Letterpress is good for me because it forces me to do tedious things that require patience. I seek character development and aesthetic, and this gives me both.

Last week, I attacked a drawer full of spaces. I feel fortunate to have a drawer (which appears to be a Hamilton Wells job case: not a particularly common case layout, it would seem. It’s not really made for spaces, but it serves the purpose well) full of spaces, but they were in mad disarray and there were motes and piles of filth and mystery wedged into every slot. Plus the spacing was all mixed up, which isn’t joyous.

Spaces Drawer, Before. Dirty and mixed up.

It took me four and a half hours to sort all of the spacing.

I got a nice, sealed box of American Type Foundry (ATF) 10-point quad spacing on eBay. It has never been opened. ATF went out of business in the early 1990s. I’m not sure when these spaces were made. Could have been decades ago.

Still sealed. I like the little sayings on the tape.

Shiny, shiny, old new quads.

Spaces drawer, after. Shinier and organized. And clean.

I took all of the spacing out and used our air compressor to blow the caked and loose gunk out of the boxes. Then I oiled the whole thing with orange oil. Type cases are traditionally unfinished (except for the front) and the oil seems to do nicely.