difficult under-
taking. The principles of all cylinders are the same, the construction
and mechanism being as different as there are different manufacturers.
The drum cylinder is the simplest form, and the complications increase
from that form to the fast two—revolution and web presses. The prin-
ciples of using them are virtually the same, the better the machinist
and pressman the more satisfactory and profitable the results. If a
pressman understands one class thoroughly, he can readily manage any
of the different presses manufactured. Space will not permit a de-
scription of the different mechanisms, nor is it necessary. Plain or
good work can be executed on a small or large drum cylinder, but the
finest and absolutely perfect work needs the strength and perfect ink-
ing distribution of the two-revolution. For work needing but little ink,
a two-roller drum answers every purpose; and the greater the surface,
with solidity of inking increased, the more the demand for ink-carry-
ing surface. Presses are made with two, four and six rollers for inking
purposes, besides many distributers and vibrators. The greater the
number of rollers that pass over the printing surface, the more perfect
the inking; and with perfect inking, good ink, and proper make-ready,
first-class work is assured.

The all-important business of a pressman is to see that a cylinder
press is ready for the form before it is put on. If the rollers are clean
and the ink evenly distributed, the old tympan should be removed
from the cylinder, the bed rubbed clean and the form put on. When
the form is a small one it may be placed in the center of the bed, or on
the side near the feeder if the location of the printing on the sheet will
permit. Securely lock the forms in the press, having them as tight as
they can be locked without springing. As a safeguard against the
form working sidewise on the bed on long runs, it is a good plan to use
long lengths of wood furniture, placing the end of one piece against
one bearer and the end of the other against the other bearer. When
locked in this way there is no possibility of slipping.

The packing of every cylinder press may be the same, the machine
making no difference; and three kinds of packing—soft, hard and me-
dium—answer every purpose.

Soft packing is required when worn type is used on soft paper for
handbills and posters, and when very large surfaces in solid color are
printed from wood. The grades of softness vary to suit a score of dif-
ferent kinds of forms. A thick rubber blanket may be used under a

88 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

number of sheets of paper or a thin rubber or felt blanket may be used
over a sheet of hard packing, with a few sheets of paper and a tightener
to cover and keep them clean. Sufiicient sheets of soft paper over
hard packing is very desirable for long runs of small posters, where the
form is a mixture of wood and meta] type of varying surfaces. But
soft packing is seldom used by the best pressmen. Working with it is
not as satisfactory, and much time is required to change the packing on
a cylinder from soft to hard, or vice versa.

Hard packing has become the standard and it is safe to assert that
every grade of letter press printing can be executed on it more per-
fectly than on any other packing, excepting, possibly, heavy poster
printing. Worn plates and type, from which good results are difficult
to procure, can be built up nearer to perfect printing on a hard packed
cylinder, while it admits of the most rapid make—ready of large forms
of mixed matter, such as cuts, light and heavy type, and rules, borders
and ornaments. A cylinder packed with hard packing is always ready
for the majority of work without change.

Pressboard is the best hard packing material and is made in vary-
ing thicknesses. One sheet of the thickest is preferable to two or more
sheets of the thinner, as solidity is the desired quality of a hard packed
cylinder. To properly place this sheet on the cylinder a straight score
line must be cut so the board will fold square over the edge of the cyl-
inder at the gripper opening, and the width of the part folded in must
be a little less than the thickness of the iron over which it is turned.
It is very important that the edge of the packing sheet when bent over
the gripper edge of the cylinder should not reach below the thickness
of the iron, so that when the draw sheets are put on they will not raise
the packing along the gripper edge of the cylinder and give a springy
tympan under the grippers. \Vhen draw sheets are folded under and
the points stuck through them and they are tightened, it is like pulling
a band around the edge of the iron frOm the inside to the impression
side, and the drawing is so firm that the sheet will fit closely and be as
solid as the iron itself. Having scored and folded the edge of the hard
pressboard, place it on the cylinder. It should fit up to or within one-
eighth of an inch of the bearers and be cut off even with the edge of
the back opening. Now hold the packing sheet flat to the cylinder
and with a straight-edge cut 03 one-quarter of an inch more of it, per-
fectly parallel with the back edge of the impression part of the cylin-
der. This shortening will allow for any stretching and prevent cupping
when the draw sheets are pulled over the back edge. The draw sheet
may be thin, smooth muslin or two sheets of two hundred pound jute
manila. For passes running on general job work the manila proves to

HANDBOOK or PRINTING. 89

be the most convenient. In many cases of large and open forms it will
be found necessary to take an impression and do all of the make—read y
on this sheet, but it can be done so quickly and satisfactorily that it will
more than pay to throw away this draw sheet when the run is off and
replace it with a new one. For full forms of bookwork the muslin is
the best, drawing closer to the packing and consequently being seem-
ingly more solid.

A muslin draw sheet should be made with a hem along the
straight side, through which a number ten wire may he slipped the full
length. This assures, when the wire is placed back of the steel points,
a secure fastening for the draw sheet and prevents puckering by any
part of the cloth tearing out where the points are inserted. With a
draw sheet thus made, the hard packing can be quickly removed with-
out injury, which cannot be done when pasted in, the usual method
employed in most pressrooms. It is often necessary to remove a thick
sheet of packing and replace it with a thinner, or add under the
stretcher a few sheets of hard paper, where a press is used for general
work, and when the packing is pasted in it is difficult to do this without
injury to the packing.

When the muslin draw sheet is used to hold in and protect the pack-
ing, it should be drawn tightly and present a surface perfectly smooth.
This muslin should be covered to protect it from injury. If the press
is used principally for jobs ranging from open tabular to solid forms,
the best covering would be one sheet of heavy manila, securely pasted
in, and on this use the requisite number of sheets of strong book to se-
cure the proper impression. These sheets may be reversed or readin re-
newed with others for each change of form. In all cases it would be
necessary to change only the sheets that showed the impression of the
previous job, and if no cutting has been done on any of the sheets
quite a number of forms may often be run on the same tympan with-
out change, by simply putting on a new top sheet, which is best when
of strong fine manila. This top sheet should be put on squarely, and
with as much as a two inch fold turned in at the gripper opening, se-
cured by the points and stretched as tight to the cylinder with the reel
as the strength of the paper will permit. The reel will hold this sheet
perfectly solid to the cylinder, and as it may need to be removed for
mending the make-ready it is useless to dampen it.

Rapid make-ready on a cylinder is desirable, especially on short
runs of job work. On many classes of work no make-ready is required,
while on another very little will get good results. No matter what the
class of work, practice rapid make-ready. First touch a little paste
along the edge of the packing sheet at the gripper opening of the

90 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

cylinder and put on two sheets of fifty-pound 28x42 stock, close the
clamp, paste the sheets at the back opening, and take the impression.
If one line or one page, or any part of a page or line shows more dis-
tinct than any other part, cut it out of the top sheet, being careful not
to cut through and injure the muslin draw sheet. Now feed together
two or three sheets of stock intended for the job and notice the result.
If a cut-out sheet is necessary, prepare it and secure it in place; but if
only :1 Spot here and there needs overlay or cut-out, patch directly on
the loose tympan sheet. This is all the make-ready that is necessary on
the majority of cylinder presswork. Sometimes, by putting on a
second sheet out of which to cut the folios, a form of sixteens may be
got ready quickly in this manner, even allowing of very accurate over-
laying and cutting in illustrations. A draw sheet of heavy manila will
answer for short runs, but two sheets should be used for long runs, and
if the work is a small poster, with a mixture of wood and metal type,
the draw sheet may be three or four sheets of heavy poster, which will
relieve some of the rigid impression of the hard packing.

Make-ready varies with almost every piece of work that is handled.
A heavier overlay is required on wood engravings and zinc-cuts than on
capper process cuts. \Vere the same overlays used on a process copy
of a wood engraving that were used to print the original, the lights
and tints of the half-tone would be almost if not entirely made solids.
\Vhere folio is used on one, tissue should be used on the other. The
fine dots of the process engraving require exceedingly delicate impres-
sion on the finest surfaces possible. A lighter and more delicate im-
pression is required on coated paper than on hard surfaced stock, no
matter what the form is composed of. All make-ready should be firm
and hard, with as light an impression as is possible to secure perfect
printing of the shades or solids. If the cut is a relief engraving, with
most of the surface solid, it will require a thinner ink and plenty of
good rollers—not less than four to pass over the whole form. The
distribution must be perfect and the flow of ink ample to keep a solid
color, with the ink thinner for glazed or coated papers than for hard
and calendered stock.

The preparation of a cylinder for book work is the same as for
any other work requiring hard packing, except that a heavy sheet of
fine manila should be securely pasted at the gripper opening, clamped
in while the paste dries, lightly but very quickly sponged while on the
cylinder and secured in the lateral opening with a strong paste to the
muslin draw sheet, getting the sheet smooth before the paste is dry.
The moisture will soon leave the manila sheet drawn snugly to the
muslin draw sheet. Proceed the same as instructed in paragraph con-

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 91

cerning rapid make-ready on page 89. Should the form be full of
half-tones or wood cuts, greater care will be necessary than there
indicated.

When the forms are large and requre a firm impression, or when
the runs are continuous, it will be found advisable to dress the cylinder
in the most secure way possible, that there may be no slipping of the
tympan after the make-ready is completed. Use abundance of strong
paste. Paste together at the edge three sheets of best 8o-1b.—30x44
book. Put paste on the edge of the cylinder at the gripper opening
and clamp in the three sheets with a two-inch fold, which will be held
by the points when the draw sheet is put in place. Smooth each sheet
down to the cylinder separately and secure the ends in the'opening
near the reel. Do not get any paste on the printing surface of the
cylinder. Feed three sheets of hard book paper to test the impression
and get a mark-out sheet, and then take an impression on the fill-in
sheets that have been pasted on the cylinder. Any very abrupt varia-
tion of impression should be cut out of these sheets and another sheet
be printed for the mark-out or make ready sheet, which should always
be the lightest and hardest supercalendered book of the size to be
used. Any number of sheets may be added to bring up the impres-
sion, .but each sheet should be securely pasted in before beginning the
pasting on of overlays. If more than three sheets are used it is best to
let the ends flow loose, to avoid wrinkles by stretching of the sheets.

The mark-out sheet is merely to even the uneven impression of
the form, and when examined carefully on the reverse side it is often
found that a cut-out here and there from the sheets on the cylinder,
or a paster here and there is all that is required before getting a make-
ready sheet. If there are numerous and varying unevennesses, a mark-
out sheet is the quickest way to remedy them. Place the sheet on a
table before a good light and with a red pencil mark an outline around
places to be cut out. Do this carefully, and then lay the sheet on blue
or black manifold paper with the printed side up. Outline all the dim
places that need one or more overlays of tissue, and the marks will
transfer from the manifold paper on to the back of the mark-out sheet,
and all the cutting and pasting can be done on that side of the sheet.
By using a pencil and manifold sheet of different colors, the colors of
the markings will plainly indicate the outline of cutting or pasting, the
red for cut-outs and the blue for patching. Do the cutting and then
the patching, for the latter using tissue, and where one thickness is
pasted over another, cut the last a quarter of an inch smaller than the
first on the edge nearest the heavy part of the impression. When all
the cutting and patching is done turn the sheet over and what needs to

92 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

be done in the way of overlays may be done on this sheet. \Vhere
dark shadows or solid blacks are wanted, or a heavy line of type ap-
pears, put on a thickness of tissue or folio. This now becomes a com-
bined mark-out and make-ready sheet and it is ready to paste over the
impression on the cylinder. Place it out of exact register nearer the
grippers about the width of a lead pencil mark. The draw sheet and
the roll of the cylinder will force it back that much and often more.
Don’t paste too securely in places where tearing would injure the sheet
should it be necessary to change it, which often happens. After the
overlay is pasted on, open the clamps, spread a little paste along the
edge of the cylinder, put in a sheet of fine manila or extra hard calen-
dered book paper, and pull an impression on the thickness of two or
three sheets of the stock for the job and examine thoroughly. It is
best in taking these trial impressions to always feed a sheet of the pa—
per used for a draw sheet with three sheets of the stock, in order that
when the overlays are all put on there will not be too much impression
when two sheets and the draw sheet are put on, and as many as two or
three sheets should always be clamped in with the manila draw sheet.
If the impression is even throughout, the work may be ready to put on
the top draw sheet and start the press, unless the lights and shades of
engravings are not properly toned, which find fully explained in article
on Half-tones, page 49. Pull an impression on the thin manila sheet
that has been put in to cover the make-ready just put on, and any small
indentures may be quickly and accurately cut out of it, as well as
patching done on it. If very much patcing is desired paste them un-
der this sheet as that keeps the overlays that much farther from the
point of impression, and this thin sheet will aid in toning any abrupt-
ness in the make-ready. All overlays that are pasted to the sheets on
the cylinder should have the edges securely fastened nearest the grip-
pers, leaving the overlays flowing or loose, and thus avoid the possibil-
ity of wrinkling. The draw sheet will hold them solid to the cylinder.

