Decoration--Tools--Finishing--Tooling on
Vellum--Inlaying on Leather
DECORATION OF BINDING--TOOLS
The most usual, and perhaps the most characteristic, way of decorating
book covers is by "tooling." Tooling is the impression of heated
(finishing) tools. Finishing tools are stamps of metal that have a
device cut on the face, and are held in wooden handles (fig. 79).
[Illustration: FIG. 79.]
Tooling may either be blind tooling, that is, a simple impression of
the hot tools, or gold tooling, in which the impression of the tool is
left in gold on the leather.
Tools for blind tooling are best "die-sunk," that is, cut like a seal.
The "sunk" part of the face of the tool, which may be more or less
modelled, forms the pattern, and the higher part depresses the
leather to form a ground. In tools for gold tooling, the surface of
the tool gives the pattern.
Tools may be either complex or simple in design, that is to say, each
tool may form a complete design with enclosing border, as the lower
ones on page 323, or it may be only one element of a design, as at
fig. 100. Lines may be run with a fillet (see fig. 88), or made with
gouges or pallets.
Gouges are curved line tools. They are made in sets of arcs of
concentric circles (see fig. 80, A). The portion of the curves cut off
by the dotted line C will make a second set with flatter curves.
Gouges are used for tooling curved lines.
[Illustration: FIG. 80.]
A "pallet" may be described as a segment of a roll or fillet set in a
handle, and used chiefly for putting lines or other ornaments across
the backs of books (see fig. 81). A set of one-line pallets is shown
at fig. 80, B.
Fillets are cut with two or more lines on the edge. Although the use
of double-line fillets saves time, I have found that a few single-line
fillets with edges of different gauges are sufficient for running all
straight lines, and that the advantage of being able to alter the
distances between any parallel lines is ample compensation for the
extra trouble involved by their use. In addition to the rigid stamps,
an endless pattern for either blind or gold tooling may be engraved on
the circumference of a roll, and impressed on the leather by wheeling.
[Illustration: FIG. 81.]
The use of a roll in finishing dates from the end of the fifteenth
century, and some satisfactory bindings were decorated with its aid.
The ease with which it can be used has led in modern times to its
abuse, and I hardly know of a single instance of a modern binding on
which rolls have been used for the decoration with satisfactory
results. The gain in time and trouble is at the expense of freedom and
life in the design; and for extra binding it is better to build up a
pattern out of small tools of simple design, which can be arranged in
endless variety, than to use rolls.
Tools for hand-tooling must not be too large, or it will be impossible
to obtain clear impressions. One inch square for blind tools, or
three-quarters of an inch for gold tools, is about the maximum size
for use with any certainty and comfort. Tools much larger than this
have to be worked with the aid of a press, and are called blocks.
FINISHING
The first thing the finisher does to a book is to go over the back
with a polisher and smooth out any irregularities.
Two forms of polisher are shown at fig. 82. The lower one is suitable
for polishing backs and inside margins, and the upper for sides.
Polishers must be used warm, but not too hot, or the leather may be
scorched, and they must be kept moving on the leather. Before using
they should be rubbed bright on a piece of the finest emery paper, and
polished on a piece of leather. New polishers often have sharp edges
that would mark the leather. These must be rubbed down with files and
emery-paper.
Leathers with a prominent grained surface, such as morocco, seal or
pig skin, may either have the grain rough or crushed flat. If there is
to be much finishing, the grain had better be crushed, but for large
books that are to have only a small amount of finishing, the grain is
best left unflattened.
[Illustration: FIG. 82.]
If the grain of the leather is to be "crushed," it may be done at this
stage. To do this, one board at a time is damped with a sponge and put
in the standing-press, with a pressing plate on the grained side, and
a pad of blotting-paper, or some such yielding substance, on the other
(see fig. 83). The press is then screwed up tight, and the board left
for a short time. For some leathers this operation is best done after
the binding has been finished and varnished, in which case, of course,
the boards cannot be damped before pressing. No flexibly sewn book
should be subject to great pressure after it has been covered, or the
leather on the back may crinkle up and become detached.
The next thing will be to decide what lettering and what decoration,
if any, is to be put on the volume. The lettering should be made out
first (see page 215). If the book is to be at all elaborately
decorated, paper patterns must be made out, as described in Chapter
XVI.
[Illustration: FIG. 83.]
