Potential good deal in Topeka

[richhodg66]

Hope this doesn't violate any rules, but an old print shop is closing up and looks like it might be a great opportunity.

Kinda sad, it's basically local to me, but I really think I have enough lead to do me til the dirt nap since most of it is going into a berm I own and will eventually be recovered. Topeka print shop sale

 

[Axman]

Go buy it all.

 

[richhodg66]

A couple of years ago, I would have pursued this real hard but I have accumulated enough lead and even linotype and tin that I really doubt I'll ever use it up unless I start shooting and casting a whole lot more than I am now.

 

[Rick]

Grab the lino if the price is right. Might make a bundle selling it.

That place should close the print shop and re-open it as a museum.

 

[Cadillac Jeff]

6000 lbs. of soft & hard lead !

 

[JonB]

I wish they would have mentioned a price per lb.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

I have mixed emotions concerning old print shops.

Part of me sees the abundance of lead in the form of Linotype and other printing alloys.

Another part of me sees the amazing history of printing. Metal type is an industrial art that is being lost. Time moves on and technology changes. It is important to remember just how critical it was that the average person had access to affordable books and news.

Johannes Gutenberg invented movable type circa 1450 and Ottmar Mergenthaler produced the first Linotype machine around 1884. Those events were key to the advancement of human civilization. The first made mass printing possible and the second made mass printing affordable. The widespread increase of literacy and the advancement of knowledge was incredible.

So it’s ok to turn Linotype into bullets, but please don’t forget why Linotype alloy was created.

 

[richhodg66]

I often feel the same way about a lot of things like this. Change is a constant, and better ways of printing have rendered this obsolete. But of casters don't use it, it'll just end up in a scrap yard or worse.

I would have liked to have gone. I'm a rural kind of guy, but have to admit to having some affinity for Topeka as a city. Lived and worked there for a few years after retiring from the Army and it's a better town than many seem to think. I also like old businesses like that an dthe down town district there.

 

[JonB]

I have mixed emotions concerning old print shops.

Part of me sees the abundance of lead in the form of Linotype and other printing alloys.

Another part of me sees the amazing history of printing. Metal type is an industrial art that is being lost. Time moves on and technology changes. It is important to remember just how critical it was that the average person had access to affordable books and news.

Johannes Gutenberg invented movable type circa 1450 and Ottmar Mergenthaler produced the first Linotype machine around 1884. Those events were key to the advancement of human civilization. The first made mass printing possible and the second made mass printing affordable. The widespread increase of literacy and the advancement of knowledge was incredible.

So it’s ok to turn Linotype into bullets, but please don’t forget why Linotype alloy was created.

Yeah, on a similar note, 5 years ago, I acquired a 50 to 60 lb tote of NOS (unused) small font monotype that is still in original packages. I just can't bring myself to melt them.

 

[Joshua]

Yeah, on a similar note, 5 years ago, I acquired a 50 to 60 lb tote of NOS (unused) small font monotype that is still in original packages. I just can't bring myself to melt them.

Just like with pewter, sometimes it’s worth 5 times more to leave it intact, versus melting it down. eBay it!

 

[Brad]

No real nostalgia here. I would melt it down and never look back.

 

[D Crockett]

Brad you are like me .I would make bullets out of it as fast as I could D Crockett

 

[popper]

Topeka still a capital city, get pretty liberal like Austin. Get the stuff and sell what you don't want.

 

[richhodg66]

Having been to both, there is absolutely not one shred of comparability between Austin and Topeka, not one bit.

 

[GRMPS]

I heard of a small print shop wanting to get rid of all its linotype so a friend and I made the 2 hr drive. We came home with almost 2,000 lbs of linotype (lines of type ie strips of letters 18-21 bhn) . I didn't really need any of it because I bought 1,200 + pounds of monotype/foundry (single letters 30-33 bhn) a few years ago.
I sold most of the linotype to fellow reloaders at a reasonable price. It went FAST.
I figure if we don't do this the print shop lead will end up as fishing weights or in a scrapyard.