Bookbinding as a school subject. Stage 1. Binding books of one section (Douglas Cockerell)

BOOKBINDING AS A SCHOOL SUBJECT Douglas Cockerell Stage 1 Binding books of one section

Fourth edition

W hen I was asked for advice about the equipment of bookbinding classes in schools I read all the text-books I could find dealing with the craft as a school subject, and I ascertained what appliances and tools could be got from the regular dealers.

As I was not satisfied with either the text-books or the tools, I have written these pamphlets and, with the help of my sons, have designed and made models of the kind of bookbinding equipment that it seemed to me schools would want, and that the educational authorities could afford to buy. These speciallydesigned appliances are illustrated in these pamphlets.

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BOOKBINDING AS A SCHOOL SUBJECT II

F IR S T STAGE H E simplest form of bookbinding follows naturally on the cardboard work of Standard I. Children who have learnt to cut cardboard truly square and to cover it with paper neatly can pass on to simple binding without difficulty and can produce, from the first, books that they can use. Even without any previous handwork training the average child will not find the first stage of elementary binding unduly difficult.

That the books produced or covered in the class can be used by the children in school gives book­ binding a special educational value and connects it in the child's mind with the ordinary needs of everyday life, whereas many otherwise admirable handwork exercises tend to the production of pretty trifles that have no such obvious utility.

The tools needed for a beginning are very simple, but some form of press will be necessary, and an efficient and cheap press has been designed for school use (see illustration on cover).

The ordinary iron office copying press answers well, and this can sometimes be bought from secondhand furniture dealers. At one time these presses were in use in every business office in the cou ntry; but since the use of typewriters became universal they are no longer used for copying letters, and being practically inde­ structible they survive. i

BOARD CUTTER

This will be very useful (Fig. 2).

Thin cardboard can be cut with a knife guided by a safety ruler ; but this is a slow, troublesome method of cutting that may lead to a waste of material and sometimes cut fingers.

The board cutter is a simple device to help to get over the difficulty of cutting a pair of book boards truly “ square ” and of the same size.

F ig . 2 The word “ boards ” has survived from the early manuscripts, when books were all bound by hand and wooden boards were used for the binding of the books. Wooden boards were used for the early printed books too, and are still used on some hand-bound books, particu ­ larly on modern manuscripts, such as Rolls of Honour and for heavy Church books that have metal nails and bosses to protect the bindings.

The board cutter is really a large pair of scissors with one blade fixed and not sharp like a knife, as it depends on a shearing action for the cutting of the card, and therefore in use the movable blade should be drawn gently 2

against the fixed blade. To prevent cut fingers, the rule should be one pupil only to use the tool at a time. Discourage one holding the card and another cutting.

7 The smaller tools consist of : Bone folders or paper-knives.

Knives.

(These are rulers with a Safety rulers. ridge to guard the fingers when cutting.)

Carpenter’s square, 9 inch.

Small bodkin in handle.

Needles. Large darning needles are easy to thread, but the eyes are apt to break.

Straw or carpet needles with egg eyes are more serviceable.

Spring dividers.

Four pairs of pressing boards to fit the press, 12 inch by 8 inch.

A saucepan for making paste. One or two paste brushes.

Oilstone and oilcan.

Strop.

A pair of strong scissors with long blades.

The materials needed will be : THREAD

Fairly stout linen thread as prepared for bookbinders should be used. Ordinary sewing cotton is not strong enough.

CARDBOARD OR MILLBOARD

Old cardboard boxes can be cut up. Mind the steel clips and take them out before cutting the card as they will damage the knife of the board cutter. It is convenient to buy a stock of thin cardboard cut to suitable sizes.

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MULL

This is a stiffened muslin and is not expensive. bookbinders’ cloth

Almost any scraps of woven material can be used ; but the cloth prepared for bookbinding is easier to use, as the paste or glue does not penetrate to the surface. A cloth that is not too stiff and does not curl up when pasted should be selected. The best bookbinding cloths have a waterproof surface that can be sponged.

