Manual cutting machine / guillotine & Embossing press / die cutting press / letterpress
1. Left: Manual shearing machine / guillotine
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Function: Used to cut paper or printed matter by hand.
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Model: Looks like an older guillotine model with a crank or lever.
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Material: Heavy-duty cast iron and wood.
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Common in older printing houses for small cutting before digital cutting systems.
2. Right: Embossing press / die-cutting press / letterpress
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Function: Mechanical hand press for embossing, die cutting or hot foil printing.
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Used for, for example, labels, book covers, metal stamps or printing with lead types.
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Construction: Lever principle, often with interchangeable types or clichés.
Cabinets: Wooden type boxes / typesetting boxes
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Origin: Printing house / typesetting
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Contents: Each box contains sorted lead or wooden type, often according to typographic systems (e.g. Garamond, Bodoni, Helvetica).
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Division: The compartments are arranged alphabetically and according to the upper/lower case system.
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The boxes are labeled with font names or sizes.
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Material: Solid wood, often beech or oak.
Historical use
This type of equipment was used in:
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Book printing houses
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Graphic workshops
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Typography studios
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Crafts and artistic printing
The equipment dates back to the days before digital printing, before offset printing became dominant. It is a manual typographic technique – so-called letterpress.