Pantographs are such general-purpose mechanisms that it is not clear where I should file them. They appear throughout engineering, not just in type-making and lettering (the "parallel motion" on Watt's steam engine employed a pantograph in an auxiliary fashion, for example). Even constraining the subject to pantographs used primarily (or at least often) to cut letterforms, there are differences of application between relatively light-duty lettering machines such as the New Hermes Engravographs, the generally heavier industrial machines such as the various Gortons and Deckels, and the highly specialized typographical engraving machines of, say, Benton. Moreover, my primary focus is in using machines such as my Gorton P1-2 in the making of typecasting matrices (which is a rather specialized use). This would suggest separating the treatments of the various machines by my use of them - but that complicates things again, because all pantograph engraving machines have much in common.
For better or worse, I'll collect in one place here all of the information I'm reproducing about pantograph machines which cut a workpiece. If you came here via the web without realizing that I'm a typefounding enthusiast, be aware that many of the machines here are quite specialized and/or of purely historical interest to the typographical matrix maker. On the other hand, if you came here as a typefounder, be aware that some of the machines here are scorned by typefounders but, really, are in fact quite nice machines for their intended purposes.
If you're looking for information on typographical work (cutting matrices, punches, or pattern types with a pantograph engraver), see: ../ The CircuitousRoot Typefoundry & Press --> Making Printing Matrices & Types --> Making Matrices --> Engraving-Machine Based Matrix Making.
If you're looking for the part of CircuitousRoot which deals with machine tools more generally, see: ../../ Machine Shop.
For information about pantographs which are not cutting machines, see the individual machine. For example, the Varigraph is a pantographic pen lettering machine.
In this present page, if you're looking for information on engraving machines known to have been used for engraving typographical matrices, punches, or pattern types for electroforming, see:
It is possible that the Gem and the Little Pioneer were used for matrix engraving, but I don't know this for certain and don't know much about them (indeed, I may not have the name of the latter correct).
(Note also that innovative work is being done now with CNC milling of matrices. For example, Mel Arndt, of Toledo, CNC-milled a splendid 120 point matrix for a keepsake typecasting for the 2010 American Typecasting Fellowship conference in Piqua, Ohio. I'm omitting all such machines here, though, because my own interest is in mechanical pantograph engraving machines. I've had to deal with computers all day, nearly every day, since the 1970s. I'd like to keep them out of my shop.)
In this present page, if you're looking for information on engraving machines known to have been used for intermediate working patterns for further use in the engraving of typographical matrices, punches, or pattern types for electroforming, see:
In this present page, if you're looking for information on mainstream industrial-scale pantograph engraving machines, see:
In this present page, if you're looking for information on lighter-duty machines intended primarily for lettering on products (e.g., engraving everything from bowling trophies to serial numbers on locomotive parts), see:
N.B., There are several machines missing from this list because (a) I know little about them and (b) I don't have any evidence of them being used for engraving typofounding matrices, punches, or pattern types for electroforming. Examples: The Alexander machines.
At the Central Type Foundry, St. Louis, ca. 1882
This would have been a very early application of pantograph engravers to making typefounding matrices. I know very little about it thus far.
Benton
Benton's machines are critical in the history of type making, and deserve significant study. Right now I don't have much, though.
After its amalgamation, ATF controlled Benton's machine as tightly as it could. Benton-made machines were used by Mergenthaler before this. Benton-derived machines were used by: Mergenthaler Linotype, Interestingly, Ludlow did not use a Benton-derived machine; they found their way into typographical engraving via Wiebking. I do not know what equipment was used by Linograph.
Deckel
Friedrich Deckel, Munich. Actually, I don't have any literature I can reprint. What very little I have is still in copyright. Note that the Deckel brand still survives as the Deckel Maho Gildemeister (DMG) division of Gildemeister AG.
(A quick bit of online searching indicates: Deckel founded in 1903. Merged with MAHO AG in the very early 1990s. Gildemeister AG acquired Deckel MAHO Seebach GmbH by 2001.)
Rehak, in Practical Typecasting, p. 102 says that Goudy used a Deckel 2G1 for engraving his working patterns.