For a border design with the inner space mostly blank, there is
but one sure way to prevent cupping or wrinkling. The packing must
be entirely of hard material up to within a sheet of 8o-lb. bookpaper.
Fasten the required sheets of pressboard with a little paste at the grip-
per opening, being certain that the edges do not extend below the in-
ner surface of the cylinder. Secure the clamp and take an impression
on the pressboard. Cut away one thickness of this packing inside the
border, place on a manila draw sheet and tighten it, and run through
a few sheets of the stock. If a heavier impression or patching is
needed, prepare the make-ready on compact bookpaper of a weight
sufficient to bring out the impression by using one sheet only for the
overlay. Remove the manila draw sheet and secure the make-ready
sheet in place. There should be no further trouble,

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. ()3

Overlays and underlays for all kinds of presses are practically for
the same purpose. Illustrations and type that are not type high should
be underlaid and cuts that do not stand solid on the stone or press
should be made true by patching with pieces of paper on their base.
The better proceeding is to have all cuts made perfectly level and type
high before placing them in the form, either by a machine lathe, by a
plate shaver or by underlays. A small circle of sixty pound paper
pasted in the center of a base will intensify the solids of a large plate,
but in many half-tones the underlays have a more positive effect if the
plate is removed and the underlay placed between it and the wood
base. A vignetted portrait, in which the face and shirt front are clear
white, can be built up in this manner, and the Special advantage
gained will be that the make-ready is permanent. But removing the
plate without injury to it is a difficult matter when put on with nails.
It would be better to study the copy and if an underlay under the plate
were necessary secure it to the bottom of the plate before blocking.

All illustrations for fine and perfect effects should be properly and
carefully underlaid by the pressman or compositor before being placed
in the form. Perfect trueness as to height of type is necessary. The
lifting of heavy forms from the press for the purpose of building up is
a useless labor and can be avoided in nearly every instance by proper
care before the forms are imposed. If the cuts stand solid on a true
surface their bases are level, and it is necessary to only take two proofs
on the lightest weight of hard book paper and prepare an underlay.
Place one of the proofs on a sheet of transfer paper and outline all the
shadows that should be heavy in the printing, and then cut from this
sheet the extreme tints. From the second sheet cut the shadows and
paste them in the proper position on the back of the first proof, as in-
dicated bythe transfer outlines. Spread plenty of paste on the back of
this prepared sheet and place it accurately on the base of the cut,
standing the cut on a level stone until the paste is thoroughly dry.
Underlays prepared in this manner often answer all the purposes of an
overlay, and in every case the work of overlaying is simplified. Cut
the underlay the exact size of the illustration where the printing is
solid to the edge, and one-quarter of an inch smaller where tinted or
vignetted.

When taking the proofs for the underlays, also take two or three
proofs for the overlays, on fifty and sixty pound supercalendered book,
28x42, which may be made up at any time before the forms are ready.
The nature and size of the illustrations will sometimes demand a thin-
ner or even a thicker paper. For a large illustration, with intense
solids, an eighty pound paper will facilitate the work of overlaying by

94 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

giving perfect results without the patching that would be necessary if
the thinner sheets were used. For medium size cuts, 3x4 inches, use
the lighter paper, and for half-tones of the same size use one sheet of
the fifty pound and one sheet of folio. This rule will not always apply,
but the pressman must use some judgment in the matter. If a proper
method cannot be determined by a mere study of the subject of the
illustration, a trial will be necessary, and the knowledge gained by the
experiment will pay for the time required. In all doubtful cases, where
the overlays can be made before the form goes to press, it is advisable
to make a two sheet and a four-sheet overlay of the subject and try
the lightest first. If the result is not distinct, the heavier can be used,
and save much time at the machine.

What might be termed a one-sheet overlay will properly bring out
many illustrations of the smaller sizes. A twosheet overlay will suit
most of the usual runs of illustrations, while three, four and five are re-
quired for fine reproductions of nature and machinery. A one-sheet
overlay may be very heavy stock or of the finest tissue, according to
the subject, the object being always to have the contrast of light and
dark very distinct—the solids preferably a little too heavy than not
heavy enough to print distinct and positive.

When cutting a two sheet overlay from the same weight of paper,
cut out all the lights from the first sheet, cutting away about a thirty-
second of an inch of all the solids that jut up to the lights. Cut the
second sheet exactly on the outline of the solids, and always paste the
second sheet under the first. If the first sheet is eighty or one hundred
pounds to a ream, the edges near tints and lights should be scraped to
a slight bevel. You will find this a proper thickness of first sheet
where daylight appears through dense foliage, but it will be necessary
to bevel the abrupt edges to prevent abruptness. Any varying tones
that may be wanted in the lights can be made with thin tissue of the
\Vest India brand; in fact, this tissue may be used for patching any ab-
mptness of the overlay.

Good work cannot be done unless the rollers are properly adjusted
on a cylinder. Set form rollers evenly and lightly, just snug enough to
prevent them from dragging. ()n presses with table distribution, set
them by the table; on two roller drums, set them by the forms. Let
the roller down at one end until the form or table turns the roller,
keeping the press rotating all the time; then raise the roller just
enough to clear while setting the other end. When the contact is just
enough to turn the roller, then lower the other end to the position at
which It turned when let down on the form. Let the rollers merely
touch the vibrators and there will be no melting down under the heav-
iest running, nor filling up of the form.

HANDBOOK or PRINTING. 95

Getting Register.

CENTERING a job on any kind of press is quickly and accurately
done when an impression can be taken on the tympan surface. On
any platten press simply print an impression on the top sheet of the
tympan when the job is made ready, and with a sheet of the stock cut
for the work, measure the exact length of the printing on the tympan
by placing the edge of the sheet to the edge of the printing, and across
the sheet at the other edge of the job place a mark on the stock, which
gives the length of the form; and when the other edge of the sheet
is folded to this mark, the crease will show the exact margin for each
end. Proceed in like manner for guide line on the back of the platten
and the register of the feed edge of the job. A good plan is to use the
common brass pin, with a square turn of one—quarter of an inch at the
head end, until exact register is obtained, when permanent gauges,
cardboard, quads or reglet may be securely placed. Special care must
be taken that none of the guides move after the work is started, espec-
ially in jobs that go through the press more than once. A pair of com-
passes will aid in getting absolutely true and perfect margins and
should be used where work is done in colors or for work where the lines
are scattered over the sheet.

On a cylinder the margins may be found in the same manner as
above, or by printing and folding the sheet. It insures perfect register
if the sheet is printed on both sides and continued trials made until the
end and side registers are perfect, and not depend on making the turn
side register after the run is through the press the first time. A square
and compasses are essential to insure parallel lines in large sheets of col-
ored work, where some of the lines may be located alone and away
from anything by which their correct lining can be compared. F old-
ing the sheet and measuring in every way from the gripper edge of the
sheet to the back margin will assist in finding any inaccuracies that the
eye could never discover.

In getting margins for register on a cylinder press, the sheets must
be fed when the machine is going at the speed intended to work the
run. No cylinder at a slow speed will register a sheet fed at a differ-
ent speed. If it is necessary to run one side of a sheet slow on ac-
count of the nature of the color or form, and the other side can be
run at a greater speed, the guides will have to be lowered to allow for
the increased speed of the cylinder. The principle is this: The sheet
when fed to the guides lies perfectly still and the cylinder is in motion;
as soon as the grippers are turned over their center the spring forces
them down suddenly. The slower the movement of the cylinder the
wider the margin at the gripper edge. A press must be run at the
same speed to obtain perfect register, or the guides changed.

96 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

One or More Colors at One Impression.

A TYPE job, cut, tint, or large initial can be worked on a platten
press in colored bands or stripes without cutting the type or duplicating
by electrotypes. Prepare tympan with strong paper and very hard
packing, leaving the first sheet out of the clamp at the top of the plat-
ten. Roll this sheet down out of the way and take an impression on
which to make ready. Print the design on four or six ply of any solid
cardboard, and cut overlays from this exactly the size and shape for
each color. It is best to begin with the center band. Securely and
very accurately paste on the overlay, clamp in the top sheet and pro-
ceed with the printing, which should run without sluring at the edges.
On some kinds of coated or fine stock, it is necessary to leave off the
top sheet and feed next to the overlay, to prevent smutting of the
space cut out for the other colors. In this case the feeding is more
difficult than with the smooth surface given by the top sheet.

When one color is printed, change the ink and make the press
ready by pasting the next overlay snugly against the one last printed
from, first running a sharp knife along the edge to cut through the
tympan sheet so that the old overlay may be removed as soon as the
new adheres to the sheet. When the old overlay is taken away, a lit-
tle paste should be put under the new one to strengthen the tympan.
Make the other changes in a similar manner until the job is completed.

This kind of work can be done at one impression on certain job—
bers. When vibrators and disk can be fastened stationary and made
to run in line with the form, ink may be put on by hand the width of
the color lines wanted. Should the colors blend after working a while,
use a little white ink at the intersections. This plan is satisfactory for
short runs. The plan as first given is better for long runs.

An old ductor, or supply roller, can be used advantageously to
feed ink from the fountain for small forms, cuts, spots or tints that are
to be worked in the center of a large sheet, on a two-roller press. The
difficulties from small forms of this kind result from the greater portion
of the form rollers having to retain all the ink that gets on them. On
long runs the ink cannot be cut ofi clean enough at the fountain to feed
only where wanted and just enough for the light and heavy parts of
the form. If the design is solid, only a short run will show a denser
inking at the edges than in the middle. There may not be very much
more ink, but the continued distribution, as it works back and forth
from the ends of the rollers, makes it denser and darker. It is the na-
ture of some inks to become thicker while working, which causes much
of the filling up or darkening of the edges. The object then is to sup-

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 97

ply the ink where wanted and in such quantity that the form will use it
as fast as it comes from the fountain.

A small cut with a solid center and an outline of tintings, is very
difficult to print on any press with only roller distribution, without the
edges showing a heavy inking. We find that ink will gradually accu-
mulate on the rollers each side of the form and work into and slur the
edges, when the fountain roller appears cut off clean both sides of the
flow. This is readily prevented in all cases by a simple manipulation
of the supply roller. In a case where the sheet can be moved until the
form prints in the proper location, the ductor may be prepared a day
before the job is put to press; but if the sheet is the full size of the cyl-
inder, and the job must first be placed to register in order to find the
exact location, then it is necessary to find the direct line from which
the ink is to be taken from the fountain.

When the direct line to the form is located on the ductor, cut a
strip of wool blanket the exact width of the matter to be printed, wet
this strip and wrap around the roller, which should be placed in a hor-
izontal position. Rewrap every half hour to prevent a seam forming
where the end of the strip touches the roller, keeping as much water in
the strip as it will hold without dripping. When the composition has
swollen about one-eighth of an inch, let the roller stand one hour; then
adjust the fountain and roller so it will touch the-fountain and interme-
diate roller only at the swollen part. No attention need be paid to the
regulation of the ink-flow of the fountain, except at the point where the
ductor touches. Treat the expanded portion the same as a new roller
and the results will be found wonderfully satisfactory.

If the job is not finished before night, clean the roller at quitting
time and wrap the strip of blanket on the expanded part of the roller,
and leave it on during the night. Wring the strip as dry as possible
and be certain that there 'is no oil or ink on the roller where the strip is
placed. This obviates the necessity of cutting the roller, although this
would be necessary to get the same results should there not be an old
ductor or a pair of form rollers about the pressroom.