COLOURED OR PATTERNED PAPER FOR THE SIDES

Small-patterned wallpaper can be used, and obsolete wallpaper pattern books can often be had for the asking, and odd lengths for very little ; but wallpaper is poor stuff that has little wearing quality. Gaily coloured printed papers or marble papers of good quality are better than wallpaper ; but there is no reason why children should not make their own side papers by painting simple repeat patterns on them or by covering them with blotches of colour mixed with paste.

These paste marbles, as they are called, are easy and amusing to make and pleasant patterns can be made by dabbing with the paste brush and by making lines in the wet surface with a stick, comb, or the finger. The paper should be pre­ pared apart from the book and pinned out to dry before being used. Paper of good quality should be used. When dry, a little wax or floor polish can be rubbed over it to take off the rather dead look of the surface.

True marble papers which are made by float­ ing prepared colours on a size can be very 5

beautiful, but the process is too difficult to be attempted by quite young children.

Some sheets of the waxed waterproof paper used for cutting stencils and for electric light shades will be wanted.

Some Things to Know about Books A book is made up of a number of sheets of paper folded down the middle.

A leaf of a book is one thickness of paper.

A page is one side of a leaf.

A section is made up of a number of folded sheets placed inside each other and is the unit for folding and sewing. Some books, such as exercise books, and some thin pamphlets consist of one section only, as this one. Most books are made up of many sections.

The top of a page or of a book is called the head, and the bottom the tail.

The front edge of a page or book is called the fore-edge.

The back of a book is sometimes called the spine to distinguish it from the back board.

The edges of the boards projecting beyond the leaves are called squares.

The first exercise may well be the rebinding of the ordinary school manuscript book, consisting of a single section of ruled paper with a cover.

These books are held together by wire staples or by a stitch or two of thread, and the first thing to do will be to sew the books more securely.

The old thread or wire is first removed ; the thread by cutting it and pulling it out, and wire staples by turning up the ends in the centre of the book and pulling the wire out from the back 6

with a binde r’s bodkin or small screwdriver.

Then , because the sewing thread may cut through the soft paper used for exercise book covers, a piece of “ mull ” or fine camb ric (almost any thin woven material will do) is cut about two inches wide and a little shorter than the height of the book. This is pasted over the fold of the back of the old cover, with care that it lies down neatly and that there is the same As amount on the back and front covers. “ mull ” is troublesome stuff to paste it will be found easier to paste the book and rub the “ mull ” down on to the pasted surface. Surplus Or the “ mull ” paste must be wiped off. unpasted may be folded and placed inside the outer pair of leaves. It will then be pasted down with the end paper. If there is already a strip of binde r’s cloth at the back, this strengthening piece will not be needed. Then the book is opened in the centre and a series of holes, about one inch apart, are pierced with a fine bodkin.

A piece of soft wood underneath will make the piercing of the holes easy, and if the paper is ruled the lines will form a guide to the even spacing of the holes. The top and botto m holes should be about an inch from the ends of the back. When making these holes some little care is needed to prevent the leaves from shifting.

A paper clip is useful to keep the leaves even.

To sew, the needle is passed through one of the centre holes from the inside to the back and then, through the next hole upwards, from the outside to the centre, and so on altern ately from the centre to the head and from the head to the tail and then back to the centre, where the two 7

ends oi the thread can be tied together inside the book. The sewing thread must be pulled tight so that it lies evenly along the centre fold of the paper and the edge of the fold of the old cover, over the strip of strengthening material.

(See Fig. 4.)

When the book has been sewn the boards (cardboard) should be cut to size. If a line is ruled about a quarter of an inch from the spine

F ig . 4 and parallel to it, this will serve as a guide for marking the boards for cutting, and afterwards for their position. The boards must be cut so that when laid up to this line there will be about one-eighth of an inch projectin g beyond each of the three edges of the book. Cutting boards square, exactly the same size and exactly the right size, is not very easy, but with care it can be managed. A board cutter (Fig. 2) will be found very helpful for this.

