Movable Type Stencil - Engravers Old English

Inspired by traditional movable type and my love for letterpress printing, I have created a set of movable type stencils. Unlike other alphabet stencils, this system takes the guesswork out of letter spacing and keeps everything in line. I chose engravers old English because it is a set of letterpress type that I personally own and have a great fondness for. Admittedly this is one of the worst typefaces to turn into a stencil because it includes several thin lines and many islands of negative space. Nevertheless, I did my best to adapt it into a shape that can hold up as a stencil. 

Never be out of sorts because you can print some more! 

Once you have printed out the set of type you can arrange them to form any words you wish. print off the included composing stick to help keep your letters aligned. This is a perfect low-plastic project to use up the ends of those filament rolls. I decided to separate upper case and lower case by color but you can do any sort of color organization you wish!

Mind your p's and q's!

p,q,b, and d look extremely similar if you have one flipped or upside down. Each stencil has the bottom right corner indexed so you never have to question if a letter is flipped or upside down. 

Upper Case and Lower Case

Keep yourself organized by printing 2 of the included stencil cases. I made the case tall enough so that the upper case can sit on top of the lower case for vertical space saving. There is an extra slot on the end for you to keep spaces and perhaps hold special characters or numbers if I ever end up modeling them. I printed the cases on their back with the text facing up, and then did a manual filament change for the last 2 layers. I also included a version no text and you could write on the case with a sharpie.

Cut to the chase!

Inspired by the composing sticks and press chases that are used in letterpress printing I included a long U shaped form that you can slot the letters into. This will keep everything in line while you trace. I am right handed, and so I keep the closed end of the composing stick on the right, and load my letters in right to left. I then use my left hand to hold the last letter and composing stick down while I trace, this keeps all the letters trapped in place. Alternatively, you can use a piece of tape to keep all of the letters flush. 

Hot off the press

Here is my printer configuration and some print settings that I used for my stencils

printer: 

0.4mm nozzle

filament: sunlu PLA+

wall order: outside to inside

Stencils:

line width: 0.4mm

layer height: 0.2mm

print solid.

Type case:

line width: 0.6mm (This allows the fins to print in one continuous line.)

layer height: 0.2mm

infill: 15%

printed on its back with the letters facing up, no supports. (that way I could insert a layer change for the last 2 layers and do the colored text. )

Thank you for enduring my letterpress puns and happy drawing!