The Ludlow consisted of a very heavy metal table with a flat top about waist high and a depressed slot into which a "stick" was inserted. Underneath was a pot of molten type metal and a plunger. The stick was used to hand compose the lines of type, typically headlines in 18 point or larger with 72 point commonly being available, but the machine could cast type from 4pt to 600pt without a mould change. This was from brass matrix stored in cases on either side of the Ludlow. The cases were not the traditional "California Job Cases" used to set body type, but simpler alphabetically arranged wooden or metal cases, each one containing a given font in a specific size and style such as bold face, italic or condensed. The metal type cabinets were built with inclined drawers for easy access to the matrices.