Practical Bookbinding Part 16

In hand sewing, double bands--a wide, strong linen tape--are used, end to end, of course, and with strong thread.

The bands are also stretched upon the sewing frame; for folio, at least six are used, and for quarto not less than four.

It has already been said that the sections are sewn throughout, and, further, that the end section is likewise similarly sewn with them through the linen joint--in high cla.s.s work with coloured cordonnet silk. All sheets, without exception, are kettle-st.i.tched at the end.

Large books are not usually glued up the whole of the back, but only at head and tail, with perhaps a little in the middle; they are only completely glued up after having been rounded in the press, as this makes them retain their shape longer.

If it is decided to do any marbling, the fore-edge is marbled immediately after tr.i.m.m.i.n.g it. Rounding is more p.r.o.nounced in this than in ordinary work, otherwise the spring back would have no effect with such bulk, and the book would easily go out of shape.

The account book is also pressed, but not in the same way as printed books, as the former has its groove pressed quite out. After careful adjustment between boards, they are squared to the edge of the first and last sheet, the whole lifted into the press, and the back glued with very hot glue. The bands are generally left outside the boards, as they would leave marks too p.r.o.nounced on the book if pressed inside. After the book has thoroughly dried in the press, it is cut at top and bottom, marbled, or some other suitable treatment given to the edges, and then pasted up. The "clothing up" of the account book is done either with soft leather and paste or with mole-skin specially prepared for the purpose; in the former case the bands are omitted, that is, only the parts between the bands are pasted. In pasting up with mole-skin, only the back may be glued--never the covering material. The covering material has a loose overlap of 4 cm. at each side.

Account books take a stronger headband than other books; it must reach on to the board, which it binds to the book. For this purpose the board must first have been affixed.

In the first place, a thin but very strong board is laid--about 1-1/2 mm. from the joint--upon the first sheet, which has been completely coated with glue; the bands are pasted out upon this board, as also are the leather or beaver clothing overlaps.

It is obvious that this thin board is not stout enough for this heavy book, therefore a second heavier board--or, if necessary, even a third--is pasted to it; but as the back now goes over on to the board, the heavier board must be set back sufficiently to prevent it from pus.h.i.+ng into the back when opening the book.

As the pasting together of these boards makes them very thick, and such thick boards not being easily cut, they are generally cut the required size beforehand. Before pasting the thicker board upon the first board, the back is prepared.

Fig. 115--Boards cut out at head.

First of all, the headband. It is carried on to each board 3 cm. deep, and the boards must therefore be cut out the same distance up to the edge; at _A_ the board is bevelled off on the inside. Now cut a piece of coloured chamois leather--dark red or green--5 cm. wide and as long as the distance from one notch across the back to the other. The back at _B_ is now glued, the strip of leather laid on so that it projects 1-1/2 cm. beyond the edge, and the ends at each side brought equally to the bevelled part _A_. At both sides these are pushed in under the thin board and well pasted down, whilst the piece projecting over the edge is glued and turned backwards; but in order to strengthen the piece on the back of the book, a piece of card as long as the width of the back is laid in.

The back is selected either from ready-made undressed leather backs of suitable length and width, or is made on the machine. The practice of pasting the backs at the edges only does not seem satisfactory, because on the one hand it does not give sufficient spring, and on the other the single sections easily work loose. For pasted backs, stout wrappers are taken, and the strips are cut so that each one slightly overlaps in width the one preceding. The glued and fitted strips are either pressed hot in the rounding press or put through a rolling machine built for the same purpose. The finished backs should be allowed to dry for a short time. Where there is no machine suitable for this work, the backs must be pasted into each other, beginning at the outside, and well rubbed down upon a board made with grooves of various dimensions. The older method of pasting the backing upon the book itself is still followed, although it does not produce the firm arch nor give such a good shape as the former method. When it must be done, the following is the way to proceed: The size is taken by laying a piece of paper across the back (taking in 1/2 cm. of the board on each side), and with the dividers this measure is marked out on a strip of wrapping paper, which must be the exact length of the board, but wide enough to project about a hand's width over each board. So that this should not have an unsightly appearance in the book, it is bevelled along each side.