Should the supply roller be new at the time a job of this nature is
to be printed, and there are two old form rollers, they can be prepared
in the manner above given; but the raised portion on them must be
wider than the form, to allow for the vibration of the rollers, which is
generally only that of the play caused by the wear of the journals.
This plan will not give as clear and perfect work as that of the former.
Put the rollers away clean when the work is finished and they will as-
sume their former shape in a few days.

()8 HANDBOOK or PRINTING.

This plan of raised portions of a tough roller is an excellent scheme
for long runs of two colors, or of two smalI jobs of different solid colors.
We printed two hundred thousand 9 by 12 handbills on a 34 by 52
Potter in two colors, without the colors blending the least shade. The
forms were made up in the usual manner for two colors, and locked
head to head, there being four inches space between the first color line
of the main form and the first line of the skeleton. Exactly this space
in the fountain was filled with plaster of paris and the two colors placed
therein. Both form rollers were swollen their full length except the
four inches in the center. The work was as good as if printed at two
runnings, thus saving several days presswork. \Vith the small cuts and
tints there will be no trouble from slurs, the ink being perfectly con-
trolled and thoroughly distributed. This kind of two-color work can-
not be done on table distribution presses. There are many ways of
saving time at the press by running the main form and skeleton in the
same color, and then putting the turned sheet through the press, after
changing the ink; but, except on very long runs, there is a doubt as to
whether it pays.

Where an office has regular runs of the same size in colors, it is
advisable to make a supply roller in sections. A new core should be
made of a size of iron that snugly fits three-quarter inch gaspipe. Cut
threads the full length of the core, on which place a number of nuts
for locking the sections of gaspipe in their places in line with the form.
Two of the lock nuts should be used to form the shoulder at the jour-
nals. If the gaSpipe fits the core snugly, it should be cut into sections
on a turning lathe; but if the hole in the pipe is larger than the core,
it would be well to cut with a plumber’s cutter and file the flange thus
made inside, until a close fit is secured. The sections may be made
any length. Place them on the core with one nut between each sec-
tion; wrap each section full length with small twine and cast a roller in
the usual manner, using very strong composition. After sufficient time
has elapsed, pull the roller and cut the sections apart where the lock
nuts are; then trim up each section in the same manner as you would a
full-sized roller. They will then be ready to be put into place and
made secure by two lock nuts being screwed up tightly against each
end of each section. The advantages of a roller of this kind are quite
numerous.

Slurring.

ANY old presman can explain what causes the slurred edges or
printing on cylinder presses, but not every onc can tell how to prevent
it. By improper make ready a slur may occur when the sheet strikes

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. d9

the form, or when it leaves it, the latter more often being the case. “

A loose tympan or worn cylinder journals will cause it, as will also the
unequal traveling of the bed and cylinder. When the circumference
of the tympan is the same as that of the bearers on the ends of the cyl-
inder, and the face of the form and the bearers on the bed of the press
are the same heighth, with possibly the bearers slightly higher than
the type, the printing will be clear of any slur, either when the sheet
strikes the form or when it leaves it. The traveling of the surface of
the form and the impression surface of the cylinder must be uniform.
Should the periphery of the tympan or packing be lessened the thick-
ness of even two or three sheets of paper, to take a heavy impression
from over-type-high plates, the form would reach the slower traveling
surface of the cylinder and a slur would occur before the contact was
strong enough to print. The plates being higher than the bearers, the
form would reach the cylinder traveling faster than the tympan surface.
The more the tympan is reduced the slower its surface travels with the
bearers, which causes the slurring before printing, while if the packing
is builded up a few sheets higher than the cylinder bearers, the slurring
will occur as the sheet leaves the form, because the tympan surface is
traveling faster than the type surface.

This kind of slurring is easily prevented on new machines, or those
that are not worn in the cylinder boxes, by simply having the bearers
on the bed slightly more than type—high, generally about two ply card-
board higher, so that during a heavy impression the cylinder will hug
the bearers from one end to the other, whether the form is a continu-
ous surface or broken up into book pages. In an instance where the
slur occurs before the first line of contact can give a clear print, there
is but one remedy, and that is to set the bearers on the bed of the press
so they will remain in solid contact during the entire impression.

It requires time and patience, backed by mechanical ability, to
properly adjust the bearers on a cylinder printing machine. Not every
pressman should be entrusted with such adjustment, as there are very
few who do it understandingly. On new machines the bearers on the
bed will be found to be exactly type-high, and for light or heavy forms
that are exactly type-high they will be found right; but for many forms
of heavy plates a test may show that the bearers should be slightly
raised. It is then only necessary to adjust the cylinder, which with
care is very easily done, though there are few who do it properly.
Lower the cylinder at both ends till a piece of thin writing paper is
held firmly by the contact, but so it can be pulled out without tearing.
It is only a matter of judgment to get both ends exactly alike. All
that is now necessary is to lower each end of the Cylinder a quarter

[m HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

turn of the impression screws. This must be accurately done and the
turns precisely the same. The right packing being on the cylinder,
now put on a full form and take an impression with the necessary tym-
pan for a heavy form. Have strips of thin, strong paper on the bear-
ers and stop on the impression. If these slips of paper are held firmly
and alike on both bearers, the adjustment is correct.

Proceed to make ready the cylinder, adding the required sheets
and overlays, until the full form prints perfectly and without any signs
of impression. When every part prints clearly, try again the strips of
paper on the bearers and if they are still held firmly, the press will run
smoothly and without slur or wear at the edges of the form. But the
bearers must have solid contact or the slur and wear will soon appear.

Should the strips of paper be loose at one or both ends, it will be
necessary to lower the cylinder until they are held snugly. But here is
where special care must be taken to turn the screws just enough. The
cylinder must be run ofi the impression and run on again to test it, un-
til the slips of paper are held firmly and alike on both bearers. A cyl-
inder set in this way will run without jar when it leaves the impression,
and without bumping as it passes over gutters and margins in book
forms, and will not need adjusting again until the bearings begin to
wear away, which will be several years if the bearers are cleaned every
day with an oily rag.

There is no kind of make-ready that will prevent wearing of the
type and a slur when the sheet leaves the form, if the cylinder is worn
enough to drop when leaving the form or bearers. If a cylinder has
to raise to get upon the bearers it is worn badly at the journals. Any
pressman should have mechanical ability sufficient to find and possibly
repair the defect. First raise the cylinder two turns of the screws, be-
ing sure to leave the boxes tightly clamped together. Place a short
piece of pica reglet on the bearers and take an impression, watching
the journals to ascertain how much play there is in the boxes. Run the
bed back and forward over the reglet until you are certain as to about
how much is worn away. Now loosen the screws and take out the top
boxes and examine them and the journals. Should the wear be in
cuts and grooves, it would be best to have the journals turned down
and the boxes babbitted ; but if the wear is smooth the pressman can
bush them with sheet brass so that the press will again run like new.
Make a half circle of sheet brass to fit the bottom box, forming it so
that the turn of the journal will be across the grain of the brass. Leave
a flange of about one-quarter of an inch at the top and fit it into the
face of the box by filing a flat place across the face to let the flange in
below the level of the face of the box. This will keep the half circle

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 101

of brass in its place and from running around with the journal. Better
have the brass too thick than otherwise, as it is easy to fit in a packing
of paper or card between the faces of the boxes until the necessarily
snug fit is secured; and these same pieces of card can be readily re-
moved when the least appearance of wear occurs. A cylinder that is
worn in the boxes wears both the front and back edges of the form
very rapidly, and only a few hundred impressions will wear the type
nearly to the shoulder, regardless of the make-ready. There is no rem-
edy except to fill up the space that has been left in the boxes by the
wearing away of those parts.

Slurring in printing book headings and outline forms of rule and
border designs, that is caused by sagging of the paper, are many times
more troublesome than slurs of any other kind. If the slur is caused
by the sheet dropping on the type, the bands should be placed nearer
the cylinder. This usually has the desired effect. In open work it is
sometimes necessary to run a stout twine from the band rod in front of
the cylinder to a brace rod back of it, or to a screw placed in the un-
derside of the feedboard. This twine must be just snug enough against
the cylinder to hold the sheet firm but still not draw it, and from one
to three will be required, as the margins will permit. They should be
placed so as not to interfere with the rear delivery in some presses, in
which the preSSman can find or devise a place to fasten the twine, the
object being to hold the sheet against the cylinder until it is entirely
clear of the type. If a slur occurs at the gripper edge, or at the loose
edge of the sheet, see Slurring, page 98. If a sheet wrinkles at the
grippers, resetting them will remedy the defect, as it will also often do
when a sheet cups or draws together as it leaves the form. Wrinkling
can always be prevented, but we have spent hours to find the cause.
If a gripper is close to the feed guide, or the tongue of the guide does
not fit close to the cylinder, or one gripper is set tighter than another,
or the packing is put on so that it springs under the grippers, all or
either may be the cause of wrinkling. A sheet that goes loose to the
impression surface will slur or wrinkle, and if held tighter by one band
than another air will gather under the sheet before the form is reached
and wrinkles will inevitably appear. The pressman has to find the
remedy, and if the machine is all right the trouble must be in the
make-ready, and cutting and patching will be the remedy. If the
cupping is in a border that runs the length of the cylinder, the im-
pression is too heavy on the end rules that go with the circumference of
the cylinder. Remove the draw sheet and cut out as much of the im-
pression as the make-ready will allow, cutting within two inches of the
corners and close to the type, taking all the margin away to the ends

102 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

of the cylinder. Do all cutting as near the muslin draw sheet as pos-
sible, and cut out two or three thicknesses of the sheets wherever large
blanks appear. Should the form be a border only, there need be no
trouble if properly made ready. If by a trial impression it be found
that four or five sheets of paper will be found necessary to get a proper
printing, put next the muslin draw sheet a sheet of cherry pressboard,
or a sheet of three-ply firm cardboard, and on this place the manila
draw sheet. A mere touch of the border to the stock is all the im-
pression required and there need be no cupping or twisting of the
sheets.

Changing Inks.

WHEN changing press from fine to common ink, no pressman need
ever think of washing of} the good ink, but instead merely add a few
drops of oil and put on the thinner ink. Nor is it necessary to wash off
good cheap ink when changing from soft stock to calendered or hard
writing paper. First sheet off the surplus ink from the inking rollers,
then touch here and there on them with the finger a little venice tur-
pentine and distribute thoroughly. If the work is rule work and to be
run on a large machine with very little type in the form, it is best to
clean all of the ink off the plate instead of sheeting the rollers. Dis-
tribute completely after putting on turpentine, which should be nearer
a paste than a liquid. Put on the form and by the time the make-
ready is completed, the suction and ink will be ready to work smoothly
and dry rapidly.

Impression.

THE impression on every class of work should be sufiicient to pro-
duce clear and distinct printing, but under no condition is it necessary
that the impression should show on the reverse side of the stock. Even
on linens, bonds, and the rough papers for artistic circulars and folders,
a very slight impression is sufficient, only showing in cases where the
finest inks are run very scantily. In work the size of letter and bill
headings, where occasionally heavy faces appear, a fine muslin cloth
under the make-ready will have elasticity enough to even the impres-
sion of the rough paper against the solid smooth surface of the type.
Heavy colored inks require a more positive squeeze, and on some kinds
of paper the indentations will be visible, unless the make-ready is solid
and carefully prepared. Work from type should have as light an im-
pression as is consistent with perfect printing, for the reason that, in the
first place, a heavy impression is unnecessary and, in the second place,
causes a useless wear on material, to say nothing of the steady strain on

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 103

the printing machines. A type form that has been put through under
a heavy squeeze on a long run on a cylinder machine would be so worn
as to be almost useless, except to remain standing for future runs of the
same job. If the type was thrown back into the case the whole font
would be ruined for future use on hard paper. An even impression
and clear print could not again be produced from that font of type, as
the tympan would have to be made heavy enough to reach the worn
letters, thus forcing the new and sharp letters into the paper. Hard
papers will admit of more squeeze than soft, but the impression on the
latter that would nearly cut through it, would hardly be discemable on
the hard paper.

