Use of Foundry Type in Hot Foil Stamping
I have been doing some hot foil stamping on book covers and spines (bookcloth) and I would appreciate any comments or information on using foundry type in a hot foil stamping machine. While foundry type is a softer metal than that used in hot foil type I think that it would work for small runs, maybe 2 or 3 covers. I base this on the fact that foundry type, which I understand is lead, has a melting point above 600 F degrees while hot stamping requires 300 degrees F or less.
I don’t know anything about this, but I suspect that the lifespan of the type would be reduced. While lead doesn’t melt at 300°F, it’s ability to ‘creep’ (cold flow) increases with temperature — that is, it becomes softer, without melting.
I’ve read that hot foil stamping is really hard on foundry type.
They made special alloys of type for use with foil stampers, even that would probably not last very long when stamping cloth for a deeper impression.
For foil stamping they make brass type, its not cheap but it works well, if you heat lead type it becomes a little soft and will not hold up to the heat and pressure you need to use. I do some short run foiling using Ludlow type, sometimes I can only get 50 to 100 copies before the type is junk.
I’ve got a handful of Kingsley foil-stamping fonts, I can’t imagine it’s meant for long runs. I’ve never gotten around to using it much, as I mostly have dies when foiling anything substantial.
The Kingsley fonts are much harder than foundry type and are designed to be specifically used for that purpose.
One other alternate is to have your type set on a Linotype or Intertype machine. It is even softer than foundry type, but it is disposable once you are done with your short run.
Rick