“Necessity is the mother of invention.” While we didn't invent anything brand new, we did seek out a solution to a print-shop need, and we are happy to bring you this essential tool for letterpress printers. We wanted a quick and easy type gauge to sort metal type and spacing in our studio. There are a couple gauges available, but this is not a common tool in most print shops. We looked at the various styles and decided to pare ours down to basic measurements and even add a few extra features not found in other gauges. One side has notched gaps to precisely identify and measure type and spacing. The other edge is a Pica scale marked in 6 and 12 point increments. At the bottom we included a Type High gauge, and it can even be used to pry open ink cans!
This is the 4th iteration of this tool. The previous versions are noted by:
v.1 - Acrylic laser cut (sold out)
v.2 - P22 Type Gauge with hole in center (sold out)
v.3 - P22 Type Gauge with no hole in center (sold out)
v.4 - Dry Inc. Type Gauge with reverse color at inch marks