About Us
Located in Pawtucket, RI, Liquid Metal Type is a typecasting company committed to bringing you the highest levels of quality, which can only be achieved because we touch each and every letter of every order. At Hope Bindery (our Parent Company), owner Jim DiMarcantonio (RISD ‘86) has been using Ludlow type for over 35 years, and was overjoyed when he had the opportunity to bring a large collection of type in-house. We use type in the Bindery every day, whether we are stamping the date on a rare book from the 1700s, or helping students get their theses in on time, and are excited to bring our expertise to you when it comes to providing the right type for your job. Whether you are looking for extremely crisp new letters for your letterpress project, custom type for bookbinding, or even want to press your letters into your ceramics project, we are confident we can help you get the best possible results.
So What is Ludlow Type Anyway?
A Ludlow Machine is a hot metal typesetting system invented in 1906 that was originally used in letterpress printing, often for larger fonts such as newspaper headlines. The machine has a crucible that heats up our metal compound until it is completely liquified. The machine then shoots the molten metal into the brass letters held in a composing stick. We place the individual brass letters (seen above) which we place in the stick one by one to make sure it looks perfect, and everything is spelled right.
The slug itself is then used for letterpress printing, hot foil stamping, embossing etc, and can be melted back down in the same machine after being used. If you are local to the Pawtucket/Providence area and would like to recycle your type after you are done using it, please feel free to drop it back off at the studio!
The machines only accept Ludlow brand brass letters (as seen in the photo above), and we have the largest collection of fonts and sizes in all of New England!
Check out this little video we made to show the type-casting process from start to finish:
Our Team
Jim DiMarcantonio
Jim is the Owner/Operator of Both Hope Bindery and Liquid Metal type. He graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design’s Illustration Department in 1986. Jim is a self-taught bookbinder, and has been in business for 35 years. He loves Fish, and has a couple of tanks in the bindery. Check ‘em out when you stop by!
Caleb A. Getto
Caleb is the studio manager of Hope Bindery & Liquid Metal Type Co. They run the day to day operations and ensure that the lead is hot and the presses are full! They graduated from Rhode Island School of Design’s Printmaking Department in 2021 and have been working here since. Outside of bookbinding and typecasting, Caleb is an printmaker and writer.