We’ve developed a system at Lead Graffiti to keep our metal type spacing more easily organized. Typically there are cells in type cases for the various widths of spacing (double/triple quads, em-quads, en-quads, 3/em, 4/em, 5/em, brasses, and coppers). Our system keeps the spacing all in one place instead of spreading it out over lots of cases (few of our cases have it sorted very well and fewer still have a complete offering). It is time consuming and frustrating to need 4/em spacing and to have to hunt for it among our 500 cases of metal type.

So, we designed a cabinet that would hold cases for all of our spacing material for each type size.

It works quite well for us (especially for workshops). We can see exactly what we have, find it quickly, and redistribute the spacing fairly accurately after a job.

In our search, the best spacing case we found was at Home Depot ($4.95 as we remember). Sold as a clear, plastic, lidded case with customizable compartments for holding small parts, it is about 14″(w) x 9″ (d) x 2″ (h). There are subtle things about the Home Depot cases that work better for us than others that we found either in hardware stores or online. Each cell has a rounded bottom which makes it easy to grab and slide out even the smallest metal spacing. The cases are made with rigid horizontal dividers which add support: a full one can weigh about 10 pounds. Even so, each case is quite portable to wherever we are working. The downside is that if the case is dropped, the plastic will shatter. The illustration below of a 24 point spacing case shows how we generally organize the cells.

Sometimes there are variations between the different sizes as some of our larger type can have 6, 8, or 12/em and others have 1.5 em-quads. We just add appropriate vertical dividers (there are plenty of extra ones that come with the cases) to keep them organized in descending widths.

We also built a cabinet to hold all of our spacing cases shown below. This cabinet holds 6 point to 72 point (with 16 point and a second 18 point shown here). Even though it’s just a simple shelving system, it’s makes the individual cases visible and more usable since stacking and unstacking heavy cases to get to the one you want gets old in a hurry.

Now, when we are distributing type back into the cabinets we sort the spacing separately which might take a bit more time, but allows us to be much more accurate in keeping the 4/em and the 5/em and everything else in their correct places.

Since going to this system we have decided to add a second cabinet. We have too much spacing of some sizes to fit into one case. Also we have some less frequently used sizes (16 point) and the didot, which would be good to keep separate.

If anyone is interested I can supply you with the exact dimensions of the various pieces. Should you decide to do something like this, we suggest buying all of the cases you THINK you want for the foreseeable future. Likely as soon as you get started, your source will change the style of cases they sell.

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