Fig. 48.Fig. 48.
Fig. 48.
Fig. 49.Fig. 49.
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 truththey 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 (seefig. 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 punched from the back about half an inch from the first. If the groove of the back is shallower than the thickness of the board, the top back edge of the board should be bevelled off with a file. This will not be necessary if the groove is the exact depth. When the holes have been punched, it is well to cut a series of V-shaped depressions from the first series of holes to the back to receivethe slips, or they may be too prominent when the book is bound. It will now be necessary to considerably reduce the slips that were frayed out after sewing, and to remove all glue or any other matter attached to them. The extent to which they may be reduced is a matter of nice judgment. In the desire to ensure absolute neatness in the covering, modern binders often reduce the slips to almost nothing. On the other hand, some go to the other extreme, and leave the cord entire, making great ridges on the sides of the book where it is laced in. It should be possible with the aid of the depressions, cut as described, to use slips with sufficient margin of strength, and yet to have no undue projection on the cover. A slight projection is not unsightly, as it gives an assurance of sound construction and strength, and, moreover, makes an excellent starting-point for any pattern that may be used. When the slips have been scraped and reduced, the portion left should consist of long straight silky fibres. These must be well pasted, and the ends very slightly twisted. The pointed ends are then threaded through the first series of holes in the front of the board, andback again through the second (fig. 50). In lacing-in the slips must not be pulled so tight as to prevent the board from shutting freely, nor left so loose as to make a perceptible interval in the joint of the book. The pasted slips having been laced in, their ends are cut off with a sharp knife, flush with the surface of the board. The laced-in slips are then well hammered on a knocking-down iron (seefig. 51), first from the front and then from the back, care being taken that the hammer face should fall squarely, or the slips may be cut. This should rivet them into the board, leaving little or no projection.If in lacing in the fibres should get twisted, no amount of hammering will make them flat, so that it is important in pointing the ends for lacing in, that only the points are twisted just sufficiently to facilitate the threading through the holes, and not enough to twist the whole slip.
Fig. 50.Fig. 50.
Fig. 50.
Fig. 51.Fig. 51.
Fig. 51.
To lace slips into wooden boards, holes are made with a brace and fine twist bit, and the ends of the frayed out slips may be secured with a wooden plug (seefig. 52).
Old books were sometimes sewn onbands of leather, but as those sewn on cord seem to have lasted on the whole much better, and as, moreover, modern cord is a far more trustworthy material than modern leather, it is better to use cord for any books bound now.
Fig. 52.Fig. 52.
Fig. 52.
Fig. 53.Fig. 53.
Fig. 53.
When the boards have been laced on and the slips hammered down, the book should be pressed. Before pressing, a tin is put on each side of both boards, one being pushed right up into the joint on the inside, and the other up to the joint, or a little over it, on the outside. While in the press, the back should be covered with paste and left to soak for a few minutes. When the glue is soft the surplus on the surface can be scraped off with a piece of wood shaped as shown infig. 53. For important books it is best to do this in the lying press, but some binders prefer first to build up the books in the standing press, and then to paste the backs and clean them off there. This has the advantage of being a quicker method, and will, in many cases, answer quite well. But for books that require nice adjustment it will be found better to clean off each volume separately in the lying press, and afterwards to build up the books andboards in the standing press, putting the larger books at the bottom. It must be seen that the entire pile is exactly in the centre under the screw, or the pressure will be uneven. To ascertain if the books are built up truly, the pile must be examined from both the front and side of the press. Each volume must also be looked at carefully to see that it lies evenly, and that the back is not twisted or out of shape. This is important, as any form given to the book when it is pressed at this stage will be permanent.
Any coloured or newly printed plates will need tissues, as in the former pressing; and any folded plates or diagrams or inserted letters will need a thin tin on each side of them to prevent them from marking the book.
Again, the pressure on hand-printed books must not be excessive.
The books should be left in the press at least a night. When taken out they will be ready for headbanding, unless the edges are to be cut in boards.