Fig. 116--Suggestion for account book back. _K_--Pared edge; _T_--Part to be pasted.

According to the measurement marked by the dividers at top and bottom, a rule is laid from _a_ to _a_, and along this a sharp line is drawn with the folder, and the lappets projecting underneath the rule are bent upwards. At this line thus marked, the wrapper is folded over and creased with the folder. A second parallel line is made in the same way, about 6 to 7 mm. farther out, from _b_ to _b_. The back thus prepared is rounded in the middle part; a strip the size _a_ to _a_ might still be pasted in the centre. To fasten this to the book, both strips are glued with strong glue from _b_ to the edge, the back brought into position, glued, and pressed down. From this it will be seen that the back stretched across the book is not glued on from _a_ to _b_. A few more pieces of wrapping paper are still glued on to this first back to increase the strength of the arch; each one is measured separately after the one preceding it has been glued into its place, always measuring from _a_ to _a_.

Fig. 117--Suggestion for account book back.

Such backs do not adhere quite firmly, and it is advisable to insert another narrower glued strip, opening the book in the middle, of course, to do this. After inserting the back, the book is closed, and the back will now lie close and tight to the book. It is trimmed at top and bottom with a sharp knife and finished off with a rasp if necessary.

The heavy boards are hinged on to this back. They are cut to fit, and, beginning at the fold _b_, are placed so that the edge of the board stands a little away from the joint.

Fig. 118--Boarded account book.

Where it is possible to glue up hot, the back should be made in advance.

It is, however, essential that the spring back should be slightly over-rounded, that is to say, that its ends should first be pressed out so that they can be pushed on to the back; only thus can it be really effective, and must, moreover, be shaped to three-quarters of a circle.

An apparatus recently put on the market for glueing without heat, solely by wrapping up in drilling, is little better than a toy, which saves neither time nor material. The inventor can hardly be in the trade--certainly not a practical worker.

The prepared backs are fastened to the books as follows: Cut a strip of stout linen so that it projects a little at each end and 3 to 4 cm. at each side; glue the inside of the rounded back evenly, and then fasten in the linen strip so that it projects equally at ends and sides. At head and tail the ends are brought over on the outside, and the back thus made is forced on the book. Before doing so, a line should be drawn on the thin boards about 1-1/2 to 2 cm. from the joint, glue up to this line; the strip with the back would be drawn up at both sides and then pressed down. To make these backs lie closer, a strip of packing may similarly be inserted.

So then the same work is done here with the glued-up backs as in the old style with the packed spring backs; here the back is just hinged on cloth, there it is made from a piece of wrapper. The thick board is set on in the same way as in the other style of work, set off from the glued back about 1 to 1-1/2 cm. To fill up this s.p.a.ce, lay in each groove a piece of cord of suitable thickness which has been well pasted, rubbing in the paste quite smooth, and, after drying, paste over with stout paper.

Very thick books have a rather clumsy appearance with their many superimposed boards; this is improved by bevelling on all four sides the upper thick board.

To protect the book, leather bands are pasted on the back, also something to add strength is generally put on at head and tail, which is then covered with specially strong leather. For covering, linen, mole-skin; for heavy and extra work, pig-skin and cow-hide are used.

Leather is, of course, always pared down, thoroughly coated with paste, well stretched over, and well rubbed down in all hollows at the joints, bands, &c.--side panels are also let in--and turned in. Where the back disappears under the thick board, the turn-in is cut in almost up to the edge at _b_ with sharp scissors; if it were cut right to the edge it would be visible, which must be avoided. For turning-in at the head, it is obvious that the book must lie open as in the ill.u.s.tration.

Fig. 119--To show where turn-in is to be cut.

