Read Ebook: Printing and bookbinding for schools by Vaughn Samuel Jesse

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Ebook has 430 lines and 36648 words, and 9 pages

When a line has been thus finished and a lead put in above to support it, the compositor proceeds with the next line exactly as before. It is wise for the beginner to leave all the work leaded, so as to simplify the operation of removing the lines from the stick. If it is desirable, the leads or slugs may be removed after the type is emptied from the stick. If the last line of a paragraph is not a complete line, it is filled with quads and spaces, but the spaces should never be placed at the end or between the quads.

The galley, Fig. 10, is a kind of rectangular brass tray open at one end, into which the compositor places the lines of type on removing them from the stick. Galleys are of various sizes for different kinds of work.

This, like leads, may be had either in the strip or in labor saving lengths; but unlike leads, it is type high, and is designed for the purpose of making lines, borders, etc., Fig. 12. It may be had in any thickness, but usually, a very thin face like a hair line or one point, is put on a heavier body. In such cases the rule is beveled from one or both sides and is said to be side-faced or center-faced . Labor saving brass rule is made up in weight fonts, and may be had with or without mitres for the corners.

If a rule line shorter than the measure of the type line is to be made, the blank spaces at the ends of the rule are filled with leads, slugs, or quads of the same thickness as the body of the rule.

Rule for borders is put around the type form after it is finished. If the face of the rule is as thick as the body, as at c, Fig. 12, good corners are made simply by lapping one piece of rule over the end of the other piece which meets it at the corner.

If the face is thinner than the body, the rule in borders or panels must be side-faced unless there are mitres. The bevels of the side pieces of rule are turned in toward the type and those of the end pieces are turned out. The end rule laps over the ends of the side rules at the corners, as shown at a, Fig. 12.

Dotted or hyphen lines as seen in Fig. 11, are made by the use of leaders, which closely resemble quads in that they are of quad sizes. Leaders, however, are type high, and have either the dot or hyphen face--so many dots or hyphens to the em. It is not necessary to have a great variety of leader sizes, since with the point lining system, one size of leader can easily be lined with another size of type.

It requires considerable care and skill to tie up a mass of type properly. The form is in the lower right hand corner of the galley. The compositor takes a cotton string and beginning at the upper left hand corner, he starts to wrapping the twine around the form from left to right, drawing it taut just before turning a corner. When the starting point has been reached, he pulls the twine down across the original end thus binding it firmly against the metal. After wrapping from three to six times about the form, a loop is left in the twine, which is forced by means of a composing rule, Fig. 13, or a lead, down between the type and the strands. This leaves a small piece of the end projecting as a convenience in untying. The next step is to take a proof. The galley is laid on the stone or a table, or the form may be slid from the galley to the stone, Fig. 18.

A page 18 ems wide might properly be 30 ems long. In this case, the measure would be 31 ems and a 31 em reglet, answers well for a measure, as will any long piece of furniture on which the desired length may be marked. An accurate ruler may be used to advantage. The length of the first page is usually less than the full measure and is somewhat arbitrarily determined. It is generally sunken about one-fourth of the page. After this page is tied up and moved aside, the page number, the running head and the slug are added to the remaining column of type and the measure applied for the next page. This is repeated until the final page is reached, which is usually somewhat less than the full measure.

RULES OF COMPOSITION

PROOF MARKS

IMPOSITION

Imposition is the arranging of the type masses in proper order on the stone, and the fastening of them into the chase.

The imposing stone, Fig. 18, is a smooth marble slab on which the forms are placed for locking up ready for the press. The stone may be laid upon a box, bench or table, but both stands and cabinets are made for this purpose. It is properly bedded in its "coffin" by placing putty along the edges of the bed and along any cross supports which may run under the stone. Then when the stone is placed into this receptacle, it remains solid and level and free from strain. It should project a short distance above the frame of the bed in order to render easy the removal of the forms to and from the galley.

The chase, Fig. 19, is a steel or cast-iron frame, into which the forms are locked to be put into the press. The size of a press is based upon the inside dimensions of the chase. A 10 x 15 press is one that accommodates a 10 x 15 chase. The skeleton chase is a steel chase with a very narrow frame. This makes the inside considerably larger. A skeleton chase for a 10 x 15 press is practically 11 x 16, making a clear gain of almost an inch each way.

