Peachey Conservation

July 1, 2014July 1, 2014

Summer Hiatus, 2014

The voice-over at the beginning of The Seven Year Itch informs us that the Manhattan Indians had a custom where “Every July, when the heat became unbearable, they [the husbands] would send their wives and children away.” This continues into the 1950’s, and is the reason that Richard Sherman (played by Tom Ewell) happens to be living alone for the summer and meets “The Girl” (played by Marilyn Monroe).

But times have changed. Now, it seems husbands, wives, children—everyone?—vacates Manhattan for the summer, myself included. So my book conservation and tool business will be on hiatus until September 1, 2014. I will be teaching in Boston, working on some new tool ideas, then on a brief vacation.

Please email if you want to schedule something for the fall. Stay cool!

June 24, 2014June 24, 2014

Everhard Ball Bearing Beveled Stitcher

At the massive Brimfield Flea Market last month, I picked up this unusually well made tool. Note the ball bearings barely visible around the axle. Not only does is spin freely, but there is zero play side to side. And the wheel is very heavy.

At first I thought it was an unusual fillet, used for marking lines in leather. But it turns out it was made for the tire/ rubber industry. It is marked “The Everhard Mfg. Co.”, and is known as a beveled stitcher, used to smooth wavy edges of uncured rubber. It also bears a striking morphological resemblance to a leatherworkers wheel. Even if it can’t be usefully adapted for bookbinding work, it is still a wonderfully well made object to have.

Yikes! Have I started down the slippery slope from tool user to collector? Is this a problem?

June 17, 2014June 16, 2014

25 Years

This month marks my 25th year of bookbinding and book conservation. The great thing is that I still love looking at, thinking about, and working on old books.