For tooling the back, the book is held in the finishing press between
a pair of backing boards lined with leather (see fig. 84), and the
paper pattern put across the back, with the ends either slightly
pasted to the backing boards, or caught between them and the book.
For the sides, the pattern is very slightly pasted on to the leather
at the four corners. The book is then put in the finishing press,
with the board to be tooled open and flat on the cheek of the press,
unless the book is a large one, when it is easier to tool the sides
out of the press.
[Illustration: FIG. 84.]
The selected tools, which should be ready on the stove (see fig. 85),
are one at a time cooled on a wet pad, and then pressed in their
former impressions upon the paper. The degree of heat required varies
a good deal with the leather used, and will only be learned by
experience. It is better to have the tool too cool than too hot, as it
is easy to deepen impressions after the paper is removed; but if they
are already too deep, or are burnt, it will be impossible to finish
clearly. Generally speaking, tools should hiss very slightly when put
on the cooling pad. In cooling, care must be taken to put the shank
of the tools on to the wet pad, as, if the end only is cooled, the
heat is apt to run down again, and the tool will still be too hot.
[Illustration: FIG. 85.--Finishing Stove]
Before removing the paper, one corner at a time should be lifted up,
and the leather examined to see that no part of the pattern has been
missed.
In some patterns where the design is close, or in which the background
is dotted in, it will not be necessary to blind in every leaf and dot
through the paper. If the lines with perhaps the terminal leaves are
blinded in, the rest can be better worked directly through the gold.
This method implies the "glairing in" of the whole surface. It is not
suitable for open patterns, where the glaire might show on the surface
of the leather.
If the book is only to have lines, or some simple straight line
pattern, it is often easier to mark it up without the paper, with a
straight-edge and folder. In panelling a back, the side lines of all
the panels should be marked in at the same time with a folder, working
against the straight-edge, held firmly at the side of the back. If the
panels are worked separately, it is difficult to get the side lines
squarely above each other. The lines at the top and bottom of the
panel may be marked in with a folder, guided by a piece of stiff
vellum held squarely across the back. If there are lines to be run
round the board, they can be marked in with a pair of dividers guided
by the edge of the board, except those at the back. These must be
measured from the fore-edge of the board and run in with straight-edge
and folder.
When straight lines occur in patterns that are blinded through the
paper, it will be enough if the ends only are marked through with a
small piece of straight line, and the lines completed with
straight-edge and folder, after the paper has been removed.
Unless the finisher has had considerable experience, it is best to
deepen all folder lines by going over them in blind with a fillet or
piece of straight line.
When the pattern has been worked in blind, either through a paper
pattern or directly on to the leather with the tools, and any inlays
stuck on (see page 213), the cover should be well washed with clean
water. Some finishers prefer to use common vinegar or diluted acetic
acid for washing up books. If vinegar is used it must be of the best
quality, and must not contain any sulphuric acid. Cheap, crude vinegar
is certain to be injurious to the leather. Porous leather, such as
calf or sheep skin, will need to be washed over with paste-water, and
then sized.
Paste-water is paste and water well beaten up to form a milky liquid,
and is applied to the leather as evenly as possible with a sponge.
When the paste-water is dry, the leather should be washed with size.
Size can be made by boiling down vellum cuttings, or by dissolving
gelatine or isinglass in warm water.
For the less porous leathers, such as morocco, seal, or pig skin, no
paste-water or size is necessary, unless the skin happens to be a
specially open one, or the cover has been cut from the flank or belly.
Then it is best to put a little paste in the vinegar or water used for
washing up. When the leather is nearly, but not quite, dry the
impressions of the tools must be painted with glaire. Finishers'
glaire may be made from the white of eggs well beaten up, diluted with
about half as much vinegar, and allowed to settle. Some finishers
prefer to use old, evil-smelling glaire, but provided it is a day old,
and has been well beaten up, fresh glaire will work quite well.
The impressions of any heavy or solid tools should be given a second
coat of glaire when the first has ceased to be "tacky," and if the
leather is at all porous, all impressions had better have a second
coat.
As glaire is apt to show and disfigure the leather when dry, it is
best to use it as sparingly as possible, and, excepting where the
pattern is very close, to confine it to the impressions of the tools.
It is not at all an uncommon thing to see the effect of an otherwise
admirably tooled binding spoilt by a dark margin round the tools,
caused by the careless use of glaire. Glaire should not be used unless
it is quite liquid and clean. Directly it begins to get thick it
should be strained or thrown away.
