Binding on raised cords

List of Materials

• 20 sheets of calligraphic-quality paper (preferably high rag content, acid-free), each about 7.5" X 9"
• 2 rigid boards (4-ply art board, aircraft plywood, etc.), each 8" X 4.5"
• About 36" of pure silk thread
• 1 tapestry needle, #20
• 3 pieces of twined cotton cord, each about 4"
• Good quality craft/tanner's glue and applicator
• A medium diameter round artist's brush (#7 or so)
• Sufficient bookbinding leather (or thin garment leather) for 2 leather joints and whatever leather you wish to incorporate into the covering
• A sharply pointed probe or large diameter needle
• 2 sheets of heavy stock paper, each about 7.5" X 9", for endpapers
• Absorbent cotton adhesive tape (not waterproof)
• Small, sharp scissors (curved blade works best)
• Sharp X-acto knife or scalpel
• Very sharp, wide blade for shaving pages (optional)

You might also desire access to a sewing frame, and you will need either a book press or some heavy weights for pressing the book during various stages of the procedure.

If you are binding the book in cloth or half-leather, you will need sufficient color-fast cloth or velvet for the method being used. If you are binding in half-leather, you might also want some strips of ribbon to hide the boundary between the cloth and leather; this is difficult to do neatly otherwise.

If you wish to put straps and clasps on the book, you will need strips of slightly heavier leather and the appropriate metal (brass) fittings.

I. Collating

The book you will be making is a blank book (if you wish to bind a pre-written text, see the appendix on layout), approximately 8" X 4.5", in 5 sections of 4 sheets each, bound on 3 raised cords.

Sort your sheets into 5 groups of four. Align each group as precisely as possible and carefully fold all four sheets at once, making certain that the fold is perfectly straight and centered. Each of the sheets now has two sets of folio pages, one on each side of the fold. The right-hand page in a set is called the recto page (Latin recto, ablative form of rectus, participle of regere, to guide, administer, or rule. The recto page is then the proper, or 'right' page; i.e., the one found on the right). The left-hand page is called the verso page (Latin vertere, to turn: The recto page must be turned in order to get to the verso page). In modern books, recto pages have odd numbers, verso pages, even.

II. Sewing

The sheets within a section should be carefully aligned and 8 holes punched through the folds using the following spacings (starting from the bottom): 0.5", 1", 1.5", 3.75", 4.25", 6.5", 7", and 7.5". The position of each hole should be marked with light pencil on both the inside and outside of the fold; care should be taken that each hole is made exactly through the fold. so that the sections align correctly with one another.

Thread a tapestry needle with a 36" length of silk thread and insert through the bottom hole from the outside of the fold. The opposite end of the thread should be tied into a very small loop, to facilitate later stitching. Loop the thread in and out of the six middle holes, bringing it over a 4" piece of the cotton cord positioned perpendicularly to the fold on each outside pass. Bring the thread out of the top hole, then at right angles to the fold into the top hole of the next section. Repeat the above procedure, except that the two sections should be connected (at the bottom) with a kettle stitch (Fig. 1). The first kettle stitch passes through the loop at the end of the thread; all subsequent ones pass through the segment connecting the previous two sections. Repeat this procedure until all sections have been similarly attached. Knot the final kettle stitch to itself, as shown

III. Shaving

(Fig. 2)
The sections should be aligned with a straight edge along the folds, then clamped tightly in the press. The edges of the pages should then be shaved, carefully, using a very sharp, wide blade. This procedure adds to the professional look of the finished book, but is necessary only if you wish to gild the edges (not covered in this article; write me if you want to know how).

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16