Bookbinding and the care of books D. Cockerell

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without flattening the bands. It is well to have a hammer head of the shape shown in fig. 43. By using the thin
end, the force of a comparatively light blow, because concentrated on a small surface, is effective.
At fig. 44 is shown an ordinary backing hammer.
CHAPTER IX 57
CHAPTER IX
Cutting and Attaching Boards--Cleaning off Back--Pressing
CUTTING AND ATTACHING BOARDS
The first quality of the best black board made from old rope is the best to use for "extra" binding. It will be
found to be very hard, and not easily broken or bent at the corners. In selecting the thickness suitable for any
given book, the size and thickness of the volume should be taken into account. The tendency of most modern
binders is to use a rather over thick board, perhaps with a view to bulk out the volume. For manuscripts, or
other books on vellum, it is best to use wooden boards, which should be clasped. From their stability they
form a kind of permanent press, in which the vellum leaves are kept flat. In a damp climate like that of
England, vellum, absorbing moisture from the atmosphere, soon cockles up unless it is held tightly in some
way; and when it is once cockled, the book cannot be made to shut properly, except with very special
treatment. Then also dust and damp have ready access to the interstices of the crinkled pages, resulting in the
disfigurement so well known and so deplored by all lovers of fine books.
For large books a "made" board, that is, two boards pasted together, is better than a single board of the same
thickness. In making boards a thin and a thick board should be pasted together, the thin board to go nearest the
book. It will not be necessary to put a double lining on the inside of such boards, as a thin board will always
draw a thick one.
[Illustration: FIG. 45.]
If mill-boards are used they are first cut roughly to size with the mill-board shears, screwed up in the "lying"
press. The straight arm of the shears is the one to fix in the press, for if the bent arm be undermost, the
knuckles are apt to be severely bruised against the end. A better way of fixing the shears is shown at fig. 45.
Any blacksmith will bend the arm of the shears and make the necessary clips. This method saves trouble and
considerable wear and tear to the "lying" press. Where a great many boards are needed, they may be quickly
cut in a board machine, but for "extra" work they should be further trimmed in the plough, in the same way as
those cut by the shears. After the boards have been roughly cut to size, they should have one edge cut straight
with the plough. To do this one or two pairs of boards are knocked up to the back and inserted in the cutting
side of the press, with those edges projecting which are to be cut off, and behind them, as a "cut against," a
board protected by a waste piece of mill-board.
The plough, held by the screw and handle, and guided by the runners on the press, is moved backwards and
forwards. A slight turn of the screw at each movement brings the knife forward. In cutting mill-boards which
are very hard, the screw should be turned very little each time. If press and plough are in proper order, that
part of the board which projects above the cheek of the press should be cut off, leaving the edges perfectly
square and straight. If the edge of the press has been damaged, or is out of "truth," a cutting board may be
used between the cheek of the press and the board to be cut, making a true edge for the knife to run on.
[Illustration: FIG. 46.--Lying or Cutting Press]
The position of the plough on the press is shown at fig. 46. The side of the press with runners should be
reserved for cutting, the other side used for all other work.
[Illustration: FIG. 47.]
The plough knife for mill-boards should not be ground at too acute an angle, or the edge will most likely
break away at the first cut. The shape shown at fig. 47 is suitable. The knife should be very frequently ground,
as it soon gets blunt, which adds greatly to the labour of cutting.
CHAPTER IX 58
After an edge has been cut, each side should be well rubbed with a folder to smooth down any burr left by the
plough knife. Then a piece of common paper with one edge cut straight is pasted on to one side of the board,
with the straight edge exactly up to the cut edge of the board. Then a piece of paper large enough to cover
both sides of the board is pasted round it, and well rubbed down at the cut edge. After having been lined, the
boards are nipped in the press to ensure that the lining paper shall stick. They are stood up to dry, with the
doubly lined side outwards. The double paper is intended to warp the board slightly to that side, to
compensate for the pull of the leather when the book is covered. If the board is a double one, a single lining
paper will be sufficient, the thinner board helping to draw the thicker. The paste for lining boards must be
fairly thin, and very well beaten up so as to be free from lumps. It is of the utmost importance that the lining
papers should stick properly, for unless they stick, no subsequent covering of leather or paper can be made to
lie flat.
When the lined boards are quite dry, they should be paired with the doubly lined sides together, and the top
back corner marked to correspond with the marks on the top back corners of the book. Then near the top edge,
with the aid of a carpenter's square, two points are marked in a line at right angles to the cut edge. The pair of
boards is then knocked up to the back and lowered into the press as before, so that the plough knife will
exactly cut through the points. The same operation is repeated on the two remaining uncut edges. In marking
out those for the fore-edge, the measurement is taken with a pair of compasses (fig. 48) from the joint of the
book to the fore-edge of the first section. If the book has been trimmed, or is to remain uncut, a little more
must be allowed for the "squares," and if it is to be cut in the plough, it must be now decided how much is to
be cut off, remembering that it is much better to have the boards a little too large, and so have to reduce them
after the book is cut, than to have them too small, and either be obliged to get out a new pair of boards, or
unduly cut down the book.
[Illustration: FIG. 48.]
[Illustration: FIG. 49.]
The height of the boards for a book that has been trimmed, or is to remain uncut, will be the height of the page
with a small allowance at each end for the squares. When a pair of boards has been cut all round, it can be
tested for squareness by reversing one board, when any inequality that there may be will appear doubled. If
the boards are out of truth they should generally be put on one side, to be used for a smaller book, and new
boards got out. To correct a badly cut pair of boards, it is necessary to reduce them in size, and the book
consequently suffers in proportion. If the boards have been found to be truly cut, they are laid on the book,
and the position of the slips marked on them by lines at right angles to the back. A line is then made parallel
to the back, about half an inch in (see fig. 49). At the points where the lines cross, a series of holes is punched
from the front with a binder's bodkin on a lead plate, then the board is turned over, and a second series is [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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