The finisher should not glaire in more than he can tool the same day.
When the glaire has ceased to be "tacky," the gold is laid on.
[Illustration: FIG. 86.]
At first it will be found difficult to manage gold leaf. The essential
conditions are, that there should be no draught, and that the cushion
and knife should be quite free from grease. The gold cushion and
knife are shown at fig. 86. A little powdered bath-brick rubbed into
the cushion will make it easier to cut the gold cleanly. The blade of
the gold knife should never be touched with the hand, and before using
it, both sides should be rubbed on the cushion. A book of gold is laid
open on the cushion, and a leaf of gold is lifted up on the gold
knife, which is slipped under it, and turned over on to the cushion. A
light breath exactly in the centre of the sheet should make it lie
flat, when it may be cut into pieces of any size with a slightly
sawing motion of the knife. The book with the pattern ready prepared,
and the glaire sufficiently dry (not sticky), is rubbed lightly with a
small piece of cotton-wool greased with a little cocoanut oil. The
back of the hand is greased in the same way, and a pad of clean
cotton-wool is held in the right hand, and having been made as flat as
possible by being pressed on the table, is drawn over the back of the
hand. This should make it just greasy enough to pick up the gold, but
not too greasy to part with it readily when pressed on the book. As
little grease as possible should be used on the book, as an excess is
apt to stain the leather and to make the gold dull. After experiment
it has been found that cocoanut oil stains the leather less than any
other grease in common use by bookbinders, and is more readily washed
out by benzine.
[Illustration: FIG. 87.]
If the gold cracks, or is not solid when pressed on the book, a second
thickness should be used. This will stay down if the under piece is
lightly breathed upon.
For narrow strips of gold for lines, a little pad covered with soft
leather may be made, as in fig. 87.
It will be found of advantage to first use the bottom leaf of gold in
the book and then to begin at the top and work through, or else the
bottom leaf will almost certainly be found to be damaged by the time
it is reached. The gold used should be as nearly pure as it can be
got. The gold-beaters say that they are unable to beat pure gold as
thin as is usual for gold leaf; but the quite pure gold is a better
colour than when alloyed, and the additional thickness, although
costly, results in a more solid impression of the tools.
The cost of a book of twenty-four leaves three and a half inches
square of English gold leaf of good ordinary quality is from 1s. 3d.
to 1s. 6d., whereas the cost of a book of double thick pure gold leaf
is 3s. to 3s. 6d. For tooled work it is worth paying the increased
price for the sake of the advantages in colour and solidity; but for
lines and edges, which use up an immense amount of gold, the thinner
and cheaper gold may quite well be used.
Besides pure gold leaf, gold alloyed with various metals to change its
colour can be had. None of the alloys keep their colour as well as
pure gold, and some of them, such as those alloyed with copper for red
gold, and with silver for pale gold, tarnish very quickly. These last
are not to be recommended.
For silver tooling aluminium leaf may be used, as silver leaf
tarnishes very quickly.
When the gold is pressed into the impressions of the tools with the
pad of cotton-wool, they should be plainly visible through it.
The pattern must now be worked through the gold with the hot tools.
The tools are taken from the stove, and if too hot cooled on a pad as
for blinding-in. The heat required to leave the gold tooling solid and
bright and the impressions clear will vary for different leathers, and
even for different skins of the same leather. For trial a tool may be
laid on the pad until it ceases to hiss, and one or two impressions
worked with it. If the gold fails to stick, the heat may be slightly
increased.
If the leather is slightly damp from the preparation the tools will
usually work better, and less heat is required than if it has been
prepared for some time and has got dry.
Before using, the faces of all tools must be rubbed bright on the
flesh side of a piece of leather. It is impossible to tool brightly
with dirty tools. A tool should be held in the right hand, with the
thumb on the top of the handle, and steadied with the thumb or first
finger of the left hand. The shoulder should be brought well over the
tool, and the upper part of the body used as a press. If the weight of
the body is used in finishing, the tools can be worked with far
greater firmness and certainty, and with less fatigue, than if the
whole work is done with the muscles of the arms.
Large and solid tools will require all the weight that can be put on
them, and even then the gold will often fail to stick with one
impression. Tools with small surfaces, such as gouges and dots, must
not be worked too heavily, or the surface of the leather may be cut.
