Imposing surface
The stone or plate on which formes are imposed aud corrected. Formerly imposing surfaces consisted almost exclusively of slabs of stone, chiselled and smoothed on then- upper surface. Recently plates of iron bine been used instead, their advantages, over even the hardest stones, being their strength and the little danger of breaking them, while they are considerably smoother, and consequently do not injure the bottom of the type which is moved about upon them. The superficial size of a “stone” varies according to the description of formes to be laid on it. Its height should be slightly over three feet. The frame on which the stone rests is usually fitted up with drawers for quoins and furniture, &c. Sometimes it contains a rack for locked-up formes, but this system is a bad one, as the frequent vibration from the locking-up and planing down of tonnes on the stone tend to loosen the quoins of those in the rack aud cause the matter to fall out. It is around the stone that the workmen assemble wliile a chapel is being held.—See Trade Customs.
The first edition did not have an entry for Trade Customs.
Imposing surface
The stone or plate on which formes are imposed and corrected. Formerly imposing surfaces consisted almost exclusively of slabs of stone, chiselled and smoothed on their upper surface. Recently plates of iron and steel have been used instead, their advantages over even the hardest stones being their strength and the little danger of breaking them, while they are considerably smoother, and consequently do not injure the bottom of the type which is moved about upon them. The height of the stone should be slightly over three feet. The frame on which the stone rests is usually fitted up with drawers for quoins and furniture, &c. Sometimes it contains a rack for locked-up formes, but this system is a bad one, as the frequent vibration of locking-up and planing-down of formes on the stone tends to loosen the quoins of those in the rack and cause the matter to fall out. It is around the stone that the workmen assemble while a chapel is being held.