The corners of account books must always be rounded. Metal corners on account books are clumsy, damage the writing desks and other books coming into contact with them, and even when using the best mill-boards it is impossible to fix them so firmly that they will not work loose in the course of time. In their stead, leather corners and guards may be fixed, which are frequently tastefully finished in blind or gold.

Fig. 120--Hand numbering machine.

All books for office use are either folioed or paged, _i.e._, either each page or each sheet gets a consecutive number in order to facilitate reference from the index. This may be done either by the hand numbering machine or by the larger machine worked with a treadle. In both cases the figures succeed each other automatically whilst printing.

It is always advisable to do this work before binding, as it is then easier and, besides, there is less chance of the fresh ink smudging when each single sheet of the sections is pushed up.

The manipulation of this apparatus is so simple that further explanation seems superfluous.

Where bound books have to be paged, small pieces of blotting-paper must be laid between the sheets to prevent smudging.

The manufacture of guard books for bills, letters, &c., comes into the same department as the making of account books. Guards are cut 4 cm.

wide and folded in sixes along the middle, and sewn with strong thread, end to end, upon a strip of linen stretched upon a piece of wrapper to which bands have been pasted to further strengthen. The sections are sewn together at intervals of about 2 cm., so as to allow room for the papers that are to be pasted in.

The stiff back with the sewn-on guards is now pasted into a cover, which is made with a back measurement as seen in the ill.u.s.tration. An insertion for the back is not cut for this purpose, but the two boards are hinged together with a strip of stiff paper somewhat wider than the back. The book is then provided with a linen or mole-skin back and corners, covered with paper, and, after the guarded back has been pasted in, is lined with paper. If it is intended to gum the guards, the gumming should be attended to before the sewing. The guards are fanned up slightly and brushed with gum-dextrine, to which a little sugar and a few drops of glycerine have been added, so that when dry the gum should not be too brittle.

Fig. 121--Suggestion for back of guard book.

For all such work a thumb index is generally required; each page takes one or more letters, or a specification is given, according to which the binder counts off the number of pages required for each letter--X and Y being here excluded. Nowadays, the indices are cut with index shears, which not only regulates the depth of the index but also avoids the acute angles which are so easily torn in.

Commence cutting from the back, that is, with the Z; this, being the last letter, is not cut out. Then count off W, cut with the shears, and cut off what remains below to the bottom edge with a sharp knife, to do which a narrow thin board is slipped underneath. The further you proceed towards A, the longer is the strip which has to be cut out with the knife.

When the excisions for the whole alphabet have been made, the letters are pasted on. These are sold ready printed, and nowadays are almost always in one piece for back and front.

The printed sheet with the alphabet is glued or gummed on the back, and, after drying, the alphabet is creased lengthwise and either cut so or punched out with a suitable tool. The single letters are damped and stuck in position.

One might also insert a strip of zinc after the cutting in of the letters and cut the length at once.

Cheaper kinds of account books for temporary use are often made with fixed backs; the packing is simply omitted, but the head and tail are pasted a little to make the turn-over hold better. No matter whether the cover be of leather or cloth, paste must be used, as this ensures the back adhering strongly to the book. Such a method of binding can be recommended for music.

Portfolios for drawings, &c., are often required; the boards are hinged together with paper as previously described for guard books, the inside of the back lined with cloth, and the outside covered with leather or cloth. The turn-in is pasted over the lined back.

Fig. 122--Pattern for dust flaps. (Leinwand = Linen hinge.)

If books are to be made so that they can be fastened, slits must either be made with a chisel, through which the tape ends are drawn from the outside to the inside and there pasted down, or else small round eyelet holes are made, and then proceed as before.

Dust-proof flaps are hinged on to three sides of a thin board with strips of linen in the following style, and lined and covered separately. The body itself is likewise made of thin board. (See Fig.

122.)

The whole arrangement is pasted on to the back board of the portfolio.