Lift

To lift a forme is to remove it temporarily from the press or machine, and thus to suspend the process of printing, in order that another forme may be put on. In the warehouse, each separate portion of printed paper, whatever the number of sheets it consists of, that is placed upon the poles to dry, is termed a lift. A forme is said to “lift” when it has been so perfectly justified and locked up that no parts of it drop out on being raised from the imposing surface. In most printing-offices of moderate size a piece of machinery, styled a “lift,” is used to convey the formes from the press-room or machine-room, which is usually on the basement, to the composing-room at the top of the house. It consists of a sort of shallow box, standing on end, the front or lid of which is moveable, and lined with a blanket, so as not to injure the face of the type: into this box the forme is placed, over which the lid is fastened by a bolt. In this position, by means of a. pulley, it can be raised or lowered from one floor to another as occasion requires. The saving of time and labour is great, to say nothing of the destruction of the staircase caused by the sliding of formes down it.