When book work is printed from plates and goes through dry pres-
sing in the bindery, a heavier impression is admitted on short runs
where the wear is hardly appreciable and the make-ready must be hur-
ried. A pressman shows his ability best by rapid make-ready without
perceptible impression, but the make-ready cannot be hurried on all
work and be perfect.

Working-up of Furniture.

QUADS and spaces and even furniture work up to a level with the
printing surface of the majority of large forms. When placed in the
press their appearance indicates that every plate and piece is square
and perfectly arranged, and the locking perfect. Sometimes quads
and spaces will work up and show in a run of a few moments, while in
many instances their appearance is made after running several hours or
days, and when either quads, spaces or furniture have once worked up
to a printing surface, they will continue to rise more quickly after being
once driven down. The principal cause for this is that the ink that
adheres to them when pushed down acts as a lubricant and lets them
slip up more easily after the first time.

There are a number of ways to stop these annoyances, and time
will always be Saved by stopping them positively as soon as discovered.
If simply the quads and spaces work up in a line, drive in a “dutch-
man,” or wedge, but cut a long, tapering and true wedge of soft pine.
Drive this wedge carefully until solid, then break it off at the edge of
space height, and after broken off drive the wedge still lower. This
will have a tendency to place the type perpendicular. Plane down the
line carefully and there will be no further trouble from that quarter.

When leads and furniture work up in the form, it is best to unlock
the form and put in a thin lead or strip of cardboard. The trouble is
invariably caused by the matter having less squeeze than other parts of
the form.

104 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

When furniture and slugs in the gutters and margins of book forms
rise high enough to blacken the sheets while printing, there are many
and varying causes, and persistence and patience are required to find
them. If furniture works up in the gutters there is surely an untrue
contact between two surfaces, and the greatest pressure is always at
the top edge. If the pages are of type, the edge of the furniture is
not square, and there is no question but that the top edge only is in
contact with the page, which will have a tendency to lift the type, and
the type will go down to the bed of the press at every impression and
not take the furniture down with it. In a short time the furniture will
be to a level with the printing surface. It is useless to drive down this
furniture, as its tendency will be to grow worse as the work progresses.
Turning the furniture over often removes the trouble, but it is best to
unlock the form and paste a strip of three ply cardboard about one-
eighth of an inch wide the full length of the page or pages where the
furniture works up, and near the bottom edge of the furniture. Be
certain you place the strip on the edge next to the bottom side and the
edge that shows a less distinct impression of the type at the bottom
than at the top. It is very difficult sometimes to ascertain which edge
of the furniture is causing the lifting, and you must find the right edge
or the trouble will be increased. Should the same trouble occur with a
form of cuts or plates, it is best to paste the strip of cardboard on the
plate, and the bottom edge always. By this means the plate is made
true; and tight locking will not spring a form in which every piece of
its make-up is square. Should tight locking be the cause of the risings,
loosening the quoins slightly will remedy the evil. The slightest varia-
tion from absolute right angles in a cut or electrotype, if locked up with
unnecasary pressure, will cause the page and often the whole form to
spring. When the cylinder of a press rolls over such pages, the pres-
sure carries the form to the solid bed, and when springing back, the
furniture comes with it; and when the cylinder carries tne cut down to
the bed again, the furniture may go down with it, but the chances are
that only the plate will go down; and every time it rises it carries the
furniture still higher, until it is up to a level with the face of the form
and takes ink and prints those unsightly splotches on the margins.
Bear in mind that when any of the bianks of a form Work up there is a
wedge-shape piece causing it, if not uneven adjustment. Nothing but
adjusting will keep quads and spaces from working up in type that
stands loosely in the form. When only one end of a lead, slug or
piece of furniture comes up to the printing surface, putting in a thin
lead or slip of cardboard at the loose end will stop the trouble. If
next to the wood base of a cut or electrotype it is sometimes necessary
to true the edge and paste the card to keep it from working to a print-
ing height.

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 105

Uniformity of Color.

A FIXED standard of color should be established, by which all
books, periodicals, etc., can be made uniform in color from beginning
to end. It looks bad to have one page of a book printed in a heavy
black and possibly the page opposite so much lighter as to almost be a
gray; or in periodicals, to print one issue in one shade, the next in an-
other, and so on, making the work when bound in volumes appear like
a specimen book of inks of all grades of black and gray.

Since there are so many qualities and makes of both paper and
ink, it is impossible to depend upon either of them to regulate the
shade of color in book or periodical printing. It is therefore necessary
to establish a standard and save a sufficient number for comparison, so
that the last of a series of forms will be printed in the same shade of
color as the first. As soon as a shade that satisfies the taste of the
pressman has been obtained, let a few impressions be taken and the
sheets laid away; and let these constitute the standard to which the
color of all subsequent forms belonging to the same series must con-
form. This is the only practical way to obtain an even color through-
out an entire book, periodical, or a series of small runs.

This plan is of value in cases where job work in colors, or trade-
marks, monograms, etc., are being printed on work for large concerns,
when it is desirable to maintain the same shade of color throughout the
entire year.

By glancing at a full sheet as it comes from the fly, the color will
appear the same, when if folded in different ways, the pages falling
opposite will often show a decided variation of shade. Occasionally
fold a sheet as the printing proceeds, until the fountain is evenly set,
and the work will run without much further attention.

In order to keep a uniformity of color, the pressman should keep a
record of the temperature of the pressroom during cold weather, while
running on book forms for the same publication. If the temperature
during the afternoon is seventy and the next morning when the press is
started the thermometer registers around fifty, the work would use
more of the ink that was thickened by the cold and the printing would
be much darker. To prevent this the fountain ratchet should be
changed to take less ink, and put back to its original notch when the
ink and rollers get warmed properly. Very careful attention is re-
quired during the first hour’s run. The inks hould be run a little darker
than the sheets printed the day before, which are dry and will not ap-
pear to have as much color as the freshly printed pages.

A surplus of ink will offset and spoil the best of work, besides

[06 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

wasting the ink. To detect when too much ink is running from the
fountain, lightly pass the hand over the printed sheet as it falls to the
fly table, and if more ink is used than the paper Will absorb, a slight
blurring will denote the direct line at which the ink should be cutoff at
the fountain. If the printing is clean and not too much ink, the hand
will slip over the printed surface the same as if the ink was dry.

Printing Envelopes.

THE PLANS of making ready envelope jobs are many. Prepare
the tympan so as to have two or three loose sheets underneath, that
any of them may be removed after the make-ready is completed, if it
should be found that the impression is heavier than necessary. First
get the register and take an impression on the stock to be used. Place
this envelope flat against a window pane and cut out from the front the
heavy printing caused by the extra thickness where the flap lays. Cut
close to the shadow of the flap. Cut up the envelope so that you have
only the front side left, which fasten under top tympan sheet to accu-
rate register as an overlay. Often this simple make-ready will run
thousands without trouble from lumps of gum-arabic. Patching and
the change of type are the only remedies when the gum is hit, and for
this reason, especially where valuable cuts are used, the following plan
is preferable:

To prevent lumpy particles of mucilage on envelopes from injur-
ing the form, use a heavy piece of blotting paper under the tympan,
the make-ready being the same as the first example given, and when
beaten down replace with a new blotter, or touch the injured part with
a drop of water, which will soon bring up the impression again. When
a solid impression is necessary the blotter cannot be used, and then, to
guard against the damage that a lump of gum will cause, it is best to
rub the finger over the flap as the envelope is taken from the feed-
board. This can be done very quickly after a little practice. But a
better plan than the above is to work the envelope with the flap open.
Place the form in the press so that the printing is upsidedown. By pil-
ing the envelopes on the press table with the flap side up and from the
feeder, and feeding the bottom edge to the guides, the flap can be
opened when the envelope is picked up, and closed after printing when
taken from the press with the other hand. This will save two hand-
lings, as is customary in some offices, and avoid the possibility of strik-
ing any lumps of gum that may adhere to the flap of the envelope. It
will always pay on short runs of large forms or cuts, to work envelopes
in this manner, thus saving the time of making an even surface where
the flap overlaps the double thickness of the paper where the edges are
lapped in making the envelope.

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 107

Electricity in Paper.

As THE approach of troubles from electricity in printing paper is
nigh, by reason of colder weather, says the November Inland Printer,
it may be opportune to give the views and remedies of a couple of cor-
respondents located in different geological and climatic sections of this
country. A gentleman writing from San Francisco has this to say: “I
have noticed a number of scraps of information and inquiry concerning
electricity in paper advanced by California pressmen. I don’t know
why they want to talk about this stranger, and I fancy if those who
complain could see sheets stick to one another like bills pasted on a
fence, or what is worse, stick to delivery and tympan so that they must
be torn off in pieces, they would throw these little troubles (which are
theirs) to the winds and cease to tear their hair with one hand while
wielding a sprinkling pot with the other. A little glycerine applied to
the top sheet occasionally will dispel these imps, which are caused by
friction of hard-finished paper brushing past steel bands and rods. The
climate is all right.”

We rather fear that the foregoing will seem a little “chestnutty”
to some of the readers of this department, but it is given for the bene-
fit of those who desire to take advantage of the suggestion so willingly
thrown out by the writer. However, here appears to be a more effect-
ive way of overcoming electrical troubles in paper, and has been sent
us from a gentleman in Detroit, Michigan, where these prevail to an
annoying degree by reason of the very cold weather prevalent there
during winter months. This writer says: “We have had considerable
trouble with electricity in our pressroom, but since trying the effect of
the following method as an experiment the difliculty has ceased. I
know thata great deal has been written and said regarding the diffi-
culties encountered by pressmen with electricity in paper. Every
known device has been tried in order to remedy the trouble, and fre-
quently whole editions have been worked off before the evil has been
abated. Mr. George Haggerty, a pressman of Detroit, believes he
has solved the problem by taking a piece of insulated copper wire (such
as electricians use in stringing their incandescent lights) of sufficient
length to pass from the top of the feed-board, underneath the paper,
down to the distributing table and under the printed sheets, and back
to the feed-board. The ends of the wire are to be spliced together,
that is, the bare wire. The wire thus directed underneath the paper
tends to draw the electricity from the paper and causes it to move in a
circular motion around the wire by the operation of the press. By us-
ing this simple device when confronted with the difficulty of electricity,
pressmen will find almost immediate relief.”

L03 HANDBOOK or PRINTING.

Photographing on Wood.

The Revue Photographique gives the following directions for pho-
tographing on wood. Measure out:

Gelatine ____________________________________________________ 8 grams.
White soap ________________________________________________ 8 grams.
Water ________________________________________________________ 500 c. C.

The gelatine is allowed to swell, is dissolved in the water-bath, and
the soap is added to it gradually, stirring all the time. The mixture is
then filtered through muslin. A little zinc white is added to it, and it
is then rubbed well into the wood to be used, and then left to dry.
The film should be as thin and equal as possible. A coating of the fol-
lowing solution is then applied to the wood by means of a broad brush:

Albumen ___________________________________________________ 30 grams.
Chloride of amonia .................................. 1.2 grams.
Citric acid ................................................ 0.2 grams.
\Vater ........................................................ 24 C. C.

Whip the albumen to a froth, let it settle, and then add (in order)
the water, the chloride of amonia and the citric acid. When dry, this
film is sensitized by pouring on it a little of the following solution and
spreading it with a glass rod :

Nitrate of silver. 3.2 grams.
Water ........................................................ 31 C. c.

Pour off any excess of the sensitizer and allow it to dry again.
Print as usual. It is not necessary to overprint. When sufficiently ex-
posed, hold the printed surface of the wooden block for three minutes
in a weak solution of salt; in this the print will become slightly paler.
Wash under the water-tap and fix for four or five minutes in a concen-
trated solution of hyposulphate of soda. Wash again for ten minutes
under the water-tap and dry.

 

FOR GILDING the edges of books: Armenian bole, 4 parts; sugar
candy, I part; and white of egg in quantity sufficient to mix. Apply
this composition to the edge of the leaves, previously screwing firmly to
the cutting press; when nearly dry, smooth the surface with the bum-
isher; now take a damp sponge and pass over it; then, with a piece of
cotton, take the leaf from the cushion and apply to the work; when
quite dry, bumish, observing to place a piece of silver, or India paper,
between the gold and the agate.

