A hellbox is a receptacle where cast metal '' sorts'' are thrown after printing. The job of sorting the type from the hellbox and putting it back into the job case was given to the apprentice, known as a

printer's devil A printer's devil was a young apprentice in a printing establishment who performed a number of tasks, such as mixing tubs of ink and fetching type. Notable writers including Ambrose Bierce, Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman, and Mark Twain served ...

. Later, when continuous casting or

hot metal typesetting In printing and typography, hot metal typesetting (also called mechanical typesetting, hot lead typesetting, hot metal, and hot type) is a technology for typesetting text in letterpress printing. This method injects molten type metal into a mol ...

machines such as the Linotype and

Monotype Monotyping is a type of printmaking made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. The surface, or matrix, was historically a copper etching plate, but in contemporary work it can vary from zinc or glass to acrylic glass. The ...

became popular, the hellbox was used for storing discarded or broken type that were melted down and recast.

References

* The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000. Houghton Mifflin Company

* Fleischman, J (1977). "A Linotypist's Notes: Being an Account of a Brief Apprenticeship in an Obsolete Trade"

Typesetting Printing terminology {{industry-stub