Category: bookbinding tools

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Bill Minter’s Five Essential Bookbinding Tools

Bill Minter

Inventor and Book Conservator, Penn State University Libraries.

 

Five Essential Tools for bookbinding is an intriguing question.

While thinking, I tried to imagine trying to bind a book on a deserted island, or at home during a pandemic. What tools are essential?

For a Simple/Basic Pamphlet:
Tool:   Needle — If paper were available, it can be folded without a bone folder, it can be wetted and torn, and then folded to a codex for sewing with thread, so the needle seems to be essential.

For a more elaborate book with some precise details:
Dividers (see note), straight edge, knife/cutter, and maybe a scribe (awl) or pointed bone folder?   No ruler, no scissors; no pencil, etc….

Note:  Initially, I thought dividers were needed, but then Karen Hanmer suggested a piece of paper for duplicating dimensions. Essentials!

PERHAPS the most important and essential tool (if we can call it a tool) is what we have learned. Someone shared their experience and their ideas that allows us to grow and expand beyond the basics. In essence, what we have learned is a tool that allows us to build beyond our inner talent. Someone inspired us to work beyond what we know, which allows us to experiment and grow ever more.

While we might have the very best tools, it is how we use our skill with those tools that is the ultimate and essential.

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Andreas Dombrowskyj’s Five Essential Book Repair Tools

Andreas Dombrowskyj

Conservation Technician, Columbia University Libraries.
[ NOTE: I worked with Andreas beginning in the early 1990s at Columbia University’s Conservation Lab. Once they reopen, he will soon be completing 60 years of service! ]
1. My bone folder which I can’t do without.
Andreas uses an older version of this German bookbinding knife. Source:  https://hollanders.com/collections/knives-cutting/products/paper-knife-w-unfinished-wood-handle
2. My four knives which I use in different situations, they differ in size and  sharpness. Two are like the one above. What is good is about them is they have a certain amount of flex which I need when I’m peeling binders board from the back of the end sheet. In order to save original end sheets (often maps or other decorative designs), I have to go from the back of the end sheet. This involves peeling different types of binders boards, with different densities. and made of different materials. A sharp knife is needed to peel away the back of the end sheet.
I made this replica of Andreas’s rigid dull knife from memory. I think the shape was caused by 50+ years of work and resharpening, given the thickness of the spine of the blade.
The other two are smaller and have a more rigid back of the blade (see below). They are good for cleaning the book spines.  When I clean the back of the books, a dull knife like these is good because it is a scraping action and not a cutting one.
3. Scissors, a standard bookbinder’s model with one blunt end.
4. Micro-spatula, a Caselli, of course.
5. Sanding block, which is helpful when tip-ins are done. The sandpaper block  is used on any bits of paper that sticks out.
I could list others, but those are ones that I use most.
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Chris Brown’s Five Essential Book Conservation Tools

Chris Brown

As primarily a conservator, the majority of the time, I set a book on the bench for conservation and repair, and immediately gather my primary tools.
In order of reach are:
The bone folder which was gifted to me by my mentor, when I started my apprenticeship. I have since been gathering folders that I like, but are not as married to as this one, so that I may give a bone folder to those I teach, should the time arise. This is tradition for me, more so than an immediate need for the folder in the first part of the conservation work.
Next is the Olfa 9mm, with Ultrasharp black blades. They’re worth the relatively minor increase in cost, as they last far longer than the regular blades, for my work needs. When I switched to the retractable from an X-acto knife, I stopped bleeding by about 90%, per book. I have to have sharp blades, good visibility and dexterity without sacrificing safety, as I disbind a book, open hinges and trim leather to fit.
Third is my my large steel spatula. This assists me with most lifting, as I can feel far greater subtlety in the process of lifting a delicate page, than I can with the lifting knife my sensei taught me to make. When I need good, old-fashioned horse power and material removal, I go to the hacksaw based blade. When I want to feel the difference between lifting paper and the first layer of board, this is what I need.
Fourth, will be the dental scraper/pick. When the proteinaceous glue on the spine, is cantankerous after three applications of wheat paste or Metyl Cellulose, the fourth application of glue removal compound is coupled with detailed work to keep as much of the fold integrity as possible, while removing as much old glue from the crevasses as can be.
Finally, the fifth tool I wouldn’t be without is the Peachey Delrin folder. I chose this shape because I needed to be able to smooth down larger sections of leather or end-papers, fold and manipulate leather and paper and generally be able to work with straight PVA in some areas. The Delrin doesn’t feel as flimsy in my grumpy fingers as does a folder made of Teflon. It also has the tendency to stay out in my hand and not go flying around the table like a watermelon seed violently pinched between thumb and forefinger. From paste to PVA, this folder provides me with the ability to smooth no small range of cloth, leather and papers to provide an aesthetically pleasing finished product for the client.
If I were to add anything to this list, I would add two types of brushes, and a one meter long, non-cork back straight edge, with millimeter gradations.
The two types of brushes: Good natural bristle paste brushes, and a good set of artificial bristle brushes of varying size, for PVA application.
With the first 5 tools, I can conserve most things.