Before being pasted the boards should be 8

tried in position and should not be attached until they are right. When right, first one and then the other board should be well pasted, and after any lumps of paste or hairs from the brush have been removed it should be carefully laid down on the old cover of the book exactly up to the line at the back, and with equal projection at the head and tail. It is easier to lay the book on the board than to place the board on the book.

When the boards are seen to be in their right position the book should be put into the press, between pressing boards, for a few minutes if a quick-drying dextrine paste has been used ; if pasted with ordinary flour paste the book should remain in the press for a longer time, as this paste dries slowly (Fig. 5).

When the pasting of the boards is fairly dry, and it is seen that they are attached over their whole surface, a strip of binder’s cloth should be cut out about two inches wide and about one inch longer than the height of the book. This is folded down the middle to make a crease that will act as a guide to placing the book. The strip is well pasted and the back edge of the book is laid on it exactly up to the centre crease and leaving equal amounts of pasted cloth projecting at the head and tail. Without altering its posi­ tion the cloth is well rubbed down on to the sides and into the grooves formed by the edges of the boards. When the sides are attached the head and tail can be turned in over the old cover and new boards. To do this the boards are opened. If the paste seems to have got dry the turned-in portions of the cloth can be repasted.

At this stage the book can again be given a

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short pressing to set the cloth on the sides.

Sheets of waterproof paper placed on either side of the book will prevent its sticking to the pressing boards should any paste get squeezed out.

The sides may now be covered with plain coloured or patterned paper.

F ig . 5 As a guide to the right cutting and placing of the side papers lines should be ruled near the edges of the cloth and at equal distances from the back edges of the boards.

The papers should have one edge cut straight and this edge should be laid up to the line on the cloth and the io

paper can then be lightly creased by turning it over the edges of the board. About half an inch may be left for turning in and the surplus cut away.

When the papers have been cut to the right size they should, one at a time, be well pasted with thin paste and laid on the sides exactly up to the line on the edge of the cloth and well rubbed down through a piece of waterproof paper. Again, any lumps of paste or hairs from the brush must be removed before the papers are put down. When the sides are sticking the edges may be turned in, the corners first and then the sides. It will be found easier to turn in the corners without cutting them unless the paper is very thick. See illustration (Fig. 7).

When the book has been sided the first and last pages can be evenly pasted and the book shut and put into the press with waterproof paper between the pasted end-leaves and the book, and also on the outside.

After short pressure, which is all that will be needed at this stage, the book can be taken out of the press and stood up to dry. A label of writing-paper can be cut and pasted on to the front board and the book is done. (Fig. 6.)

At the end of the lesson the books will be very damp if ordinary flour paste is used, and the boards will probably be inclined to curl. When they have dried a little the books should be put into the press, or under a weight, for a day or two to get properly dry before they are used.

The use of one of the dextrine quick-drying pastes gets over much of the difficulty of curling boards ; but these pastes make fairly rapid work 11

necessary and, moreover, they cost more than flour paste.

Thin glue answers best in skilled hands ; but glued cloth or paper tends to curl and must be put down very quickly, and when once down its

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position canno t be altered. Glue, moreover, is difficult for children to use without making a sad mess of their books, themselves and their sur­ roundings, and its use is not recommended in the first stages of bookbinding.

This very simple form of binding calls for great 12

care and neatness but little special skill, and when the re-covering of exercise books has been mastered children can go on to the binding by the same process of any single-section pamphlets or music, or can, by folding up plain or ruled paper, make sketch-books or note-books of any size or shape. When a single-section pamphlet or piece of music is to be bound the first thing will be to add three double leaves of paper folded round the back, making three blank leaves at either end of the book. To the first and last of

these the mull and boards will be attached, the next pair will paste down inside the boards, and the third pair will form blank “ end papers.”

Children can easily make small portfolios, but at first it would be unwise for them to attempt anything large. Apart from the fact that there is seldom space in a class-room for working on any number of large books or portfolios, the difficul­ ties of pasting and putting down large sheets of paper are considerable.

The binding of books consisting of more than one section requires a more elaborate process and special appliances,but whenthe pupils have learned 13

to do the simple single-section work squarely and cleanly they will have but little difficulty in going on to more serious binding, provided that efficient tools and appliances are available.