When the type has been proofed, corrected, made up, and tied, the form is slipped from the galley to the stone, and is then ready for the lockup, Fig. 20.

A chase is put upon the stone in such a position as to form a frame about the type, which as a rule should occupy the central part of the space enclosed by the frame. A roller supporter, a, Fig. 20, is placed in each end of the chase and pieces of furniture are built out solidly from the type form to one side and one end of the chase.

Furniture, Fig. 21, and b, c, Fig. 20, is the name given to pieces of wood and metal, which are used to build around the forms in the process of locking them into the chase. Furniture varies by the em in width and by 5 to 10 ems in length when cut labor saving. Metal furniture is more modern and makes possible more accurate work; but for beginners, it has its disadvantages. The metal is soft and of considerable weight, making heavier forms; and if a piece is dropped upon the stone or even upon the floor, which frequently happens, it probably has a corner or an edge battered. In the lockup, occasionally this small defect may cause the "pi" of the whole form. Reglets are a kind of wood furniture similar in size and use to leads and slugs but are largely used as furniture in locking up forms. In leaded forms which have to be kept for sometime, reglets are substituted for the leads and slugs. They are very much cheaper, and they relieve the necessity for large quantities of the more expensive leads and slugs. Wood furniture, which comes by the case or by number of pieces, is cheap, durable, not easily injured, and on the whole, quite satisfactory for school use. A small amount of metal furniture, which is sold by weight, is desirable in every printshop.

When the furniture has been built in at one side and one end of the form as indicated above, quoins are placed at the other side and the other end about midway between the type and the chase.

Quoins, Fig. 22, are devices for locking the forms into the chases. There are two chief kinds, one consisting of two separate wedge shaped pieces of hard metal with notched sides, which by the use of a key are made to slide in opposite directions against each other. The danger of these quoins in the hands of schoolboys is that, not realizing how easily good forms are held, they persist in trying to screw the quoin to the last notch, frequently endangering the chase and ruining the quoins. The other kind is constructed of two pieces of metal joined by springs and opened by the use of a key operating a nut which, after a slight expansion of the quoin, releases its hold and allows the parts to spring back together. This quoin is safe for the form and for the chase, and is itself not battered in the process of locking up.

After the quoins have been put into proper position, pieces of furniture are fitted in on both sides of the quoins.

The pieces of furniture are usually a little longer than the sides of the form against which they fit. They are always placed around the form in such a way that they can not bind against each other so as to prevent the pressure from striking the type squarely, Fig. 20.

With the key, Fig. 22, the quoins are very slightly and uniformly tightened. Then the planer is used.

The planer, Fig. 23, is a smooth faced block of hard wood similar to the proof planer, but is usually smaller and not covered with felt. This is laid on the face of the form on the stone and tapped lightly with a mallet, in order to make sure that the faces of all the type are at the same level--no letters projecting so as to be broken or to injure the rollers, or, at best, to ruin the impressions.

After this, the printer tightens the quoins gradually, giving a slight turn to each quoin in succession. There is danger of the beginner's getting the lockup too tight, causing the form to spring up from the stone and the chase to spring and even to break. If the composition is good and the furniture is properly placed, it does not require a very tight lockup to hold. Before removing the chase from the stone, the lockup should be tested by raising one side of the chase very slightly and tapping the furniture to see if any of the type are loose. If the form holds, it is ready for the press.

In this case, the stock is cut double the length of the finished job. When it has been printed on one side, and the ink has dried, it is turned and given the same impression on the other side. Of course, in printing this second side, care must be taken to reverse the paper so that pages two and three back up one and four at one end, and one and four back up two and three at the other end. When the ink of this impression is dry, the sheet is cut at line XX making two complete folios from one sheet.

With school boys working on a small press, the four pages are often handled in two separate forms of two pages each.

When so divided, each pair may be imposed in exactly the same order as in the four page form. In this case the paper is cut to exact size and pages one and four are printed on one side. When the ink dries, it is run through the press again and pages two and three are printed on the other side, completing the work.