To strike a large or solid tool, it should first be put down flat, and
then slightly rocked from side to side and from top to bottom, but
must not be twisted on the gold.
A tool may be struck from whichever side the best "sight" can be got,
and press and book turned round to the most convenient position.
It is difficult to impress some tools, such as circular flower tools,
twice in exactly the same place. Such tools should have a mark on one
side as a guide. This should always be kept in the same position when
blinding-in and tooling, and so make it possible to impress a second
time without "doubling." An impression is said to be "doubled" when
the tool has been twisted in striking, or one impression does not fall
exactly over the other.
The hot tool should not be held hovering over the impression long, or
the preparation will be dried up before the tool is struck. Tooling
will generally be brighter if the tools are struck fairly sharply, and
at once removed from the leather, than if they are kept down a long
time.
To "strike" dots, the book should be turned with the head to the
worker, and the tool held with the handle inclining slightly towards
him. This will make them appear bright when the book is held the right
way up.
Gouges must be "sighted" from the inside of the curve, and struck
evenly, or the points may cut into the leather. Short straight lines
may be put in with pieces of line, and longer ones with a fillet.
A one line fillet is shown at fig. 88; the space filed out of the
circumference is to enable lines to be joined neatly at the corners.
That the lines may be clearly visible through the gold, the book
should be placed so that the light comes from the left hand of the
worker and across the line. It is well to have a basin of water in
which to cool fillets, as there is so much metal in them, that the
damp sponge or cotton used for cooling tools would very rapidly be
dried up. When the fillet has been cooled, the edge should be rubbed
on the cleaning pad, and the point exactly adjusted to the corner of
the line to be run (see fig. 88). The fillet is then run along the
line with even pressure.
[Illustration: FIG. 88.]
For slightly curved lines, a very small fillet may be used.
When all the prepared part of a pattern has been tooled, it is well
rubbed to remove the loose gold with a slightly greasy rag, or with a
piece of bottle indiarubber which has been softened in paraffin. After
a time the rubber or rag may be sold to the gold-beater, who recovers
the gold. To prepare indiarubber for cleaning off gold, a piece of
bottle rubber is cut into small pieces and soaked in paraffin for some
hours. This should cause the pieces to reunite into a soft lump. This
can be used until it is yellow with gold throughout.
When all free gold is rubbed off, the finisher can see where the
tooling is imperfect. Impressions which are not "solid" must be
reglaired, have fresh gold laid on, and be retooled. But if, as will
sometimes happen with the best finishers, the gold has failed to stick
properly anywhere, it is best to wash the whole with water or vinegar,
and prepare afresh.
As an excess of grease is apt to dull the gold and soil the leather,
it is better to use it very sparingly when laying on fresh gold for
mending. For patching, benzine may be used instead of grease. When the
gold is picked up on the cotton-wool pad, rapidly go over the leather
with wool soaked in benzine, and at once lay down the gold. Benzine
will not hold the gold long enough for much tooling, but it will
answer for about half-an-hour, and give plenty of time for patching.
Imperfect tooling arises from a variety of causes. If an impression is
clear, but the gold not solid, it is probably because the tool was not
hot enough, or was not put down firmly. If only one side of an
impression fails to stick, it is usually because the tool was unevenly
impressed. If an impression is blurred, and the gold has a frosted
look, it is because the leather has been burned, either because the
tool was too hot, or kept down too long, or the preparation was too
fresh.
To mend double or burnt impressions the leather should be wetted and
left to soak a short time, and the gold can be picked out with a
wooden point. When nearly dry the impressions should be put in again
with a cool tool, reglaired and retooled.
It is very difficult to mend neatly if the leather is badly burnt.
Sometimes it may be advisable to paste a piece of new leather over a
burnt impression before retooling.
If a tool is put down in the wrong place by mistake, it is difficult
to get the impression out entirely. The best thing to do is to damp
the leather thoroughly, leave it to soak for a little while, and pick
up the impression with the point of a pin. It is best not to use an
iron point for this, as iron is apt to blacken the leather.
Leather is difficult to tool if it has not a firm surface, or if it is
too thin to give a little when the tool is struck.
When the tooling is finished, and the loose gold removed with the
rubber, the leather should be washed with benzine, to remove any
grease and any fragments of gold that may be adhering by the grease
only.
The inside margins of the boards are next polished and varnished, and
the end papers pasted down. Or if there is a leather joint, the panel
left on the board may be filled in (see Chapter XVII).