Dedrick
Employed for matrix engraving. Designed by Nicholas Dedrick, at Barnhart Brothers & Spindler. Used there in "1896 or 1897." One sold to Peignot Foundry (France) in 1901. See Eckman, James. "The Great Western Type Foundry of Barnhart Brothers and Spindler, 1869-1933." Printing and Graphic Arts. Vol. 9 (1961) , p. 16.
Dietrich
Late 19th century competitor to the Ballou. Employed for matrix engraving.
Kampf
Maschinenfabrik Michael Kampf KG. Bad Homburg, Germany. A Kampf engraver is illustrated in Southall's Printer's Type in the Twentieth Century , p. 24.
Note: Rehak, in Practical Typecasting, p. 100, mentions a "Deckel-Kampf" engraver. I'm not sure that he isn't conflating the Deckel and the Kampf; I can find no indication that there was ever a connection between these two companies.
Gorton
Primarily information related to the model P1-2 "Pantomill" 2-dimensional pantograph engraving machine, because that's what I have.
See also the Notebook on the Gorton 375-4 Cutter Grinder, s/n 103-789, at CircuitousRoot
Little Pioneer
Rehak mentions this machine in Practical Typecasting, p. 100. He observes that it was used by Goudy. As he also notes that Goudy used a Deckel 2G1 for engraving his working patterns (p. 102), I presume that Rehak means Goudy used a "Little Pioneer" for actual matrix engraving. However, Google knows absolutely nothing about this machine as of early 2011 (other than its indexing of Rehak's book).
The 1933 film by Maurice Kellerman The Creation of a Printing Type: From the Design to the Print by Frederic W. Goudy shows Goudy engraving a matrix in a machine which seems clearly in the Benton style. I don't know if this is the "Little Pioneer" or not.
Mergenthaler Linotype
The Mergenthaler Linotype Company leased Benton machines before the amalgamation of Benton's typefoundry into ATF. After that point, their in-house pantograph engraving machine development diverged. In this Notebook, I'll collect information about the post-Benton Mergenthaler machines. Note that Mergenthaler later had a close working relationship with Stempel
New Hermes Engravograph
[NOT DONE] (A lot could be done here, though I'm not sure how much literature is in the public domain. These machines are still quite popular. They're generally smaller in size and lighter in construction - very appropriate for placard engraving, but not really suitable for matrix engraving.)
Ogata
The late Jim Rimmer used an Ogata pantograph engraver for engraving his matrices. (See Richard Kegler's film, Making Faces, on Rimmer's work.)
Stempel
Were these the ones used by Linotype after the recall of the Benton machines following Benton's move to ATF?
Well, the Gorton P1-2 and the Deckel GK 21 qualify as a CircuitousRoot machine, used for my typefounding hobby, but the New Hermes Engravographs are Singing Lemur Jewelry machines, used by my wife, Rollande Krandall, in her business. I get to play with them, but these are working machines.
Deckel GK-21, s/n 6,703
This is a link to the Notebook on the Deckel GK 21 Pantograph Engraving and Profiling Miller, s/n 6,703, at CircuitousRoot Notebook in the ../../ Machine Shop set of Notebooks.
Gorton P1-2, s/n 41,693
This is a link to the Notebook on the Gorton P1-2 "Pantomill," s/n 41,693, at CircuitousRoot Notebook in the ../../ Machine Shop set of Notebooks.
New Hermes Engravograph IL-K, s/n 24,913
A "pivoting" rotary-spindle machine.
New Hermes Locomotive Engraver, s/n 60,733
Yes, really. Well, sort of. It is a machine which came out of the EMD locomotive plant in Illinois. It was used to engrave serial numbers on locomotive parts. It bears no model designation, but is probably a modified model ITX. It has been modified for serial number engraving in a very interesting way.
All portions of this document not noted otherwise are Copyright © 2011 by David M. MacMillan and Rollande Krandall.
Circuitous Root is a Registered Trademark of David M. MacMillan and Rollande Krandall.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons "Attribution - ShareAlike" license. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ for its terms.
Presented originally by Circuitous Root®
Select Resolution: 0 [other resolutions temporarily disabled due to lack of disk space]
