Linotype line casting machine

About the sound

Up until the 1880s the process of preparing a text for printing with a printing press was slow and time-consuming. Prior to the introduction of line casting machines, such as the Linotype, types were assembled by hand. A machine of this sort was able to replace the work effort of approximately five to six hand cast typers.
The Linotype casting machine was invented by a German watchmaker turned mechanical engineer named Otto Mergenthaler. The first Linotype put into production at the New York Tribune in 1886. Mergenthalers invention then became rapidly spread and used in the newspaper printing process worldwide. The Linotype casting machine is a mechanical masterpiece and during the years little has changed in the general mechanical design of the Linotype. The machine heard in this recording bears great resemblance with the first Linotype machines manufactured in the 1890s.
In this recording you can hear a Linotype model 16, manufactured in 1959. The machine operates in cycles. In each cycle a number of tasks are carried out. First a line of text is assembled through the keyboard. When a key on the keyboard is pressed down a matrice carrying a specific character or letter drops down from the magazine of matrice types and is assigned to a row of matrices, spelling out the text. Once the manuscript has been typed on the keyboard the matrices are used to cast a led alloy bar that the printer can use for printing. The alloy consists of 84% led, 4 % tin and 12% antimony and is heated to 280 degrees Celsius. The Linotype then mechanically gathers the matrice types and spacebands used in the cast and sorts them back into the magazine. This creates a rattling metallic sound and completes the cycle.
4.35 In the machine cycle that you hear on this recording, the Linotype is casting “WORK WITH SOUNDS” in capital letters.

Manufacturer: Berliner Maschinenbau AG
Year of manufactory: 1959
Model: 16
Machine number: 14443. Weight: 2000 kg
Db: 64,8