This stage is dealt with in No. II pamphlet.

How To Sharpen a K n ife One of the most important and most generally useful things to be learnt is how to sharpen a knife.

The sharpness of a knife depends upon the angle formed by the planes of the sides. Greatly magnified, a section of the edge of a sharp knife might be and the section of a blunt edge

When sharpening, the portion of the metal shown in black is removed, leaving the central part.

It will be seen from this that the blunting of a knife actually wears away a portion of the edge and makes its blade narrower. The surplus metal is removed on the grindstone if the knife is very blunt, and on the oilstone if there is only a comparatively small amount to be removed. The grindstone shapes the blade but does not produce a cutting edge ; this must be got on the oilstone.

An oilstone should be wiped clean and a few drops of thin oil dropped on the surface. The knife should be held nearly flat on the stone with a little added pressure on the cutting edge and 14

should be rubbed with a circular motion, first on one side and then on the other. When turning from one side to the other, the knife should be turned with its back to the stone, or lifted clear of the stone. Often the sharpening will leave a fine “ feather ” or wire edge that must be removed by stropping. A strop can be made by attaching a piece of leather, flesh side upper­ most, to a strip of wood. This may have a handle at one end and a guard to prevent accidents.

(See illustration , Fig. 8.) The leather may be dressed with razor paste or very fine emery powder and oil. The knife, in stropping, may be held rather less flatly than on the stone, but here again should be turned over with the back and not the edge to the strop.

F ig . 8 If a knife when in use is very frequently rubbed on the strop and often, but less frequently, on the oilstone it should seldom need grinding.

Cardboard for the covers of books can be marked out with the aid of a carpenter’s square and cut with a sharp knife, guided by a safety ruler. No attempt should be made to cut through the board at one c u t ; the ruler should be pressed down very firmly, but the knife should be used lightly. Care is needed to see that the ruler does not shift and that the cuts fall exactly in the same place, close up to the ruler. A waste piece of cardboard is the best thing to cut on.

The edges of thin pamphlets or newly-folded paper can be trimmed by a knife guided by a 15

safety ruler if the knife is sharp and is held nearly upright and used with little pressure. No attempt should be made to cut several thick­ nesses of paper with one stroke of the knife.

When pasting paper the paste brush should be worked from the centre outwards and taken right off the paper at each stroke. If it is not taken beyond the edge of the paper being pasted, the edge is likely to be caught up by the brush and the paste will get on the face side. Paper, when being pasted, must be held firmly by the fingers of the left hand.

Pasting should be done on waste paper, such as old newspapers, and after pasting, the waste paper should be folded up, paste sides together, and thrown away. A fresh piece of waste will be needed for each pasting.

If a piece of paper is pasted on to one side of a piece of cardboard it will cause the board to curl to that side. For a lined board to keep flat paper must be pasted on both sides.

To m ake Paste from Flour.— Well mix half a teacupful of flour with enough cold water to make a creamy paste, add a full teacupful of water and a teaspoonful of powdered alum.

Heat slowly while stirring and boil for one minute. This should make a thick paste that can be thinned with water.

Paste brushes must be washed out after use and put away clean.

Or Cold Water Paste can be used.

This is a prepared powder that only requires the addition of cold water to make paste. It can be quite satisfactory provided it is well mixed.

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By DOUGLAS COCKERELL illustrated by Doris Meyer Stage 1 : Binding books of one section.

Stage 2 : Binding books of more than one section in cloth.

Stage 3 : Cutting edges and binding in half and whole leather.

Stage 4 : Lettering and simple tooling.

By SYDNEY M. COCKERELL illustrated by Joan Rix Tebbutt Stage 5 : Marbling paper.

Also by DOUGLAS COCKERELL Bookbinding and the Care of Books (Pitman)

Tools and materials for binding and materials for marbling including Cockerell Colours.

Russell Bookcrafts Hitchin Herts.

Printed by Heffers Printers Limited Cambridge England