Cutting in Boards—Gilding and Colouring Edges
Theknife for cutting edges may be ground more acutely than for cutting boards, and should be very sharp, or the paper may be torn. The plough knife should never be ground on the under side, as if the under side is not quite flat, it will tend to run up instead of cutting straight across. Before beginning to cut edges, the position of the knife should be tested carefully by screwing the plough up, with the press a little open, and noting whereabouts on the left-hand cheek the point of the knife comes. In a press that is true the knife should just clear the edge of the press. If there is too much packing the knife will cut below the edge of the press, and if too little, it will cut above.
“Packing” is paper inserted between the knife and the metal plate on the plough, to correct the position of the knife. When by experiment the exact thickness of paper necessary for any givenknife is found, the packing should be carefully kept when the knife is taken out for grinding, and put back with it into the plough.
The first edge to be cut is the top, and the first thing to do is to place the boards in the position they will hold when the book is bound. The front board is then dropped the depth of the square required, care being taken that the back edge of the board remains evenly in the joint. A piece of cardboard, or two or three thicknesses of paper, are then slipped in between the end paper and the back board to prevent the latter from being cut by the knife. The book is then carefully lowered into the press, with the back towards the workman, until the top edge of the front board is exactly even with the right-hand cheek, and the press screwed up evenly. The back board should show the depth of the square above the left-hand cheek. It is very important that the edge of the back board should be exactly parallel with the press, and if at first it is not so, the book must be twisted until it is right.
The edges can now be cut with the plough as in cutting mill-boards. The tail of the book is cut in the same way,still keeping the back of the book towards the workman, but cutting from the back board.
Fig. 54.Fig. 54.
Fig. 54.
Fig. 55.Fig. 55.
Fig. 55.
Cutting the fore-edge is more difficult. The waste sheets at each end of the book should be cut off flush with the edge of the board, and marks made on them below the edge showing the amount of the square, and consequently how much is to be cut off. The curve of the back, and consequent curve of the fore-edge, must first be got rid of, by inserting a pair of pieces of flat steel called “trindles” (fig. 54) across the back, from the inside of the boards. When these are inserted the back must be knocked quite flat, and, in the case of a heavy book, a piece of tape may be tied round the leaves (seefig. 55) to keep them in position. A pair of cutting boards is placed one on each side of the leaves, the back one exactly up to the point that the edge of the board came to, and the front one as much below that point as it is desired the square of the fore-edge shouldbe. The trindles are removed while the book is held firmly between the cutting boards by the finger and thumb; book and boards are then lowered very carefully into the press. The top edge of the front cutting board should be flush with the right-hand cheek of the press, and that of the back a square above the left-hand cheek (seefig. 56). A further test is to look along the surface of the right-hand cheek, when, if the book has been inserted truly, the amount of the back cutting board in sight should exactly correspond with the amount of the paper to be cut showing above the front board. It will also be necessary before cutting to look at the back, and to see that it has remained flat. If it has gone back to its old curve, or the book has been put into the press crookedly, it must be taken right out again and thetrindles inserted afresh, as it is usually a waste of time to try to adjust the book when it is in the press. The leaves are cut in the same way as those of the head and tail.
Fig. 56.Fig. 56.
Fig. 56.
Gilding the edges of a book cut in boards is much the same process as that described for the trimmed book, excepting that when gilt in boards the edges can be scraped and slightly sand-papered. It is the custom to admire a perfectly solid gilt edge, looking more like a solid sheet of metal, than the leaves of a book. As the essential characteristic of a book is, that it is composed of leaves, this fact is better accepted and emphasised by leaving the edges a little rough, so that even when gilt they are evidently the edges of leaves of paper, and not the sides of a block, or of something solid.
To gild the edges of a cut book the boards should be turned back, and cutting boards put on each side of the book flush with the edge to be gilt. For the fore-edge the book must be thrown up with trindles first, unless it is desired to gild in the round, a process which gives the objectionable solid metallic edge.
