Quoins & Furniture
The wedges and spacing blocks that lock a forme tight in the chase so nothing moves.
| Furniture heights | 6, 12, 18, 24 pica |
| Furniture material | Hardwood or aluminium |
| Quoin type | Mechanical expanding wedge |
| Quoin key | T-handle or crank |
| Lockup pressure | Firm hand pressure; the forme should ring when tapped |
| Chase | Cast iron or steel frame, sized to the press |
| Height | Furniture and quoins are below type height, never at it |
| Storage | Furniture rack, sorted by height |
| Furniture heights | 6, 12, 18, 24 pica |
| Quoin expansion | Up to 6 mm per quoin |
| Material | Hardwood furniture, steel quoins |
| Suitable stock | Not applicable — a lockup tool |
| Processes | Locking a forme, adjusting registration, planing down a forme |
| Compatible materials | Any chase and any forme |
| Typical count | One or two quoins per forme, more on long formes |
| Wear | Worn quoins slip; replace rather than over-tighten |
There is a simulator for this. Type Composition runs the same relationships in 3D, so you can change a number and watch what it does to the result.
Lockup is the step everyone underestimates. A forme that is not properly locked will shift under the press, and a forme that is over-locked will bow the chase and print a curved impression. Quoins are the expanding wedges that apply the final pressure; furniture is the wood or metal spacing that fills the rest of the chase.
Furniture comes in standard heights — 6, 12, 18 and 24 pica — so you can fill almost any gap with two or three pieces. Quoins go between the outermost furniture and the chase wall, usually one at each end of the forme, tightened with a key.
Safety
Using it well
- Lock the forme and then tap it down with a planer on each side before the final tightening. The type settles, and you find the loose furniture before the press does.
- Feel the furniture for play with a fingertip before you ink up. If anything moves, the lockup is not finished.
- Mark the chase with the job name and the measure. A locked forme can sit on a shelf for months and you will not remember what it is.
What it works with
Papers and substrates
- Not applicable
Type and fonts
- Any type, as long as the furniture matches the height
Processes
- Lockup
- Registration adjustment
- Forme storage
Tools that go with the quoins & furniture
Letterpress Type Set
Individual sorts of metal, wood or resin, set by hand, one character at a time.
Composing Stick
The L-shaped hand tool that holds a line of type while you set it, and sets the measure.
Tabletop Platen Press
A small clamshell press that prints one sheet at a time, by hand, under a platen.