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 109

STEREOTYPING.

THE simplest and cheapest form of making duplicate plates from
type forms or cuts is stereotyping by the papier mache (pap—yay mah-
shay) process, which is so easily worked that no one need have any
trouble in making copies of most forms that will print as well as the
original. Care is necessary for perfect results in this as in any other
work, but experience is not essential if you any ways near follow the
instructions given in our limited space. There need be no trouble to
get perfect faces and any number of casts from the same matrix, but to
make it profitable the best material and a good outfit is all-important.
A first-class outfit will save its cost sooner than a printing press, which
makes money when wearing out material, while the stereotype outfit
saves both time and material by duplication. You can make perfect
stereotypes from the first effort if you use care and judgment.

The outfit is important, and in answer to numerous inquiries about
stereotype outfits we simply refer the purchasers of HANDBOOK OF
PRINTING to M. J. Hughes, 9 Spruce street, New York. Without
question he makes the best money and time saving outfits. We com-
menced with a 6 by 9 Gump outfit in 1860. Everybody gets fooled
sometime in life, and we admonish everyone not to be a gump. Don’t
buy an outfit that casts less than 10 by I 5, or you will regret it before
using it thirty days. All the pages in this work were cast in a No. 1
Hughes’, with type-high adjustible bars. Pages fifty-nine to seventy-
seven were cast from matrix prepared by Formula No. 4, and the other
pages according to Formula N o. I. The slight difference is explained
in each formula, and anyone can easily make plates of the same beauty
and clearness of these pages. There is no excuse for any failure in
stereotyping, and if you follow our plans you can produce perfect print-
ing plates from anything from wood type to the finest lines of script
and dotted rule. We have made plates from tabular forms in which
the rule lines were absolutely true on the face from end to end of a
length up to eighteen inches, which is accomplished in making the
matrix.

When buying a stereotype outfit it is best to get one at least one-
third larger than your immediate needs seem to demand, and larger
than the forms you wish to cast. A perfect cast can seldom be made
the full size of the casting box, several inches of space at the top being
required for metal that in reality is needed to weight down the metal
so as to make it fill every aperture of the matrix. Whether plates or
type high casts are made, there will always be an inch on each side
that is taken up by the adjustable bars or plate guards. You my,

lIO HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

then, cast a plate the full width of the casting box, less about two
inches, but an allowance of from four to six inches should be made at
the top of the cast to be cut away. This is the rule, but casts are often
perfect to the mouth of the mould.

We have made a success of stereotyping tabular work, including
forms entirely of rule, or type, cuts and rule, and there in no excuse
for trouble or failure.

When forms are full of long and short rules and leaders and type,
they are more difficult to get a correct matrix from than if the form
was entirely of rule. For this class of stereotyping the beating brush
is dispensed with entirely, or nearly so, and a system of underlaying
resorted to instead in many cases. The solid spots of type may be
beaten into the matrix in many cases, but special care must be taken
not to let the brush descend where there are rules and leaders. Beat-
ing with the brush cannot be done with great enough care to make the
indentations in the matrix the same. Without exception, stereotypers
are of the opinion that brass rules and leaders, or long lines of small
type standing in open space, work up under the beating of the brush,
but we long ago found a solution of the difliculty, which any one will
readily understand. Single lines of rule or leaders have too little sur-
face to allow of being pounded into the soft surface of the flong. The
same force that would descend on a rule three picas in length, having
type or cross rules at both ends of it, would send the middle of a rule
ten picas long at least three thicknesses of tissue deeper, and should
the flong spring up off the rule the depth of the cutting or impression
would still remain, and when the cast was made the face of long lines
of rules or leaders would be convex. The matrix for this class of forms
is made specially, as per Formula No. 3.

The material for making the flong, or matrix as it is called when
finished, is carried in stock by most paperdealers, and the best is always
the cheapest in this case. Some stereotypers use two sheets of common
tissue and two or three sheets of fine tissue. You will never have any
trouble with pin holes if you use cream tissue entirely. Stereotype
paper, of the variety called brush paper, is made in several sizes, but
paperdealers usually carry only 19 by 24—40, 45, 50, and 60 pounds
to a ream. French or West India cream tissues are the best grade of
tissues made for use in stereotyping, and the only kind having the long
and tough fibre necessary for the face of the matrix. Any tissue hav-
ing a short fibre is full of holes, which may be readily seen by holding
the sheet to the light. But this test is not always a safe one, for the
best french white tissue is the same as the cream in fibre, and is good
if the bleaching acids have not rotted it. To be certain of results, al-

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. I 11

ways purchase the cream tissue. A matrix made of three sheets of
cheap tissue and two sheets of the best is not as strong as if constructed
entirely of the best, and strength and fineness are essential for the
face of the matrix.

The Form.

Forms for stereotyping may be locked up the same as if for the
press, but with a type high bearer an inch wide on every side. These
bearers may be made in the casting-box with the type-high gauge, or
solid columns of reading matter may be used. All that is necessary is
to have a surface as solid as the matrix part of the form, on which the
bars will lay close in the casting-box. With this solid surface to rest
on, the weight of the bars and lid will not cause the matrix to rise or
spring in any part. Any number of jobs and pages of book work may
be locked up together as long as you keep within the area of the dry-
ing press, but type-high bearers must be put in wherever the matrix
will be cut apart before casting. For years we have washed the form
with benzine, using a stiff bristle brush about an inch in diameter,
rubbing over the face with a clean and soft cloth that will not leave
any lint. Every particle of ink must be removed from the deep parts
of the letters, as the smallest particle will burn when the hot metal
touches it and spoil the matrix. Should any ink show on the matrix
it must be carefully scratched off with a sharp knife without marring
the smoothness of the tissue.

The use of benzine for washing leaves the type in such a condition
that no further oiling is required, except in dodgers with large metal
or wood type, where extra depth is wanted. The use of olive and
fine lard oil, as recommended by every book of instructions, is useless
on solid type forms.

It is a good plan to always brush off the bottom of the form when
taken from the stone and loosen the quoins after being put on the iron
surface of the drying press and plane down every part thoroughly.
The locking need not be as tight as is required to lift the form, but
just snug enough to hold every part to its place and prevent moving
under the beating of the brush. By being thoughtful in this matter,
stereotyping may be done without injury to the type, the finest line or
the smallest letter not being effected in the least by the beating in of the
soft material of the matrix. There is no wear on the face, and the
only danger of injury to the body of the type is from too much heat
and too tight locking. The lock-up should be just tight enough to
keep the type in place, but not to lift the form about. Always
loosen when placed on the drying press and tighten when ready to

[[2 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

remove it. If forms are locked as tight as is required to handle them
when cold, the expansion of the metal will make them considerably
tighter than the metal will stand without losing its shape, and when it
has not room to expand naturally the expansion will shorten or
lengthen the letters. If locked too tight the expansion will lengthen
the type, while if the locking be too loose the type will be shortened.
The pressure of a screw reaches tons of weight, so it is well to
remember that it is not necessary to put on all the pressure possible.

The Paste.

Nearly every stereotyper has a different recipe for making paste
and foolishly guards it as a great secret, when simply wheat flour and
starch answer every purpose. Some insist on having rice flour, others
rye and wheat flour, while alum, gelatine, mucilage and starch will be
found in many recipes. The alum aids the drying, but the balance
of the enumeration, except the wheat flour and starch is not necessary.
Up to the time that we began making the plates for this work, we
used three ounces of wheat flour, four ounces of starch and one ounce
of powdered alum. This made paste enough for eight full size sheets
of 19x24 stock, and we made them always the day before using. By
a mere accident we built up a matrix as in formula No. I, and in four
months daily use we have never had the tissue stick to or pull off on
the cast. This cannot be the result where the flongs are made and
allowed to lay together under pressure, when the water is apt to soak
through and carry the fine gelatine of the flour to the face of the
tissue that is finally the face of the matrix.

For the plates in HANDBOOK OF PRINTING the paste used on all
parts of the flong was simply equal parts of flour and starch—as nearly as
measuring with a spoon could be. You have the result before you.
\Ve make fresh paste every day, as the least bit of fermentation makes
its adhesive strength uncertain, allowing the tissues to separate. Sour
paste should never be used if more than one cast is wanted, as the
tissue separates at the first cast, and in fact it will often stretch down
with the metal, making creases and waves in the casting.

To make a certain quantity and quality of paste, mix one ounce
each of flour and starch into a smooth, thin paste with cold water,
and into this pour one quart of boiling water, stirring until it is
thoroughly mixed into a clear and glistening mass of thin paste,
between a jelly and a liquid. It had better be nearer the latter than
the former. If four or five large forms are ready to stereotype, stir
into this thin paste six ounces of Spanish whiting, which should make
it a mortarlike substance that will spread easily with a three-inch flat

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. [13

varnish brush. All this is done as rapidly as you like, as it is not
necessary that you wait for any part to cool before proceeding. This
paste may be thinned by adding a little cold water, or thickened by
stirring in more whiting, when it is ready to rub through a very fine
brass sieve.

If only one plate is to be made, it is best to take a part of the paste
and stir in whiting until your judgment tells you it is thick enough, and
thus save the whiting. By the time that this mixture is rubbed
through the sieve it should be cool, but if such is not the case it is best
to wait until it cools before beginning to lay the tissues, as the paste
dries too rapidly when cooling. All that is required in stereotype
paste is that it have merely enough adhesion to hold the tissues firmly
together, that they do not lift and make concave faces on the larger
surfaces of display lines. A paste a little thinner for the last tissue is
better where fifty or more casts are wanted from a matrix, in order
that the tissue may not peel off in any part. The clear, thin paste
without any whiting would be the best if it could be spread on thin
enough not to soak through on the face, and we have used it this way,
but it is essential that the paste be spread sparingly and as quickly as

possible.
The Matrix.

The matrix is the completed mould, as the word implies. The
material when put together is the flong. The essential to success in
stereotyping is the quality of stock used in making the flong, that it
may not break or tear while making the matrix. The best of every-
thing should be used, as there is little chance to practice economy in
the small amount of material used in making the matrices for a year.
A defective or rotten tissue will spoil the best made matrix. The tissue
should be the West India brand, the only tissue having the proper
length and strength of fibre to stand the strain of stretching into and
around every object without tearing or cutting. Any cheaper grade
will not do, as cheap tissue is full of holes that will let the hot metal
run between the lines under the tissue and pull off on the plate. spoil-
ing the matrix the first cast and requiring considerable time to get the
tissue out of the face of the plate. The plate may be perfect in every
particular, but it will take hours to get the metal and tissue out of the
plate, as it must be picked out, not washed out.

The backing or matrix paper—called brush or stereotype paper—
is usually gray of color, and the thickness of 40 or 50 pounds to a
ream of 19x24 size will answer for most purposes, but for extra depth
of spacing in blanks or open circular forms, as thick as 60 pounds to

[I4 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

the ream may be used, or two backing sheets of 40 pounds; 40, 45, 50
and 60 pounds being the weights usually manufactured and carried in
stock by most paperdealers.

Laying the tissues quickly and perfectly smooth is accomplished
by having a true wood or iron roller a few inches longer than the tis-
sue. An iron roller is preferable, and an inch gas pipe, with a three-
inch piece welded in each end and the whole length turned true and
smooth like a roller stock is the best. It is light and always remains
true, but a small brass roller mould will answer every purpose if of
the proper length.

To lay the tissue, roll a sheet around the roller and place the edge
of the tissue straight with the edge of the backing sheet and roll it off
slowly. As it is rolled off the roller it gathers moisture from the paste,
clinging to it and excluding most of the air. With the same roller
that you put the sheet on with, roll it down smooth, being careful not
to let the roller drag, or the tissue will be torn by its weight. The
largest sheets may be readily spread in this manner, and unless consid-
erable air gathers under the sheet, it is not necessary to roll every
sheet. If you want a flong of four sheets of tissue, put on three and
roll them down smooth and solid, then clean the roller of all paste and
put on the fourth tissue. While smoothing the last tissue, be certain
that the roller is perfectly clean, as paste must not get on the tissue that
is to be the face of the matrix. This is very important, as explained
in the Formulas. Should the surface of the table or stone be not per-
fectly true, and possibly the roller not straight, a clean blanket should
be spread over the tissue and the rolling done on top of it, bearing
down as heavily as possible. Indeed, it is a good plan to always use a
blanket in this manner if it can be kept clean of paste, to avoid the
possibility of tearing the tissues while rolling, and the blanket can al-
ways be used by having a clean sheet of news spread on the tissue
before placing on the blanket, using a new sheet for every matrix.