After the edges have been gilt they may be decorated by tooling, called “gauffering.”
This may be done, either by tooling with hot tools directly on the gold while the leaves are screwed up tightly in the press, or by laying another coloured gold on the top of the first and tooling over that, leaving the pattern in the new gold on the original colour. But, to my mind, edges are best left undecorated, except for plain gold or colour.
If the edges are to be coloured, they should be slightly scraped, and the colour put on with a sponge, commencing with the fore-edge, which should be slightly fanned out, and held firmly, by placing a pressing-board above it, and pressing with the hand on this. The colour must be put on very thinly, commencing from the centre of the fore-edge and working to either end, and as many coats put on as are necessary to get the depth of colour required. The head and tail are treated in the same way, excepting that they cannot be fanned out, and the colour should be applied from the back to the fore-edge. If in the fore-edge an attempt is made to colour from one end to the other, and if in the head or tail from the fore-edge to the back, the result will almost certainly be that the sponge will leave a thickdeposit of colour round the corner from which it starts.
For colouring edges almost any stain will answer, or ordinary water-colours may be used if moistened with size.
When the colour is dry the edge should be lightly rubbed over with a little beeswax, and burnished with a tooth burnisher (seefig. 57).
Fig. 57.Fig. 57.
Fig. 57.
In addition to plain colour and gilding, the edges of a book may be decorated in a variety of ways. The fore-edge may be fanned out and painted in any device in water-colour and afterwards gilded; the painting will only show when the book is open. The fore-edge for this must be cut very solid, and if the paper is at all absorbent, must be sized with vellum size before being painted. The paints used must be simple water-colour, and the edge must not be touched with the hand before gilding, as if there is any grease or finger-mark on it, the gold will not stick evenly. Painting on the fore-edge should only be attempted when the paper of the book is thin and of good quality. More common methods of decorating edges are by marbling and sprinkling, but they are bothinferior to plain colouring. Some pleasant effects are sometimes obtained by marbling edges and then gilding over the marbling.
Headbanding
Modernheadbands are small pieces of vellum, gut, or cord sewn on to the head and tail of a book with silk or thread. They resist the strain on the book when it is taken from the shelf. The vellum slip or cord must be of such a depth, that when covered with silk it will be slightly lower than the square of the boards. The cut edge of the vellum always slants, and the slip must be placed in position so that it tilts back rather than forward on the book.
To start, ease the boards slightly on the slips and pull them down with the top edges flush with the top edge of the leaves. If this is not done the silk catches on the projecting edges as the band is worked. Stand the book in a finishingpress, fore-edge to the worker, and tilted forward so as to give a good view of the headband as it is worked. The light must come from the left, and well on to the work. A needle threaded with silk is put in at the head of the book, and through the centre of the first section after the end papers, and drawn out at the back below the kettle stitch with about two-thirds of the silk. The needle is again inserted in the same place, and drawn through until a loop of silk is left. The vellum slip is placed in the loop, with the end projecting slightly to the left. It must be held steady by a needle placed vertically behind it, with its point between the leaves of the first section. The needle end of silk is then behind the headband, and the shorter end in front. The needle end is brought over from the back with the right hand, passed into the left hand, and held taut. The short end is picked up with the right hand, brought over the needle end under the vellum, and pulled tight from the back. This is repeated; the back thread is again drawn up and over the band to the front, the needle end crosses it, and is drawn behind under the vellum slip, and so on. The crossing ofthe threads form a “bead,” which must be watched, and kept as tight as possible, and well down on the leaves of the book. Whenever the vellum or string begins to shift in position, it must be tied down. This is done when the needle end of silk is at the back. A finger of the left hand is placed on the thread of silk at the back, and holds it firmly just below the slip. The needle end is then brought up and over the slip, but instead of crossing it with the front thread, the needle is passed between the leaves and out at the back of the book, below the kettle stitch, and the thread gradually drawn tight, and from under the left-hand finger. The loop so made will hold the band firmly, and the silk can then be brought up and over the slip and crossed in the usual way. The band should be worked as far as the end papers, and should be finished with a double “tie down,” after which the front thread is drawn under the slip to the back. Both the ends of silk are then cut off to about half an inch, frayed out, and pasted down as flatly as possible on the back of the book.
