sheepsfoot
A printer's tool with a claw at one end for prizing up forms.
sheepsfoot: the printer's lever for unsticking metal type
A sheepsfoot is a flat steel pry bar with a clawed or notched end, designed specifically to lift and separate locked-up metal type forms from the press bed. The tool is roughly 12 to 18 inches long, tapered to a blunt point at one end and fitted with a small, downward-facing claw or fork at the other. Printers use it to break the tight grip of quoins, wedges, and friction that lock a form in place during makeready or after printing.
The claw end is the working end, designed to slip under the edges of a metal chase or between type slugs without crushing the delicate sorts or damaging the furniture. The flat body distributes leverage efficiently without gouging the bed plate. Unlike a carpenter's pry bar, a sheepsfoot is lighter and more precisely shaped, because the stakes are smaller: a bent piece of foundry type or a cracked chase is an expensive loss, and a scarred bed affects print registration.
The origin of the name is uncertain but plausible: the claw resembles the split hoof of a sheep, and the tool's shape is reminiscent of a sheep's leg or foot. The term appears in printing trade glossaries from at least the nineteenth century. Some sources suggest it may derive from an actual sheep bone used as a primitive lever, though this is speculation.
Sheepsfoot tools vary slightly by foundry and printer. Some have a sharper, more tapered claw; others have a broader, flatter notch designed to grip under quoins. A good sheepsfoot should have a smooth, rounded body so it doesn't snag on type or catch clothing during the press run. Steel quality matters: a soft tool will bend under pressure, and a brittle one will chip.
The sheepsfoot belongs to a small kit of hand tools essential to the letterpress room: alongside the imposing stone and galleys, it is a simple mechanical tool that depends on basic leverage and good steel. Modern digital printing has made the traditional sheepsfoot obsolete in most commercial shops, but it remains standard in hand-press and fine printing studios where metal type is still locked up and printed by hand.