An eight page form, or a sheet quarto, for a sufficiently large press, may be imposed after the work-and-turn method as in the case of the four page form. The numbered rectangles in Fig. 25 show the arrangement of pages in the work-and-turn method of imposing an eight page form. It will be observed that pages in the outside section of an eight page form are in the same order as those of a four page form. For a press that can accommodate only four pages, the inside and outside sections are imposed exactly in the same order as in Fig. 25, but are used as separate forms.

When we undertake the imposition of an eight page job, we meet the problem of margin for trim, which has not been encountered in the previous forms. In an eight page piece of work, there must be two folds and since the sheets are folded after they are printed and before they are cut, it is evident that some allowance must be made for trimming the fold at the top of the pages. Since in folding, the edges are probably not even, it is necessary to trim them also. Thus it is clear that allowance must be made for trim around each pair of leaves. Fig. 25 represents a half sheet of standard 25 x 38 paper laid on the eight page form imposed by the work-and-turn method. The line XX indicates where the printed half sheet is cut before folding. The dotted lines indicate the margins allowed for trim after folding. The method of measuring for the imposition is as follows: Suppose the type pages to be four by seven inches and centered in the pages, and the margin, after trim, to be one inch all around each page.

It is apparent then that the backs of type pages 8 and 5 are two inches from the backs of pages 1 and 4. The location of pages 7 and 6 is determined by measuring half the length of the half sheet, or 12 1/2 inches in this case, from the front edges of type pages 1 and 4. The distance then from 8 to 7 and from 5 to 6 is 2 1/2 inches or 15 ems pica, making 1/2 inch for trim. One-half of 19 inches, or the other dimension of the half sheet, measured from the foot of type page 1 to the head of 4, places the distance of 2 1/2 inches between 1 and 4. This allows 1/2 inch here also for trim.

In this work, some prefer simply to fold the paper and use it for measurement, but in any case when the margins are determined, they are built in with appropriate furniture and the form is locked up. It is well to remember that, viewed from the foot of the pages in a form, odd numbered pages are always at the left of even numbered pages.

In most of the work of this character, the pages are so large that only two may be accommodated by a small press. In this case, the eight pages are imposed in pairs as follows: One and eight, two and seven, three and six, and four and five. It will be observed that the sum of the page numbers of any pair is always one greater than the whole number of pages.

PRESSWORK

The first thing in the matter of handling a press, Fig. 26, is to have a clear idea in mind as to the method of its operation; the next is to make sure that the press is well oiled, well cleaned and the bed and platen clean of all grit, paper, gauge pins, quadrats, etc.

The throw off, a, Fig. 26, is a lever by use of which the press can be prevented from printing. This should always be in such position as to hold the platen, b, away from the bed, c, until the press is ready for an impression.

An essential part of the press which needs to be mentioned separately is the rollers, d.

They are a kind of rubbery composition moulded around steel rods or cores; and when placed on the press, they distribute the ink over the plate, e, and carry it down upon the type. Of course, they are soft and pliable and need proper attention to keep them so. There are summer rollers and winter rollers and neither can be used to advantage out of season. Winter rollers become too soft for summer, while the reverse is true of summer rollers used in winter. Seventy degrees is about the right temperature to insure the proper working of rollers. When they become permanently hard enough to retain, for a considerable time, the type impressions, rollers are said to be dead. Much can be told about rollers by observing the color and the shine of the surface. A dead roller has a dead, lusterless surface. When rollers are worn out, they are simply sent to the factory where the old composition is removed and new composition molded upon the same cores. The chief constituents of rollers are molasses, glycerine and glue.

For locating the positions of the gauge pins, Fig. 27, or quadrats, the stock is laid straight across the impression allowing the ends to project equally over the ends of the impression, and with a sharp pencil, a mark is made on the draw sheet along the left end of the stock. Then the stock is slipped down across the impression in such a way as to allow the edges of the stock to project the distance of the desired margins above and below the impression on the drawsheet. A mark is then placed along the lower edge of the stock. The gauge pins or quads are placed on these two lines, two on the horizontal and one on the vertical, in such a position as will best hold the stock on the platen. If quads are used, they are glued to the drawsheet. It usually takes several impressions on the cut stock to get a perfect adjustment. In order to prevent the stock from being lifted from the platen by the ink, a small cord is tied about the ends of the grippers in such a position as that it strikes the stock above the impression of the type.