The band should be tied down frequently. It is not too much to tie downevery third time the needle end of the silk comes to the back. To make good headbands the pull on the silk must be even throughout.
When the ends of the silk are pasted down, the ends of the vellum slip are cut off as near the silk as possible. The correct length of the headband is best judged by pressing the boards together with thumb and finger at the opposite ends of the band, so as to compress the sections into their final compass. If the band then buckles in the least, it is too long and must be shortened.
The mediæval headbands were sewn with the other bands (seefig. 32), and were very strong, as they were tied down at every section. Modern worked headbands, although not so strong, are, if frequently tied down, strong enough to resist any reasonable strain. There are many other ways of headbanding, but if the one described is mastered, the various other patterns will suggest themselves if variety is needed. For very large books a double headband may be worked on two pieces of gut or string—a thick piece with a thin piece in front. The string should first be soaked in thin glue and left todry. Such a band is worked with a figure of eight stitch. Headbands may also be worked with two or three shades of silk. As vellum is apt to get hard and to break when it is used for headbanding, it is well to paste two pieces together with linen in between, and to cut into strips as required.
Machine-made headbands can be bought by the yard. Such bands are merely glued on, but as they have but little strength, should not be used.
Where leather joints are used, the headbands may be worked on pieces of soft leather sized and screwed up. If the ends are left long and tied in front while the book is being covered, they may be conveniently let into grooves in the boards before the leather joint is pasted down. This method, I think, has little constructive value, but it certainly avoids the rather unfinished look of the cut-off headband.
Preparing for Covering—Paring Leather—Covering—Mitring Corners—Filling-in Boards
Afterthe headband is worked, a piece of brown or other stout paper should be well glued on at the head and tail, care being taken that it is firmly attached to the back and the headband. When dry, the part projecting above the headband is neatly cut off, and the part on the back well sand-papered, to remove any irregularity caused by the tie-downs attaching the headband. For most books this will be quite sufficient lining up, but very heavy books are best further lined up between the bands with linen, or thin leather. This can be put on by pasting the linen or leather and giving the back a very thin coat of glue.
Fig. 58.Fig. 58.
Fig. 58.
The only thing now left to do before covering will be to set the squares and to cut off a small piece of the back corner of each board at the head and tail, to make it possible for the boards to open andshut without dragging the head-cap out of place. The form of the little piece to be cut off varies with each individual binder, but I have found for an octavo book that a cut slightly sloping from the inside cutting off the corner about an eighth of an inch each way, gives the best result (seefig. 58). When the corner has been cut off, the boards should be thrown back, and the slips between the book and the board well pasted. When these have soaked a little, the squares of the boards are set; that is, the boards are fixed so that exactly the same square shows on each board above head and tail. A little larger square is sometimes an advantage at the tail to keep the head-cap well off the shelf, the essential thing being that both head and both tail squares should be the same. In the case of an old book that has not been recut, the edges will often be found to be uneven. In such cases the boards must be made square, and so set that the book stands up straight.
When the slips have been pasted and the squares set, tins can be put inside and outside the boards, and the book given aslight nip in the press to flatten the slips. Only a comparatively light pressure should be given, or the lining up of the headbands or back will become cockled and detached.
While the slips are being set in the press the cover can be got out. Judgment is necessary in cutting out covers. One workman will be able, by careful cutting, to get six covers out of a skin where another will only get four. The firm part of the skin is the back and sides, and this only should be used for the best books. The fleshy parts on the flanks and belly will not wear sufficiently well to be suitable for good bookbinding.
