When the author became the proud owner of a machine, he found it convenient to keep it in his room with his type-cases and material beneath the press-stand. But in the course of several years the printing-shop required more space than the room afforded, and a new office had to be secured. This was found in the woodshed, where a corner was partitioned off, a double sashed window placed in the wall, and the interior fitted up with a case-rack, imposing-table, stock-stand, and all the necessities for an enlargement of business. [Figure 144] shows the arrangement of our shop a few years later, when it again became necessary to increase our floor space by adding a "mezzanine" story above, extending to the roof of the shed. This half-story was reached by means of a ladder, as shown in the drawing.
The principal equipment of a boy's shop should consist of a number of cases in which to keep the fonts of type; a rack in which these cases can be kept and at which the typesetting can be done; a work-bench, one end of which may be used for an imposing-table and the other for the press to stand upon; and two cabinets, one for stock and the other for ink, tools, and general supplies. The other materials required are: a composing-stick, composing-rule, pair of tweezers, galley, leads, rules, furniture, mitre-box, imposing-stone, quoins, shooting-stick, mallet, planer, hand-roller, and gauge-pins, besides a can of ink, an oil-can, a bottle of machine-oil for washing rollers, benzine for cleaning type, and a good supply of rags.
An Amateur's Outfit.
Small presses are usually accompanied by a few fonts of type, which are sufficient for printing small business-cards, etc., but are of so few letters as to make an ordinary job of printing impossible. With an increase of capital,
Type should be the first addition to your outfit. In making selections bear in mind the amount of money you have to spend, and buy only styles which will go together nicely and which can be used for the greatest variety of work. If possible, secure the advice of a printer in purchasing, as by his experience he can tell what you will most require better than you. You can probably obtain a specimen type-book from the type foundry in your city from which to make your selections.
Type-cases divided into small compartments for the various letters and characters, which can be bought for seventy-five cents or a dollar, provide the only satisfactory means of keeping fonts. It is advisable to spend the money for these neatly made boxes rather than attempt to make them, for the work will amount to more than what you can buy them for.
[Figures 145 and 146] show the upper and lower news-cases with the systems of "laying" generally employed in printing establishments. It will be seen that by this method the principal letters are grouped in the central portions of the case where they are easily reached, while the less important letters are scattered around the sides. The central boxes of the lower case are also made larger than the others, "e" being allotted the largest box as it is used more than any other letter in the alphabet.