When the end papers are dry, the sides and back may be polished and
varnished.
It is important that the varnish should be of good quality, and not
too thick, or it will in time turn brown and cause the gold to look
dirty. Some of the light French spirit varnishes prepared for
bookbinders answer well. Varnish must be used sparingly, and is best
applied with a pad of cotton-wool. A little varnish is poured on to
the pad, which is rubbed on a piece of paper until it is seen that the
varnish comes out thinly and evenly. It is then rubbed on the book
with a spiral motion. The quicker the surface is gone over, provided
every part is covered, the better. Varnish will not work well if it is
very cold, and in cold weather both the book and varnish bottle should
be slightly warmed before use. Should an excess of varnish be put on
in error, or should it be necessary to retool part of the book after
it has been varnished, the varnish can be removed with spirits of
wine. Varnish acts as a preservative to the leather, but has the
disadvantage, if used in excess, of making it rather brittle on the
surface. It must, therefore, be used very sparingly at the joints. It
is to be hoped that a perfectly elastic varnish, that will not tarnish
the gold, will soon be discovered.
As soon as the varnish is dry the boards may be pressed, one at a
time, to give the leather a smooth surface (see fig. 83), leaving each
board in the press for some hours.
[Illustration: FIG. 89.]
After each board has been pressed separately the book should be shut,
and pressed again with pressing plates on each side of it, and with
tins covered with paper placed inside each board. Light pressure
should be given to books with tight backs, or the leather may become
detached.
If, on removing from the press, the boards will not keep shut, the
book should be pressed again with a folded sheet of blotting-paper in
each end. The blotting-paper should have the folded edge turned up,
and be placed so that this turned-up edge will be in the joint behind
the back edge of the board when the book is shut.
A small nipping-press suitable for giving comparatively light
pressure, is shown at fig. 89.
TOOLING ON VELLUM
Most covering vellum has a sticky surface, that marks if it is
handled. This should be washed off with clean water before tooling.
The pattern is blinded in through the paper as for leather, excepting
that the paper must not be pasted directly to the vellum, but may be
held with a band going right round the board or book. It is best to
glaire twice, and to lay on a small portion of gold at a time with
benzine. As vellum burns very readily, the tools must not be too hot,
and some skill is needed to prevent them from slipping on the hard
surface.
Vellum must not be polished or varnished.
INLAYING ON LEATHER
Inlaying or onlaying is adding a different leather from that of the
cover, as decoration. Thus on a red book, a panel or a border, or
other portion, may be covered with thin green leather, or only flowers
or leaves may be inlaid, while a jewel-like effect may be obtained by
dots, leaves, and flowers, tooled over inlays of various colours.
Leather for inlaying should be pared very thin. To do this the leather
is cut into strips, wetted, and pared on a stone with a knife shaped
somewhat as at fig. 60, B. When the thin leather is dry the inlays of
the leaves and flowers, &c., may be stamped out with steel punches cut
to the shape of the tools; or if only a few inlays are needed, the
tools may be impressed on the thin leather, and the inlays cut out
with a sharp knife. The edges of the larger inlays should be pared
round carefully. For inlaying a panel or other large surface, the
leather is pared very thin and evenly with a French knife, and a piece
of paper pasted on to the grained side and left to dry. When dry, the
shape of the panel, or other space to be inlaid, is marked on it
through the paper pattern, and leather and paper cut through to the
shape required. The edges must then be carefully pared, and the piece
attached with paste, and nipped in the press to make it stick. When
the paste is dry, the paper may be damped and washed off. The object
of the paper is to prevent the thin leather from stretching when it is
pasted.
For white inlays it is better to use Japanese paper than leather, as
white leather, when pared very thin, will show the colours of the
under leather through, and look dirty. If paper is used, it should be
sized with vellum size before tooling.
When many dots or leaves are to be inlaid, the pieces of leather, cut
out with the punch, may be laid face downwards on a paring stone, and
a piece of paper, thickly covered with paste, laid on it. This, on
being taken up, will carry with it the "inlays," and they can be
picked up one at a time on the point of a fine folder, and stuck on
the book.
"Inlays" of tools are attached after the pattern has been "blinded"
in, and must be again worked over with the tool, in blind, when the
paste is nearly dry.
On vellum an effect, similar to that of inlays on leather, can be
obtained by the use of stains.