The skin should be cut out leaving about an inch all round for turning in when the book is covered, and when cut out it must be pared. If the leather is of European manufacture most of the paring will have been done before it is sold, and the leather manufacturer will have shaved it to any thickness required. This is a convenience that is partly responsible for the unduly thin leather that iscommonly used. The better plan is to get the leather rather thick, and for the binder to pare it down where necessary. For small books it is essential, in order that the covers may open freely, and the boards not look clumsy, that the leather should be very thin at the joint and round the edges of the boards. For such books it is very important that a small, naturally thin skin should be used that will not have to be unduly pared down, and that the large and thicker skins should be kept for large books.
Binders like using large skins because there is much less waste, but if these skins are used for small books, so much of the leather substance has to be pared away, that only the comparatively brittle grained surface remains. By the modern process of dyeing this surface is often to some extent injured, and its strength sometimes totally destroyed.
When the cover has been cut to size the book is laid on it with the boards open, and a pencil line drawn round them, a mark being made to show where the back comes. The skin is then pared, making it thin where the edge of the boards will come. Great care must be taken that thethinning does not commence too abruptly, or a ridge will be apparent when the leather is on the book.
The paring must be done quite smoothly and evenly. Every unevenness shows when the cover is polished and pressed. Care is needed in estimating the amount that will have to be pared off that part of the leather that covers the back and joints. The object of the binder should be to leave these portions as thick as he can consistently with the free opening of the boards. The leather at the head-caps must be pared quite thin, as the double thickness on the top of the headband is apt to make this part project above the edges of the board. This is a great trouble, especially at the tail, where, if the head-cap projects beyond the boards, the whole weight of the book rests on it, and it is certain to be rubbed off when the book is put on the shelf.
Fig. 59.Fig. 59.
Fig. 59.
The method of paring with a French knife (fig. 60, A)—the only form of knifein use by binders that gives sufficient control over the leather—is shown atfig. 59. To use this knife properly, practice is required. The main thing to learn is that the knife must be used quite flat, and made to cut by having a very slight burron the under side. This burr is got by rubbing the knife on the lithographic stone on which the paring is done. The handle of the knife should never be raised to such a height above the surface of the stone that it is possible to get the under fingers of the right hand over the edge of the stone. Another form of knife suitable for paring the edges of leather is shown atfig. 60, B.
Fig. 60.Fig. 60.
Fig. 60.
To test if the leather has been sufficiently pared, fold it over where the edge of the board will come, and run the finger along the folded leather. If the paring has been done properly it will feel quite even the whole length of the fold; but if there are any irregularities, they will be very apparent, and the paring must be gone over again till they have disappeared.When even, the book must be again laid on the leather with the boards open, and a pencil line drawn round as before. If there are leather joints they will have been pared before the book was sewn, and care must be taken in paring the turn-in of the cover that it is of the same thickness as the leather joint, or it will be impossible to make a neat mitre at the back corners.
Before covering, the book must be looked at to see that the bands are quite square and at equal distances apart. Any slight errors in this respect can be corrected by holding the book in the lying press between backing boards and gently tapping the bands from one side or the other with a piece of wood struck with a hammer. This is best done when the back is cleaned off, but by damping the bands slightly it may be done just before covering. The squares must be looked to, and the edges of the board well rubbed with a folder, or tapped with a hammer, to remove any burr that may have been caused by the plough knife, or any chanceblow. The back is then moistened with paste, or, in the case of a very large book, with thin glue, and left to soak. The cover can then be well pasted with thickish paste, that has been previously well beaten up. When the cover is pasted, it can be folded with the pasted sides together and left to soak for a few minutes while the back is again looked to, and any roughness smoothed down with the folder. Before covering, the bands should be nipped up with band nippers (seefig. 61) to make sure that they are sharp. The coverer should have ready before covering a clean paring stone, one or two folders, a pair of nickeled-band nippers, a clean sponge, a little water in a saucer, a piece of thread, and a strip of smooth wood (boxwood for preference), called a band stick, used for smoothing the leather between the bands, a pair of scissors, and a small sharp knife, a pair of waterproof sheets the size of the book, and, if thebook is a large one, a pair of tying up boards, with tying up string, and two strips of wood covered in blotting-paper or leather. It is best to have the band nippers for covering nickeled to prevent the iron from staining the leather. The waterproof sheets recommended are thin sheets of celluloid, such as are used by photographers.
