DOI issue:
The international Studio (October, 1907)
DOI article:King, Morris Lee: Practical bookbinding, 1
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28252#0481
Practical Bookbinding
3 by 6 inches by i inch thick. They should be
covered with skiver or stout paper.
Finishing tools: The simplest tools are the
most satisfactory. Leaves, buds, flowers, should all
be separate tools; sprays, flowers with leaves, etc.,
all on one tool may be useful for rapid work, but
in the end they are less useful. The simple elements
(if each is separate) can be combined in a hundred
different ways not possible when in fixed combina-
tion. Tools with a large surface should be avoided.
A single tool having a superficial area greater, say,
than one-half inch square, is difficult to use be-
cause of the strength needed to make a bright,
clear-cut impression. On some leathers, which
may be hard and unyielding, such tools result in
very unsatisfactory work. **
BLOCK ON WHICH EDGES OF PANELS MAY BE LAID
OUT AND FINISHED
It is very unsatisfactory, also, to use tools made
after the stock patterns which are shown in print
by the various tool-cutters. As few tools are ever
kept in stock, it is almost always necessary to have
them cut, so it is no more expensive to have one’s
special ideas reproduced, than to have stock patterns
cut. The binder should be able to make a drawing
to scale, indicating in a general manner at least,
what pattern is wanted.
While small tools, such as leaves, small buds and
flowers, may be quite flat on the face, the larger
tools should be slightly rounded, as it is desirable
to rock them from front to rear slightly to get a firm
pressure on each part of its surface. This rounding
should be very slight, however. As each tool is
marked on one face of the shank, the binder should
early acquire the habit of using the tool with this
mark pointing away from him when used. It will
also be convenient to get into the habit of having
this marked side of the tool when in use to point
towards the head of the book. Unless one has some
general habit of this nature, it is not always easy
to remember which way the tool was applied when
it was used—sayfor blinding-in. While convention-
alized flowers, for instance, may have each petal a
duplicate of the others, there are always minute
differences, so that the best results are attained if
some general rule is followed by which the tool is
always impressed with the same part of it coming
just where it did when the original impression was
made.
Tools as received from the engraver may per-
haps be used, but it is always best to inspect them
carefully with a good glass to note whether the
sharp edges have been rounded off—no sharp
edges should be allowed. Fillets, gouges, lines,
dots, circles, etc., may be rubbed with very fine
sandpaper or emery cloth, enough to round slightly
the sharp edges felt when the finger is pressed
firmly on the margins.
The amateur in the country, or where no engraver
is readily available, may be obliged to make many
simple tools, such as straight lines, dots, squares,
diamonds, etc. All that is needed is a small vise, a
few files, sandpaper, emery paper and some pieces
of brass rod—round, square or oblong as may be.
A person with ingenuity can in this manner help
himself out of many a difficulty.
The beginner should be careful not to have
finishing tools made by an engraver not accus-
tomed to such work. Many a good engraver may
know nothing of the limitations of finishing tools
and may produce tools which cannot be used at
all; or, if used, work unsatisfactorily. I recently
saw a set of tools made in a Western city for an
amateur, all of which were so clumsy that they
must be recut before fit for use.
Lines, fillets, gouges, etc., should not have a
section of wedge shape, but the two sides should
be quite parallel; at least that portion which is
pressed into the leather.
Fillets: These are made of various sizes; 3 to 3^
inches in diameter are most useful. Smaller ones
are in use, but experience shows that it is easier to
follow a straight line with the large size, and be-
comes more and more difficult as the size dimin-
ishes. As a rule fillets are found in stock with one
side quite flat and the other a curve, as indicated
at (a). Before purchasing, have it put in the lathe
and the edge turned to the shape shown at (b).
CXXVII
3 by 6 inches by i inch thick. They should be
covered with skiver or stout paper.
Finishing tools: The simplest tools are the
most satisfactory. Leaves, buds, flowers, should all
be separate tools; sprays, flowers with leaves, etc.,
all on one tool may be useful for rapid work, but
in the end they are less useful. The simple elements
(if each is separate) can be combined in a hundred
different ways not possible when in fixed combina-
tion. Tools with a large surface should be avoided.
A single tool having a superficial area greater, say,
than one-half inch square, is difficult to use be-
cause of the strength needed to make a bright,
clear-cut impression. On some leathers, which
may be hard and unyielding, such tools result in
very unsatisfactory work. **
BLOCK ON WHICH EDGES OF PANELS MAY BE LAID
OUT AND FINISHED
It is very unsatisfactory, also, to use tools made
after the stock patterns which are shown in print
by the various tool-cutters. As few tools are ever
kept in stock, it is almost always necessary to have
them cut, so it is no more expensive to have one’s
special ideas reproduced, than to have stock patterns
cut. The binder should be able to make a drawing
to scale, indicating in a general manner at least,
what pattern is wanted.
While small tools, such as leaves, small buds and
flowers, may be quite flat on the face, the larger
tools should be slightly rounded, as it is desirable
to rock them from front to rear slightly to get a firm
pressure on each part of its surface. This rounding
should be very slight, however. As each tool is
marked on one face of the shank, the binder should
early acquire the habit of using the tool with this
mark pointing away from him when used. It will
also be convenient to get into the habit of having
this marked side of the tool when in use to point
towards the head of the book. Unless one has some
general habit of this nature, it is not always easy
to remember which way the tool was applied when
it was used—sayfor blinding-in. While convention-
alized flowers, for instance, may have each petal a
duplicate of the others, there are always minute
differences, so that the best results are attained if
some general rule is followed by which the tool is
always impressed with the same part of it coming
just where it did when the original impression was
made.
Tools as received from the engraver may per-
haps be used, but it is always best to inspect them
carefully with a good glass to note whether the
sharp edges have been rounded off—no sharp
edges should be allowed. Fillets, gouges, lines,
dots, circles, etc., may be rubbed with very fine
sandpaper or emery cloth, enough to round slightly
the sharp edges felt when the finger is pressed
firmly on the margins.
The amateur in the country, or where no engraver
is readily available, may be obliged to make many
simple tools, such as straight lines, dots, squares,
diamonds, etc. All that is needed is a small vise, a
few files, sandpaper, emery paper and some pieces
of brass rod—round, square or oblong as may be.
A person with ingenuity can in this manner help
himself out of many a difficulty.
The beginner should be careful not to have
finishing tools made by an engraver not accus-
tomed to such work. Many a good engraver may
know nothing of the limitations of finishing tools
and may produce tools which cannot be used at
all; or, if used, work unsatisfactorily. I recently
saw a set of tools made in a Western city for an
amateur, all of which were so clumsy that they
must be recut before fit for use.
Lines, fillets, gouges, etc., should not have a
section of wedge shape, but the two sides should
be quite parallel; at least that portion which is
pressed into the leather.
Fillets: These are made of various sizes; 3 to 3^
inches in diameter are most useful. Smaller ones
are in use, but experience shows that it is easier to
follow a straight line with the large size, and be-
comes more and more difficult as the size dimin-
ishes. As a rule fillets are found in stock with one
side quite flat and the other a curve, as indicated
at (a). Before purchasing, have it put in the lathe
and the edge turned to the shape shown at (b).
CXXVII