Muntilan letter casting plant dies hard<\/p>\n
By Ahmad Solikhan<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Muntilan, a small town in Central Java, is
\nnot only noted for its slondok (a kind of ring formed of casssava
\ncrackers) and stone handicraft but is also known as a historical
\ntown that participated in boosting the nation's intellectual
\nlife: it indirectly pioneered the development of the press in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
It is in this small town that the first letter casting plant
\nwas built and until now still exists, whereas similar plants in
\nJakarta, Cirebon and Bandung closed in the 1980s.<\/p>\n
The letter casting plant initiated by the Pangudi Luhur
\nFoundation enjoyed its heyday from 1968 to 1985, when many
\nprinting houses still used \"handpress\" equipment. But the advent
\nof sophisticated technology like offset printing machinery,
\nphotocopiers and computers have made this plant obsolete.<\/p>\n
The monthly sales turnover which once reached between two and
\nthree tons of letter casts has decreased to 300 kilograms only.
\nMeanwhile 42 of the 49 workers had to be made redundant, and now
\nthere are only seven left.<\/p>\n
The letter casting house directed by Brother Leonardus Paryoto
\nfaces a dilemma: it is about to crumble, but it is trying to
\nsurvive in view of its historical interest.<\/p>\n
According to Joseph Sumiyanto, a marketing member of staff,
\nfor the time being the plant continues production to use up the
\nremaining stock of raw material because some printing houses in
\nJakarta, Surabaya, Madiun, Tasikmalaya, Denpasar, Medan, Solo and
\nSemarang, as well as the daily Meranti, Samarinda, East
\nKalimantan, still need its products.<\/p>\n
\"I don't know precisely whether this plant will continue its
\nproduction or not,\" said Sumiyanto, a graduate of a technical
\nvocational high school, who has been employed at this house for
\n30 years.<\/p>\n
Sumiyanto added that the plant's products, 20 types of cast
\nletters are sold in kilograms. Interline letters (the cheapest)
\nsell at Rp 18,500 per kg and palace script letters (the most
\nexpensive) at Rp 20,600 per kg. But don't be surprised if a
\npurchase of 10 kilograms to 15 kilograms is only wrapped in paper
\nand put in a bamboo basket. But for large purchases delivered to
\nother towns or cities the products are packed in wooden cases.<\/p>\n
Losing money<\/p>\n
Five years ago the decline in sales started to be felt
\nseriously, whiles the sales target is a minimum of one ton per
\nmonth. \"So, all this time the plant suffered from substantial
\nlosses,\" Sumiyanto explained.<\/p>\n
In trying to keep on its existing workers to meet consumer
\ndemand, the plant has this year established an offset printing
\nhouse and photocopy business. In addition, Pangudi Luhur also
\nproduces sengon wooden letter handicrafts for both domestic and
\noverseas consumers in Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Surabaya,
\nBali and Germany. Usually the 30 cm high letters are used for
\ndecorative inscriptions in cafes, pubs and discotheques. \"I sell
\nthe wooden letters at Rp 8,000 apiece.\" said Sumiyanto.<\/p>\n
It is understood that dozens of letter casting machines will
\nbe used as practical equipment for students of the Graphic Arts
\nVocational High School in Semarang, and also as exhibits at a
\nmuseum of letter casting in Muntilan.<\/p>\n
\"But if the plant were no longer in production, our current
\nconsumers would encounter difficulty in obtaining cast letters.
\nPangudi Luhur Foundation must also think of its impact,
\nparticularly because its main goal is social, not only profit
\nseeking,\" Sumiyanto, a father of 4 children, said.<\/p>\n
The same concern was also voiced by A.Y. Harmanto, a letter
\ncasting technician; the plan to scrap the plant was due to its
\ninability to compete with sophisticated technology that is more
\npractical, faster and easier to utilize.<\/p>\n
Actually, the mechanics of letter casting are not as
\ncomplicated as many people imagine. To print a particular letter,
\nyou use a specific matrix machine that has the codes of the
\nchosen letters.<\/p>\n
A sheet of paper is typed on a monotype machine until it is
\nperforated, after which it is put into the letter casting machine
\nthat functions as a sorter to choose the kinds of letters wanted.
\nWhen the machine is active, the liquid tin already heated to 360
\ndegrees Celsius will flow into the matres (letter casting
\ncontainer). It then progresses to the compocaster machine, and
\nthe block letters measuring less than 12 points (1 point = 0.148
\ninch) are there, complete and ready for use.<\/p>\n
To print a line and logo, a measurement larger than 14 points
\nmust be applied on the supercaster machine. To obtain good
\nresults and hard cast letters you need a mixture consisting of
\n74% lead, 10% tin and 6% antimony. There are some 20 types of
\nletter produced, but the most popular ones are times new roman
\n(for publications), gillsans (for notes) and universe medium
\n(for invitations). \"So, the higher the percentage of antimony,
\nthe harder the tin will become,\" Harmanto explained.<\/p>\n
The history of letter casting, according to the September 2000
\nedition of Aikon, dates back to Johanes Gutenberg of Germany. In
\n1428 he succeeded in improving a mixture of lead, antimony and
\ntin, which is the basic material of letter casting for printing
\nhouse purposes. Consequently, this letter technology was then
\ntaken to other parts of the world and eventually introduced to
\nIndonesia in 1956 when Brother Baldewinus van Meltfoort, director
\nof Kanisius printing house, saw the importance of the printing
\nequipment.<\/p>\n
The problem was at that time printing houses in Indonesia
\nstill imported individual letters at high production costs.
\nBrother Baldewinus then had an initiative to set up a letter
\ncasting plant in Semarang, the products of which were then
\nsupplied to all printing houses throughout Indonesia. In 1963, to
\nmeet the considerable demand from various printing houses, the
\nletter casting house was moved to Muntilan with an additional new
\nmachine from Monotype Co., London, UK. Apart from that, they
\nestablished a laboratory for research into the raw material for
\nletters in order to discover which were durable.<\/p>\n
It would be quite dramatic indeed if this letter casting plant
\nwere to be closed without any record being made. To continue in
\nproduction it had to bear substantial losses, and eventually had
\nto succumb to economic reality. Perhaps the plan for closing the
\nletter casting plant needs a rethink to enable it to continue.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/muntilan-letter-casting-plant-dies-hard-1447893297",
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