Fig. 61.Fig. 61.
Fig. 61.
When these things are ready, the pasted cover should be examined and repasted if it has dried in any place. The amount of paste to be used for covering can only be learned by experience. A thick leather will take more than a thin one, but, provided the cover sticks tight at every point, the less paste used the better. If there is too much, it will rub up and make very ugly, uneven places under the leather; and if there is too little, the cover will not stick.
Fig. 62.Fig. 62.
Fig. 62.
Take the pasted cover and look to see which is the better side of the leather. Lay the front of the book down on this exactly up to the marks that show the beginning of the turn-in. Then draw the leather over the back and on to the other side, pulling it slightly, but not dragging it. Then stand the book onits fore-edge on a piece of waste paper, with the leather turned out on either side, as shown atfig. 62, and nip up the bands with nickeled band nippers (seefig. 63). After this is done there will probably be a good deal of loose leather on the back. This can be got rid of by dragging the leather on to the side; but by far the better plan, when the back is large enough to allow it, is to work up the surplus leather on to the back between the panels. This requires a good deal of practice, and is very seldom done; but it can be done with most satisfactory results. The book should now have the leather on the backstretched lengthways to make it cover the bands, but not stretched the other way, and the leather on the boards should lie perfectly flat and not be stretched at all. The leather on the fore-edge of the board is then rubbed with the hand on the outside, and then on to the edge, and then on the inside. The edge and the inside are smoothed down with a folder, and any excessive paste on theinside squeezed out and removed. When the fore-edge of both boards has been turned in, the head and tail must also be turned in. A little paste is put on to that part of the leather that will turn in below the headband, and this portion is neatly tucked in between the boards and the back. The turned-in edge must lie quite evenly, or it will result in a ridge on the back. The leather is turned in on the two boards in the same way as described for the fore-edge, and the edge rubbed square with a folder. Atfig. 64is shown a convenient form of folder for covering. At the corners the leather must be pulled over as far as possible with two folders meeting at the extreme point, the object being to avoid a cut in the leather at the corner of the board. The folds so formed must be cut off with the scissors (seefig. 65, A), then one edge tucked neatly under the other, (B). Care must be taken throughout not to soil the edges of the leaves.
Fig. 63.Fig. 63.
Fig. 63.
Fig. 64.Fig. 64.
At the headband the fold of leather,pared thin for the purpose, must be squeezed together with a folder and pulled out a little to leave an even projection that can be turned over to form a head-cap. When both ends have been turned in, in this way, the boards must each be opened and pressed against a straight-edge held in the joint (fig. 66) to ensure that there is enough leather in the turn-in of the joint to allow the cover to open freely; and the leather of the turn-in at the head and tail mustbe carefully smoothed down with a folder.
Fig. 65.Fig. 65.
Fig. 65.
Fig. 66.Fig. 66.
Fig. 66.
Fig. 67.Fig. 67.
Fig. 67.
The book may now be shut up if a waterproof sheet is put at each end to prevent the damp of the cover from cockling the paper. It must then be stood on its fore-edge and the bands again nipped up with a pair of nickeled band nippers, and the panels between the bands well pressed down with the band stick to cause the leather to stick at every point. A piece of thread is tied round the back from head to tail, squeezing the leather in the gap caused by the corners of the board having been cut off. The book is then turned up on end, resting the tail on a folder or anything that will keep the projecting leather for the head-cap from being prematurely flattened. The head-caps (fig. 67) must now be set. To do this the first finger of the left hand is placed behind it, and a sharp folder is pressed into the corners of the head-cap between the headband and the thread. The leatheris then tapped over the headband, and the whole turned over on the stone and rubbed at the back with a folder. This operation requires great nicety. The shape of head-cap is shown atfig. 67. The nice adjustment of head-caps and corners, although of no constructional value, are the points by which the forwarding of a book is generally valued.
