Help Save A Linotype

THIS LINOTYPE WILL BE SAVED!!!

Thanks to the generous donations enough money has been raised to cover the cost of saving and moving this amazing Linotype. An precious part of history and printing will continue to do it's job casting type and will also be used to teach others interesting in letterpress printing.

And this goal was reached in just one day!

This community is truly unbelievable. Never in my wildest dreams did I think you would raise enough to cover the cost of saving this machine in just a single day.
With two weeks still to go before we take the adventure to move this Linotype I am going to call on this wonderful community to see if you can accomplish some streatch goals.


Bruce has offered to sell me the 9 fonts he has with the machine. Fonts are made of brass and still fetch a decent price as scrap. They are also as rare, if not more so, than the machine itself.

The price for each font is $50. A fair price.
Each $50 dollors over the original $900 will allow me to buy 1 font.

Bruce was offered $124 for scrap for the Linotype. If you reach the $1500 goal I will be able to give $150 to Bruce, a bit more than the scrap offer, for his generous offer of this machine for free just to see it saved.

If this amazing, generous, wonderful community goes beyond the $1500 goal that money will get set aside for Dave Seat of Hot Metal services, one of the last Linotype mechanics. He will inspect the machine and make any adjustments needed as well as provide proper training on maintenance to ensure this Linotype lives out a long and productive life.

The original campaign is below.

Thank you all again so very VERY much!!!

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Fellow printers, friends, family and donors,
I am a hobbiest letterpress printer having been practicing the now resurgent art for just over ten years. The goal of my hobby is to save what antique equipment I can and to teach what has become a lost art to a new generation. I have resorted a Golding Jobber printing press, from 1914, and am currently in the process of restoring an ATF Little Giant printing press. I have given private lessons to others who have joined in this art and have plans to hold classes for anyone interested in learing how to print with letterpress or about printing history.

And  I have an amazing opportunity.

I was fortunate enough to meet the owner of Endicott printing , Bruce, who is retiring after fourtyfive years in printing. He must remove all his equipment by the first begining of May. One of those items is an amazing part of printing history, specific to letterpress printing. He has offered to me for free a pristine, working condition Mergenthaler Linotype, model 31 . This machine allows the operator to cast as many lines of metal type as needed. Unlike hand setting type you will never run out of a particular character because you can cast as many as you need.


While the machine itself is free, removing and relocating it is not. Because of the short timeline to remove the machine I need to raise between $600 and $900  in addition to what I already have.

The money you donate will go towards;
    • A mechanic to disassemble enough of the machine to fit it out the doorway. ($200-$300)
    • Rental of a hydrolic lift trailer to relocate the machine to a new space. ($90-$180)
    • Rigging supplies to safely move and secure the machine. ($175-$250)
    • Lumber to provide an even surface to move the machine over as well as a ramp to to get it out the step of the doorway. ($100-$150)


Funds raised over the amount for relocation will go to:
• A donation to Bruce for his generous offer.
• Purchase of fonts for casting from Bruce.
• Dave Seat of Hot Metal Service for training and inspection.

Bruce has closed his printing business and is retireing. He has sold the building the printing company was located in and must empty it . We have planned for removal of the Linotype on April 30th. If the machine cannot be removed by then it faces a certain death at the hands of metal scrappers.

Saving this machine is an important part of saving our history . Printing has an impact on our lives today more than most realize. The development of letterpress printing was the catalyst for the Renaissance and the start of widespread sharing of information and ideas we all treasure today. Keeping this machine from the scrap yard will allow me to share that history, up close with others as I demonstrate casting and printing type. 

Reaching this goal and preserving this machine, while exciting and dear to my heart, means more to Bruce to see a part of his legacy as a printer preserved.


As an addional incentive, I will send to every donor their name cast from this machine along with a keepsake printed from type cast from it.