When the tissues are properly laid, proceed as directed in the
Formula under which you have chosen to work, and when the matrix
is dry and removed from the form trim close to the impress of the
bearers and paste on the top margin an apron of tough manila, or an
old matrix, to protrude out of the mouth of the casting box and pre-
vent the metal from getting under the matrix. Use strong paste, and
lay the matrix on the drying press with a strip of metal across the edge
where the paste is put on, and it will dry quickly, when it is ready for
casting.

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. I 15

Drying the Matrix.

A REGULAR steam drying press, as made by every maker of stereo-
type machinery, is preferable to any other device, but where stereoty-
ping is done on a small scale, this expensive piece of machinery is dis-
pensed with. Should you have a steam drying press, and change from
steam power to electricity (as we have done), disconnect the steam
pipes, plug up the outlet, and turn up the other pipe so that the open-
ing will be above the top of the heating table, and through this fill the
table with water. Place a gas or gasoline burner under the table, and
you may have a heat that will be regular, and never be too hot for the
type, and with two gas jets the water may be kept steadily at the boil-
ing point, which is a safe heat for all metal type.

When the matrix is dried in the casting box it should not be al-
lowed to get burning hot. The heat from the melting pot, or from a
stove is a dry heat, and a little past real warm will rapidly dry a mat-
rix. Any hotter than this is liable to injure the type, and the heating
box should be removed to the floor when it gets hot enough to make
steam from a damp finger.

An office having a small stereotype outfit and a country hand
press, need not use the casting box for drying purposes. Any number
of forms may be made ready together with the proper type high bear-
ings, and a large matrix dried on the bed of the press. Put several
thick blankets on the matrix, take off the frisket and run the type
under the platten, pull the lever over and fasten, with as much press-
ure as it will give. Place either one or two jets of gas or gasoline
under the bed. Renew the blankets in thirty minutes, and in fifteen
minutes more the matrix will be done. Years ago we made the mat-
rix of sixteen pages at once in this manner, when the castin box in
the office was only large enough to cast one page, using co umns of
reading matter from the paper for bearers.

With forty pounds steam pressure, a matrix will dry thoroughly in
twenty minutes without injury to type, while the usual time with dry
heat will be about one hour from the time the jets are lighted. The
bed must not get hot enough to scorch a piece of linen paper. After
removing the blankets, let the matrix remain a few minutes on the
hot form to expel any moisture still remaining, and remove the matrix
without bending it, so that the tissues will not break in places where
their strength has been strained by the beating in and contraction of
drying. A matrix that is thoroughly dried on the form will never
warp, while if removed before dry it will be next to impossible to keep
the surface true.

[16 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

Cleaning the Metal.

Fluxing the metal is merely cleaning it of dross or impurities. ()ld
type makes the best kind of stereotype metal, but it is very dirty and
needs fluxing to clean it. If the metal seems inclined to tin the inside
of the melting pot, fluxing is generally the remedy, but not always; and
if fluxing does not make it as clear as silver and so the metal leaves the
pot clean, it will be a waste of time to make any casts, as they would
be honey-comed and useless. Fluxing is effectively done with oil or
resin, and there is enough in pine sawdust to perfectly clean a very bad
lot of metal. It is very inexpensive, and the best quality comes from
pitch pine. Have the metal hot enough to blacken a slip of writing
paper, when a small shovel of the sawdust may be put on the metal,
and when it begins to smoke throw in a lighted piece of paper and the
sawdust will burn like oil. Stir it vigorously with an iron poker until
the sawdust is all burned, when it may be skimmed off. Run the ladle
back and forth through the metal to separate the black ashes, and skim
clean. Four-fifths of the time this simple and inexpensive remedy
will put the metal in good shape. You have both the extreme heat of
the rapid burning pitch and resin to separate the oxidized particles from
the metal and the cleaning properties of charcoal in the ashes to collect
the dross and leave the metal bright and clean. Should it fail, try a
tablespoonful of greese or coal oil, stirring the metal while the oil is
burning. \Vhen all the oil is burned out, put in a second lot of oil
and stir as before, and if the metal still adheres to the sides of the pot
or hangs to the ladle, it will require the addition of a few pounds of
block tin to make it run smooth. The metal should not be allowed to
get red hot; in fact, if it gets hot enough to instantly light a slip of pa-
per, the tin will be rapidly evaporated and lost, and tin is the easy
flowing constituent of stereotype metal.

It is important that stereotype metal be just hot enough to turn a
strip of writing paper a dark brown, yet not burn it if held in the metal.
Even this would be too hot for the matrix could it be poured in and
kept at that temperature, but during the process of dipping and pour-
ing it cools several degrees, and by the time it reaches the face of the
matrix, it will flow into every part and solidify almost as soon as it
touches, and without scorching the tissue. If the metal is too hot it will
create just enough smoke or gas to make the cast honey-corned or po-
rous; if not hot enough, it will cool before the metal forms on the face
of the matrix. If the first cast is not perfect, try a second, or even a
third, and if not then good it is time to examine for the trouble.

Break a piece of the metal and if the grain is close it is all right as
far as its proportions are concerned, but is dirty and needs fluxing. If

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. I I7

the metal bends easily without breaking it is too soft and needs a little
antimony. If the metal is decidedly crystaline, it has too much anti-
mony, and lead must be put in.

Metals and Moulding.

THE metal is important, but practically inexpensive, it being pos-
sible to use the same metal constantly. The plates of this work were
made of metal that has been re-cast and in use for twenty years. It is
only necessary to know the constituent parts of stereotype metal to be
able to handle it satisfactorily. For this reason you should mix your
own metals. Stereotype metal is composed of 86 parts of lead, [1
parts of tin and 3 parts of antimony. Lead melts at 612 degrees, tin
at 424., and antimony at 842. A peculiarity of this compound is that
it melts at a much lower temperature than 400 degrees, being about
412 degrees when it will turn a piece of writing paper a dark brown
color. Any hotter than this will burn a matrix and waste the tin in the
metal, which being the lightest of the alloy floats to the top and passes
away. First weigh the metals separately, and if compounding one
hundred pounds put about forty pounds of the lead into the melting
pot and when hot enough to instantly scorch paper put in the antimony,
a small piece at a time, stirring constantly with an iron poker. Keep
the metal at a hot heat for several minutes, when the tin should be put
in and the balance of the lead rapidly added to keep the tin from
burning. Stereotype metal should never be allowed to get red hot,
and even when hot enough to turn a slip of paper a light brown there
is constant waste of the tin. A new lot of metal will often need flux-
ing to make it cast smooth, but if it has the bright look of quicksilver
it will be ready for use. If the metal has a dead look there is not
enough tin it, and the metal will not flow readily into every part of the
matrix.

Whatever the style of casting-box or mould you use, it should have
a heavy paper covering on the lid, either manila or tough check.
Tough check is the best, as it seems to hold the heat in the metal and
cause it to cool evenly throughout. It is best to place the matrix on the
bare hot bed of the casting-box. It is not necessary to have bars,
guards and mould hot to do perfect type-high casting, but it is best.
The usual way is to pour in hot metal until everything is heated, but
this takes time. We usually heat the bars, cores and guards, and pro-
ceed with the casting. The first cast is as often perfect as otherwise,
and we let it remain a few moments to heat the mould. By the suc-
ceeding casts you will soon notice the advantages of having all the
moulding apparatus hot. When casting thin plates the mould and bars

r 18 HANDBOOK op PRINTING.

should be hot or the metal will cool so rapidly that the face will not
form perfectly. A lamp placed under the casting-box an hour before
wanted will heat it and save the time and labor of pouring in metal two
or three times, which wastes both time and metal.

It is possible to cast plates a thickness of twelve or eighteen point
without appreciable shrinkage, and plates thus cast make good furni-
ture or tintblocks. Slugs may be neatly cut out of the sheets with a
circular saw, the featheredge dressed off with a common plane and
the ends trued on a mitering machine to correct measure. The slugs
are nearly as accurate as if they were shaved. Prepare the casting-
box by covering the lid and bed with heavy manila, which cover with
paste and shut the lid down on two sheets of three-ply tough check
cut the size of the bed. \Vhen perfectly dry, casts may be made in
sheets or strips that will make furniture as cheap as cherry and much
better. Dross, old electros and worn out metal may be used, and
by fluxing it will be made to flow bright and smooth.

The proportions of lead and antimony in type metal vary to such
an extent that the stereotyper should give the matter thought when melt-
ing a lot of old type. The common book sizes, ranging from eight to
twelve point, usually contain 80 parts of lead to 20 parts of antimony.
In order to make this suitable for all kinds of stereotyping, it would be
necessary to add 350 lbs. of lead and 55 lbs. of tin. Six point type
and smaller contains more antimony, being 75 parts lead and 25 parts
antimony—the greater the proportion of antimony the harder and more
brittle the type. A hundred pounds of this metal would need an ad-
ditional 613 lbs. of lead and 77lbs. of tin. It may be used without
any change, but the stereotypes will not have as perfect a face. The
additions will not only cheapen the metal but will assure a more perfect
flow. The proportions may vary from harder for book pages to softer
for display, until the metal will be as soft as electrotyper’s backing
metal for forty-point lines and larger, but it will be an advantage to
always keep the metal the same in order that old plates may be re-
melted at any time without keeping a record of their alloy. A very
small chip of zinc will spoil a large pot of stereotype metal.

 

Formula N0. l.—The matrix for the general run of jobs and
engravings is made of two thicknesses of backing paper and four to six
sheets of West India tissue, and six sheets of tissue are none too many
for fine engravings or very openly spaced display jobs with long and
short lines of varying sizes and styles of type. The matrix for this class
of work should be made from start to finish. Roll up the backing
paper and plunge it into water, or hold it under the hydrant until wet

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. [19

throughout. Put on plenty of paste and lay the first tissue and roll
it down smooth. Use less paste for subsequent tissues, rolling each
one smooth, and on the last spread a sheet of clean poster paper to
guard against getting paste on the sheet that will be the face of the
matrix. Should the least particle of paste get on the face of the last
tissue it is advisable to put on another, else the cast will stick to the
matrix and not only spoil it but be difficult to remove. This part of
the matrix, composed of tissue and one backing sheet, is now ready to
beat into the form. Lay it carefully on the form and place thereon
one thickness of fine wool blanket, thoroughly soaked and wrung as
dry as possible, and use the beating brush on the blanket until the
outline of the full form is visible. Remove the blanket, spread plenty
of paste over the ”back of the matrix and put on the second sheet of
backing paper. If a plate as deep as the shoulder of the type is
wanted, use the beating brush directly on this last sheet, and when
the surface has been gone over, put on paste as before and place
thereon a sheet of 80 or loo-1b blotting. Put two or four thicknesses
of dry blanket on this and place it under pressure to dry. When
completely dry, trim off the edges close to the type-high bearers, and
you will have a matrix that will stay straight until the end of time, and
if you do not burn it the one-hundreth cast will be as good as the first.

It is advisable to go over the face of every flong with a clean
bunch of cotton and french chalk, but this is not necessary on solid
type pages, if no touch of paste has gotten on the face of the last
tissue. Care must be taken not to get on a thick coating of the chalk
or the cast will not have clear-cut edges. We seldom use chalk on any
forms not containing wood type.

When a number of forms of different sizes are ready every day,
the first backing sheet and tissues may be prepared in full size sheets
and cut up to different sizes as wanted. No more than enough for
immediate use should be prepared. If used as fast as made every
matrix will be perfect, leave the form easily and never stick to the
metal. If the flongs are prepared and piled up under pressure for
several hours the fine gelatine in the paste is apt to penetrate through
the backing sheet on to the surface of the tissue of the next flong, and
the matrix will often have to be soaked from the first cast, and the
stereotyper will wonder what is the matter with the metal. When one
flong is piled on another, it is policy‘to have clean sheets of metal or
copper between them, and as these sheets are expensive the plan of
finishing the matrix from the start will gain favor after a few trials.