Fig. 68.Fig. 68.
Fig. 68.
If the book is a large one, it will be best to tie it up. The method of tying up is shown infig. 68. The tying up cords will make marks at the side of the bands, that are not unpleasant on a largebook. If they are objected to, it is best to tie the book up for about half-an-hour, and then to untie it, and smooth out the marks with the band stick. Even with small books, if the leather seems inclined to give trouble, it is well to tie them up for a short time, then to untie them, to smooth out any marks or inequalities, and to tie them up again.
A book that has been covered should be left under a light weight until the next day, with waterproof sheets between the damp cover and the end paper to prevent the sheets of the book from cockling through the damp. When the cover is thoroughly set the boards should be carefully opened, pressing them slightly to the joint to ensure a square and even joint. If, as is sometimes the case, the turn-in of the leather over the joint seems to be inclined to bind, the cover should be merely opened half-way, and the leather of the turns-in of the joint damped with a sponge, and left to soak for a short time, and then the cover canusually be opened without any dragging. A section of a good joint is shown atfig. 69, A, and a bad one at B.
Fig. 69.Fig. 69.
Fig. 69.
Fig. 70.Fig. 70.
Fig. 70.
The next operation will be to fill in the board and mitre the corners. To fill in the boards, a piece of paper as thick as the turn-in of the leather (engineer’s cartridge paper answers very well) should be cut a little smaller than the board, with one edge cut straight; then with the straight edge adjusted to the back of the board, and a weight placed on the centre, the paper is marked round with dividers set to the intended width of the turn-in of the leather. Then with a sharp knife, paper and leather may be cut through together. The paper should then be marked to show its position on the board, and the ragged edges of the leather trimmed off. This will leave an even margin of leather on three sides of the inside of the board, and a piece of paper that will exactly fit the remaining space. The corners must next be mitred.To do this, both thicknesses of leather are cut through from the corner of the board to the corner of the inside margin. The knife should be held slightly slanting to make a cut, as shown atfig. 70. The corners should then be thoroughly damped, and the overlapping leather from both sides removed, leaving what should be a neat and straight join. If the leather at the extreme corner should prove to be, as is often the case, too thick to turn in neatly, the corners should be opened out and the leather pared against the thumb nail, and then well pasted and turned back again. The extreme corner may be slightly tapped on the stone with a hammer, and the sides rubbed with a folder, to ensure squareness and sharpness. When all four corners have been mitred, the filling in papers can be pasted in. As they will probably stretch a little with the paste, it will be well to cut off a slight shaving, and they should then fit exactly. When the boards have been filled in and well rubbeddown, the book should be left for some hours with the boards standing open to enable the filling-in papers to draw the boards slightly inwards to overcome the pull of the leather.
In cases where there are leather joints the operation is as follows: The waste end paper is removed, and the edge of the board and joint carefully cleaned from glue and all irregularities, and if, as is most likely, it is curved from the pull of the leather, the board must be tapped or ironed down until it is perfectly straight. If there is difficulty in making the board lie straight along the joint before pasting down, it will be well first to fill in with a well pasted and stretched thin paper, which, if the boards are left open, will draw them inwards. If the leather joint is pasted down while the board is curved, the result will be a most unsightly projection on the outside. When the joint has been cleaned out, and the board made to lie flat, the leather should be pasted down and mitred. The whole depth of the turn-in of the covering leather in the joint must not be removed, or it will be unduly weakened. The mitring line should not come from the extreme corner,but rather farther down, and there it is well to leave a certain amount of overlap in the joint, for which purpose the edge of the turn-in leather and the edge of the leather joint should be pared thin. After pasting down the leather joints the boards should be left open till they are dry (seefig. 71). The turn-in and leather joint are then trimmed out, leaving an even margin of leather all round the inside of theboard, and the panel in the centre filled in with a piece of thick paper.