Constant care must be exercised to keep the grippers from getting in the way of the roller supporters and causing considerable injury.

The pupils in school begin operating the press very slowly and by foot power. The process of feeding is largely a matter of cultivating a certain ambidexterity and a rhythmic movement of the hands, the right to place the blank sheet upon the platen, and the left to remove it after it is printed. Great care must be taken to avoid soiling the stock or smearing the ink on removing the freshly printed sheets. As skill is acquired, speed should be increased. Finally the boys are able safely to feed a motor driven press. When the matter is printed, it is carefully scattered over the letter boards, table, or shelves to dry, and the chase is removed to the stone.

CLEANING AND DISTRIBUTING

After finishing the job of printing proper, there are still some very important things to do. The form must be cleaned, the ink thoroughly removed from the press, and the type thrown back into the proper cases, or distributed.

The form is cleaned by going over the type, first with a cotton cloth moistened with benzine, and following with a bristle brush. The press also must be washed, that is the ink must be removed from the plate and the rollers. With cotton rags or waste moistened with benzine, the ink is wiped off the plate. Then the rollers are run upon the plate, and with the cloth still further moistened with benzine, the rollers are carefully gone over and all the ink removed. The rollers are then run down from the plate, which is wiped clean and dry. In case waste is used in cleaning the rollers, it should be wrapped inside of a cloth to prevent threads and lint from adhering to them. To the inexperienced, this matter of cleaning the press, gives the impression of a long, tedious and dirty task. It proves to be quite an interesting demonstration for the instructor to wash the press clean, and come through the process in three minutes with hands scarcely soiled. There grows up somewhat of a rivalry among the groups or individuals to see which can wash the press in the shortest time and with the least muss. In leaving the press, this caution should always be kept in mind; never allow the rollers to remain on the plate or on a form in the press. Rags that have become saturated with benzine and ink should be burned or kept in a closed can.

The next morning, the oily ink is easily removed with a dry cloth. Sometimes, it is well to follow up with a cloth slightly moistened with benzine.

In case ink has been permitted to harden on the rollers, it may be removed by taking the rollers from the press, washing them with moderately strong lye, using a printer's scrub brush. After the ink is removed, the rollers are thoroughly rinsed in water.

When type has been allowed to remain without the ink having been cleaned off, and the ink has hardened and cemented the type together, it may be loosened and cleaned with lye. Make a strong solution of lye and saturate the mass of type with it. Rub the lye in thoroughly with the scrub brush, leave the lye on the type for two hours and then rinse in water. Keep repeating this process until the type is loosened and cleaned.

When a form has been used and is no longer needed, it is called dead matter and is ready for distribution. To prepare the type for distribution, a sponge is saturated with soapy water and the top of the form thoroughly wet, so that the water makes its way down into the small crevices between the type. If the form is put into a galley, it is placed in the same position as for tying up. Then the printer takes upon a slug the last two, three, or four lines and holds them in his left hand as in Fig. 28, so that the lines occupy the same position as when in the stick. With the right hand, he picks up one or more words from the right end of the top line. Standing before his case in the same position as when setting type, he spells the words back into the case. It is very important that type be properly distributed, that the letters, characters, and spaces be put into their proper boxes. This is interesting work, and beginners delight in it; besides, it is a work in which considerable skill can quite readily be acquired.

The proper time to rescue a letter from the floor or from a wrong box into which it has been dropped, is immediately after it has been so misplaced. Leads, slugs, furniture, and rule should be put at once in proper positions into their respective places.

WHAT TO PRINT AND HOW TO PROCEED

In discussing the matter of the proper printing for the public schools, let us not forget this general proposition, i. e., that the claim of printing to a place as a school art must rest upon its force as an educational factor and not upon the fact that, by a species of child labor, money may be made or saved.

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