Solid tppe-high casts cannot be made too deep, and plates for
wood bases or stereotype blocks cannot be cast with the blank places

120 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

space deep. If plates are to be cast a pica thickness, the open spaces
of the form should be inlaid with strawboard or heavy blotting paper,
using one or two thicknesses, according to the width of the space, and
jutting the filling against the ends of rules, dashes, ornaments and ends
of short lines. If the casts are to be made type high, put in the fill-
ing as directed in Formula No. 3.

To make perfect duplicates of wood-base electrotypes, or forms
containing type and cuts with wood-bases, it is necessary to beat'in and
prepare the matrix in the usual way, cover it with a blanket that will
hang over the edges of the chase sufficient to allow pinning or sewing
at each corner, and turn the form face down on two or three blankets
on the heating table. Every electrotyper will see the advantage of
this. The heat will be direct on the metal and not have to go through
the non-conducting wood-base, which expands during the first few
minutes of the drying and shrinks when the heat penetrates it.

As soon as the matrix is taken from a type form, rub over the face
a thin coating of clean machine oil and let it stand while trimming the
matrix. The hot oil will thinly permeate the form and prevent the
type from sticking together. Wash while hot in cold water and the
type will be perfectly clean. After type has been used for some time
it will not need further oiling.

Formula N0. 2.—For mixed forms of metal and wood, or of
original wood engravings, where drying the matrix by absorption with-
out heat is the only safe means, the pastes should all be the same as in
No. 3, and the flongs made in the same manner as in formula No. I.
The first backing sheet and tissues should be beaten in until the outline
of the form is very distinct through two thicknesses of blanket. To
avoid routing and chiseling, go over the matrix with the thin paste, and
lay in the depressions one or two thicknesses of loo-lb blotting. Any
space over an half-inch wide will admit of two thicknesses, the first
piece cut nearly as large as the space and the second piece about two-
thirds the size. Over this patching place the second backing sheet
and beat it in, when the heavy paste should be spread on and a sheet
of loo-lb blotting added. Any waste sheets of blotting will do. Place
on this two blankets, and on the blankets a few sheets of blotting paper,
and place under heavy pressure. Change the absorbents several times
during the day and if time will permit leave under pressure about
twenty-four hours. “'e have made duplicates of 36-line wood type in
this manner that printed better than the original. No heat dare be
applied, but when the matrix is done it should be held over the melt-
ing pot until the face becomes heated, and any number of casts may
be made without injury to the matrix.

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 12!

Large type in either wood or metal must be vigorously scrubbed
with a bristle brush and benzine until clean in every part to the shoul-
der of the letter. Any ink that may remain will adhere to the matrix,
often in corners from which it cannot be removed without breaking the
surface tissue. It is well to remember that it must be gotten off the
matrix, for it will burn as soon as the metal is poured in and spoil the
plate. After the type is thoroughly cleaned it should be oiled in every
part and the face rubbed clean with a soft cloth that does not shed
lint. Wood type that has not been inked needs only cleaning with
benzine to remove a portion of the oil from the pores of the wood.

Duplicate letters may be made from large wood type by taking
an impression in a dry sheet of the heaviest backing paper, with a
sheet of blotting for a pressing sheet, and routing out the space that
cannot be cut away with the saw. Cover one side of the backing paper
with a liberal coating of medium strong paste that will Spread smooth,
lay this sheet on the form and on this place a heavy sheet of blotting.
The blotter will take the moisture in the paste and make the drying
more rapid, besides giving the matrix strength. The impression should
be made by screw pressure and left long enough to let the paste dry
thoroughly, when the slight dampness that remains may be eliminated
by standing the matrix near the hot furnace, turning it to avoid warp—
ing. The depth will be merely an outline of the letter and it is the
quickest way to duplicate wood type when only a few letters are
wanted, even if the chisel has to be used to cut away the metal in and
about the letters.

Formula N0. 3.—For jobs in brass rule and leaders, and
forms with wide spacing where suflicient depth is desired without rout-
ing or chiseling, prepare two thicknesses of paste, the thin for the
tissue and the thick for backing. The only difference in the paste is,
that more Spanish whiting is used in the heavy paste which should be
as thick as mortar. One is spread with a brush and the other with a
light paddle three inches broad. For this style of work complete the
matrix without using the beating brush. Should there be any lines of
heavy type, or a bunch of several lines, as in box headings, they
must be carefully underlaid with any kind of paper about the thickness
of twenty pound folio. By cutting up the proof and underlaying the
type most or nearly all of the make-ready at the press will be avoided.

To make the matrix, use two sheets of stereotype paper about
two inches larger than the form, and either 40 or 50 lbs. thickness.
This paper must be soaking wet and laid on a smooth and true table
or stone. Begin with one sheet and work into it all the thin paste that

[22 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

it will take, when the first tissue should be put on and rolled down
smooth. Spread the paste on plentifully until four or five sheets are
rolled on and smoothed down, but before rolling down the last tissue
place a sheet of heavy clean paper or blotting on top of it so that none
of the paste can get on it off the roller. The last tissue must be kept
clean of any paste or the casting will stick to the matrix and ruin it for
duplicate plates. Do not use chalk on the tissue for this class of plat—
ing, and make the impression in the first part of the flong by screw
pressure, using two thicknesses of blanket. In oflices where the cast-
ing box is small, this matrix making may be done with a copying
press. Now put paste on the second sheet of stereotype paper and lay
it carefully in place and under pressure as before, when the thick paste
should be spread on and a thickness of best loo-lb. blotting put on as a
backing sheet. Place under pressure and dry without any blanket or
soft material of any kind, and when done the matrix will be stiff as a
board and the surface of the cast as true as the type surface from
which it was taken, and almost space deep in every part.

Formula N0. 4. We used this formula for fifteen years, but
its only recommendation is as a time saver in making the flongs. Use
but one paste, and that just as thick as will spread without tearing the
tissue. Take two sheets of fifty-pound backing paper, which wet and
paste together and then apply the paste and lay the tissues, and roll
down smooth as before shown. \Vith the roller, tissues may be put on
perfectly and very rapidly, but little time being required to put on
three or four tissues. Enough fiongs are prepared for several days‘
work, and then put between heavy plates and submerge in clear water.
Each flong should be taken out and laid on a dry stone twenty minutes
before beating the form into it, and also sparingly rubbed with a cotton
wad and french chalk, which is necessary when flongs are kept in this
manner to prevent the casts from sticking to the matrix. The chalk is
a detriment to clear casting, and for that reason alone this form will
not be used after No. I has been tried, and we give it merely because
some of the plates of this book were made by this formula, which under
the most favorable circumstances is troublesome, and the whole trouble
is traced to the free circulation in the water of the gelatine or gluten
from the paste. Papers prepared this way will keep as long as the
water is fresh around them, while with the other formulas new paste
must be made every day. It is absolutely impossible to get as clean
and perfect plates from this Formula as by No. x, as the chalk must be
used, which mars the steel-like smoothness of the tissue. The most
sparingly chalked tissue will leave a coating on the type when the
matrix is taken from the form. Under a powerful magnifying glass 3

 

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. 123

roughness shows on the face of the plate, which is caused by the small
quantity of chalk that adheres to the form. Pages 59 to 77 were made
by this process, and the difference in clearness as compared with the
other pages is caused by the use of chalk on the tissue.

Old type and stereotype metal may be used to advantage on the
linotype machines when the presswork is to be done from the type; but
a special alloy is better when the type is used only to make plates from.
As little antimony as possible should be used, as it requires a higher
temperature to keep it melted than either lead or tin; and this high
temperature causes the tin to waste rapidly. An alloy of seventy-five
pounds of lead and twenty-five pounds of tin would require but little
heat to keep it liquid, and it could be used over and over again with
but little waste to the tin. Antimony adds hardness to the metal and
requires a higher temperature to keep it completely amalgamated with
the tin and lead, and should be dispensed with as much as possible.
See page I I 7 for additional information concerning metals.

The advantages of thoroughly understanding stereotyping can
only be demonstrated by practical use of the best outfit. Little inci-
dents of value will be noticed constantly. As a single instance, atten-
tidn is called to folios 45 and 62, which were mashed down at the
shaving machine. Had they been protected by two or three figures
set near them, as shown at folio 68, their strength would have with-
stood the pressure of the shaver, and the figures used as guards easily
cut away. A word or letter set near any unprotected part of a form
will assure a more perfect casting of that part, and the chiseling away
of the guard-letter will be an easy matter.

 

MORE thin varnish or turpentine is used for poster printing than
any other kind, and more in cold weather than in warm. For forms
with large type, the ink must be sufficiently reduced to permit the paper
to leave the form without pulling. When inks are run so thin, offset-
ting is certain to follow if too many sheets are piled together, so it is
well to make liberal use of dry-racks.

 

BY a liberal use of venice turpentine, clear and solid printing may
be done on glazed papers with any good fifty-cent book ink. A thor-
ough mixing is all that is necessary, but the turpentine should be as
near a paste as possible, so as not to get too much alcohol or ether into
the ink.

N0 PERSON could do a grander missionary work than to induce
every one in any way connected with the printing trade to subscribe
for the Inland Printer, Chicago.

 

[24 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

Glue, Paste, or Mucilage

LEHNER publishes the following formula for making a liquid paste
or glue from starch and acid: Place five pounds of potato starch in
six pounds of water and one-quarter pound of pure nitric acid. Keep
it in a warm place, stiring frequently for forty-eight hours. Then boil
the mixture until it forms a thick and translucent substance. Dilute
with water if necessary, and filter through a thick cloth. At the same
time another paste is made from sugar and gum arabic. Dissolve five
pounds gum arabic and one pound of sugar in five pounds of water,
and add one ounce of nitric acid and heat to boiling. Then mix the
above with the starch paste. The resultant paste is liquid, does not
mould, and dries on paper with a gloss. It is useful for lables, wrap-
pers, and fine bookbinder’s use. Dry pocket glue is made from twelve
parts of glue and five parts of sugar. The glue is boiled until entirely
dissolved, the sugar dissolved in the hot glue, and the mass evaporated
until it hardens on cooling. The hard substance dissolves rapidly in
lukewarm water, and is an excellent glue for use on paper.—Polytech.
Notiz.

CHEAP GOOD PASTE.—-Carpenter’s glue, in small pieces, 1%
drachms; pearl starch, in powder, 6 drachms; water, 8 ounces. Dis-
solve the glue by heat in half of the water; add to it the starch, previ-
ously made into a thin paste with the remainder of the water, and boil
the whole until clear, stirring constantly. Add twenty drops of the
caustic solution of carbolic acid, to preserve, and stir the paste occa-
sionally while cooling to make it smooth. The product never becomes
watery or sour, but always has a good smooth body until it dries up.
The substitution of a little glycerine for some of the water, and the pre-
caution of keeping the paste in a closed vessel, will greatly retard its
drying, and it will keep good for a long time. For general use, how—
ever, the glycerine will not be at all necessary.

A GLUE that is excellent for joining paper or making cardboard
boxes or similar articles of fancy work can be made by the aid of vine-
gar and alcohol. Dissolve two ounces of the best transparent glue in a
quarter of a pint of strong cider vinegar. Let it simmer slowly by
placing the dish containing it in a dish of boiling water. When it has
become liquid, turn in one ounce of highest proof alcohol and keep it
tightly corked. It can be made in a wide mouthed bottle. If cold,
heat in hot water when needed for use.

STANDING type that is difficult to separate should be plentifully
daubed with lard oil or glycerine and left a day to soak, when a wash-
ing with hot water will loosen every letter and leave them clean.

HANDBOOK OF PRINTING. [25

Belts and Pulleys.

Every inch in width of good double leather belting, traveling at
500 feet per minute, will transmit one horse power.

Every inch in width of good single leather belting, traveling at
800 feet per minute, will transmit one horse power.

A comfortable working strain for a single belt is about fifty pounds
for every inch of breadth, and for a double belt, eighty pounds.

A belt running with the flesh side next the pulley will wear long-
est, because it is working according to the natural growth of the hide;
but about one-tenth of one percent is gained in its power when running
with the outside next the pulley.

BEFORE starting any new belt-driving arrangement, a thorough ex-
amination of the shafting and pulleys should be made. All ought to
come under the test of the measuring rod, the plumb, the level and
square, because the best engineering is sometimes disarranged by the
subsiding of the mason-work. We have found in our experience that
the pulleys are so hung on the shafting as to remove the periphery from
the center of the pulley to one of the sides, with the result that when a
start is made the belt seeks the highest point and will travel off the
pulley. We have also found that shafts which are not perfectly paral-
lel have the same effect on the pulleys and belts. The Very small-
est departure from truth upon a shaft will make a considerable change
upon the face of a pulley of large diameter hung upon that shaft.

Size and Speed of Pulleys.

To FIND the size of driving pulleys: Multiply the diameter of the
driven by the number of revolutions it should make, and divide the
product by the revolutions of the driver. The quotient will be the size
of the driver.

The diameter and revolutions of the driver being given, to find the
diameter of the driven that shall make a given number of revolutions:
Multiply the diameter of the driver by its number of revolutions, and
divide the product by the number of revolutions of the driven. The
quotient will be the size of the driven.

To find the number of revolutions of the driven pulley: Multiply
the diameter of the driver by its number of revolutions, and divide by
the diameter of the driven. The quotient will be the number of revo-
lutions of the driven.

126 HANDBOOK OF PRINTING.

Hints on Color Printing.

IN THE class of color work most in vogue for theatrical, show
card, and label printing, where but four or five impressions are re-
quired, the colors are generally printed in the following succession:
First, yellow; second, red; third, black; fourth, blue; and when a
fifth is required, buff. Experience has shown that this is the best way
for colors to follow each other, except in cases where in four or five
printings a brilliant green or good purple is desired. By no method
known can a brilliant green be produced if yellow is printed before the
blue, and the same inflexible rule applies to purple. Blue on top of
red will not produce as good a purple as when blue is printed first and
red on top of it. A first printing of chrome yellow, followed with a
milori blue, results in a cold, dark green; but reversing the process,
the blue first and the yellow next, produces a warm, bright green.
Vermilion immediately followed by milori blue, brings out a dark,
muddy brown; the same blue on crimson results in a cold, dark, bluish
purple. Dark blues, such as prussian, bronze, indigo, on vermilion re-
sult in a jet black, in comparison with which a regular printed black
looks gray. Prussian blue and bronze, printed over crimson lake, come
out decidedly dark, a black, bluish purple; reversing the order, print-
ing the lake on top of the blue, results in a fine purple.

Probably the best and most brilliant purple to be secured by pn'nt-
ing red on blue, is obtained by printing carmine lake over cobalt blue.
Of course, no printer will lose sight of the very important fact, that bet-
ter purples can be bought in colored inks than can be produced by
printing one color over another.

 

ULTRAMARINE was originally obtained from the native stone called
lapis lazuli, or azure stone. The mineral is first made red hot, and is
then plunged into cold water. The brightest fragments are then se-
lected, and these are reduced to an impalpable powder by grinding in
a mortar. The powder is then mixed with a large quantity of water,
and after a few moments repose, to allow the heavier particles to sub-
side, the water in which the finer particles are held in suspension is then
poured into a second vessel, when, after a time, the color will have de-
posited, and may be collected and dried, when it is ready for use. All
now used is made artificially, and the imitation of the natural article is
one of the great triumphs of chemistry.

 

TIN FOIL can be printed on easily by mixing the following com-
pound with good ink: Dissolve gum arabic in vinegar; let it stand un-
til it becomes a heavy paste, then mix with the ink as a varnish.

INDEX

A brilliant scarlet, 25
Action of oils and dryers. 23
Available capacity stereotype outfit, 109
Artistic color printing, 37
Action of water on rollers, 6
Application of molasses to rollers. 16
Adjusting a cylinder, 166
Adjusting cylinder bearers, 99
Brilliant scarlet, 25
Benefits of using dryers, 22
Balsam copaiba, 2O
Balsams and varnishes, 20
Belts and pulleys, 125

Best saccharine matter for rollers, 10
Bronzing and gliding, 72 "

Best dryers,

Brightening red and green inks. 24
Best material for tints. 43
Best rollers for summer. 7
Blue and red inks, rollers for, 39
Bearers, easy adjustment of. 99

Composition kettle, 9

Care of fine machinery, 58
Changing inks, 102
Cylinder presswork, 87
Care of rollers. 5-13-14
Changeable hues in inks, 24
Color printing. 33
Care of copper surfaces, 30
Clear printing. 32
Cause of mottled printing. 24
Canada balsam, elements of, 21
Care of job press rollers. 19
Cleaning old rollers for colors, 18
Cleaning type, 111
Cleaning stereotype metal, 116
Composition tint grounds. 44
Colored inks neccssary, 37
Color effects of over-printing, 36
Cleaning rollers. 6
Care of friction heated rollers. 3
Cooking molasses. 1
Casting small rollers, 14
Component parts of rollers, 15
Color effects on small work. 37
Cane sugar and sugarhouse molasses, 10
Care of roller moulds. 11
Centering work on a jobber. 95
Dryers, the best. 20
Dryers and reducers, 21
Dryers for poster printing, 21
Drying the matrix, 115
Drying the matrix by absorption, 12-2)
Depths of stereotypes. 12-)
Difficulties with red ink. 39

Durability of winter rollers, 1.;
Doctoring rollers,

Durability of stereotype metal. 117
Dressing the stereotype mould. 117
Duplicating wood type. 121
Draw-sheets, the best, 91-92
Embossing, 84-86
Electricity in paper, to prevent, 14
Electricity in paper, 107-108

Excellencies of linseed oil.
Effects of cold weather on rollers. 13
Embossing on cylinders,

Easy forms of imposition.

Envelope printing, 106
Furniture for bookwork, 67-68
Flock printing, 65
Fine printing with gloss inks. 40
Glue, paste or mucilage. 124
Getting water out of rollers. 4
Glue and molasses rollers, 11
Gold leaf printing, 76
Gummed labels. 66
Getting register on cylinders. 95
Glazed papers, inks for, 38

Glossy inks,
Half-tones on jobbcrs. ..
How to print heavy jobs. '
Hard and soft packing,

How to use bronze, ‘ 77
Harmony of colors, 60

How to make the matrix, 118
How to work colors easily, 39
How to create suction in rollers, 15
How to get rollers from molds. 15
How to mend injured type. 30
How oils and ink dry, 23
How to start presses early. 22

to wash mixed forms, 19
How to lay the tissue. 114
How to prevent streaks in printing, 13
How to adjust cylinder rollers,

How

Half-tones, 49-54
How to mix tints, 48
Half-tones. copy for, 49
Half-tones, packing for, 49
Half-tones. make-ready for. 50-51
Half-tone illustrations, 5U
Half-tones, three-color plates for, 51-53

India rubber in summer rollers.
Inks from dry colors. 59

Inks for glazed papers. 40
Inks for tints, 48
Imposition of forms, 55-58
Job press tympans, diflerence in, 79
Job press presswork. 8-86
July and August rollers, 15
Kinds of packing for jobbers, 78
Kinds of work for cylinders. 87
Keeping inks in good condition, 24
Keeping rollers clean without washing, 22
Kind of glue for rollers. 8
Kind of rollers for good work. 15
Kind of rollers for colored inks, 13
Kind of paper for overlays, 94
Locating tints to register, 45
Longevity of rollers, 17-18
Life of hand-press rollers. 19
Life of rollers. 2
.Linseed oil, cxcellencies of, 23
Linotype metal, 123
Making ready a Jobber, 78-79
Manila draw sheets, 88

Making all grades of ink. 2.

 

 

Making perfect stereotypes, 169
Making metal furniture, 118
Marbling books and papers. 41-42
Mark-out sheets, 91-92
Metal surfaces for tints, 43
‘Ha Ing rollers, 8
up ting old eomgosition. 10-11
‘Hn ing intaglio esigns, 47

 

 

 

INDEX

Making dextrine,
Making tint blocks, ()1

Muslin and paper draw sheets. 89
Matrix-making, formulas Nos. 1 to 4.
118-120
Making ready a cylinder, 92
Make-ready sheets. 92
New rollers in hot weather, 4
New summer rollers, 9
Number of leads to a pound. 40
Overlays for jobwork, 80-81
Oil rollers. value of, 3
Oiiing roller molds, 13
Open forms for stereotyping, 121
Oils and inks, 23
One or more colors at one impression.
96-98
Overlays and underlays. 93-94
Overlays, material for, 92-94
Overlays. how to build, 91-93

Olls that carry colors best. 58

Placing hard packing on cylinder. 88
Principles of three-color work. 35
Primary colors. 35
Padding compounds. 31
Paper ruling. 29
Preparing forms for stereotyping, 111
Paper for stereotyping. 113
Proper heat for drying matrices, 115
Paste. good cheap. :34

')

Power of belts,

Printing rollers, 2
Press packing, 88
Printing consecutive numbers, 71
Production of shades and colors, 61
Preparing glue for rollers, 8
Paying stereotype outfits. 109
Parafflne and its use. 22
Printing tint blocks. 48
Printing large border designs, 92

Proper impression, 102
’acking the cylinder. 88
Packing, the kinds used. 87-88
’acking for art publications. :3;

’rinting red over black.
Pemelting glue and glycerine rollers, 12

 

lRollers for copying inks. 1
Results of tight locking. 112
Recipes for stereotype paste. 112
13a id make-ready, 89-90
lRofiers for colored printing. 39
Rollers in damp. hot weather, 3
Remelting rollers. 5
Boilers for hot weather. 7
Boilers running dry at the ends, 7
Rollers cracking on the surface, 15
Recasting new summer rollers. 10
Boiler brevities. 13
Reviving old rollers, 17
Results of cooking composition. 16
Rules for spelling. 70

Red and blue inks from dry colors. 59

Rollers. eflect of cold weather on. 13
Rollers for book forms, 13
ikemedying worn cylinder journals, 100
Re ater. the correct. 95

on black. 48

 

Silverplatlng electrotypes, 86
Seasoning rollers, 9
Seven ways to make good rollers, 26
Short life of rollers, 7
Size and speed of pulleys, 125
Softening hard rollers, 17
Stop the pulling of rollers, 10
Sticky rollers, 4-5
Stereotype paste, 112

Stereotyping mixed matter, 120

Stereotyping from wood-base cuts, 120
Stereotype metals, 117
Stereotype papers, 110
Stereotype matrix, 113
Stereotypes from wood type, 12
Stereotyping, 109
Stereotyping tabular work, 110
Substitute for gold size. 77
Summer and winter rollers, 14-12
Suction of rollers 2
Substitute for inkoleum 21
Slurring, 98-100
Slurring, to prevent, 101-102
Sufficient ink, when using, 106
To keep forms from slipping, 87
Time for glue to soften, 9
To prevent streaks in printing, 32
Time to make rollers, 7
Three-color example, 36
Tints and groundwork, 43
Three-color work on Jobbers, 81
To separate sticky type, 124
To keep type from rusting, 120
Type for stereotyping, 118
Tight locking injurious, 111

rpentines, 20
Turpentine, in poster ink, 20

To make ink dry glossy, 22

To keep inks from gumming, 22
Tackiness required in printing, 23
Tints. best material for, 43
Thinning inks, effects of. 38
Tightening manila sheets, 90
Tympans, hard and soft, 88
Transfers. on wood or metal, 45-46
Use of glycerine and molasses, 10
Use of capitals. 69

Uses of dry colors, 34

Uses of printer's varnish, 37
Uneven surface of rollers, 13
Uniformity of colors, 105
Underlays, importance of, 93
Various styles of make-ready, 90-91
Value of good rollers,

When to make summer rollers, 6-12-13
Water in roller closets, 15
“'hy inks are thinned, 23
When to use linseed oil, 21-23
When not to use glycerlne, 19

Wood type, stereotypes from,

“'hy tissue peels in the matrix. 112
Winter rollers, 12
Why rollers melt at the ends, 13
Washing rollers, 14
Working black on colored paper, 62-64
"Working black on tints, 62
What to remember about roilers. 15
Working up of furniture and quads, 103

 

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