Category: bookbinding

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Another C. Hammond Shoe Hammer

This is one of the smallest cobblers hammers I have seen, with the diameter of the face just about 1 inch. Most of the bright finish is still intact and the head neatly repaired with three distinctively shaped tacks.  The handle is elegantly slender, reminding me of a chasing hammer handle that smiths use.  The hammer is stamped “C. HAMMOND / PHILADA / 0”, with the Hammond logo running straight across, rather than curved as pictured in the catalog below. Perhaps this is an earlier style of logo stamping?

This hammer weighs 7.7 oz. with the handle, however the “0” size listed in the catalog below weights 11 oz., and the “000” 7 oz., (without the handle) which may contradict my theory, that very generally speaking,  hand tools tend to get smaller over time.  “Dinkification” is the technical term for this evolution.

I’ve written about C. Hammond bookbinding hammers before, and also have a rather beat up size 3.  Recently, for the first time in 2 decades of collecting, I’ve found a number of signed and numbered cobbler’s hammers– could these be an indication of the current disappearance and dispersal of professional shoe repair shops and their tools?

Catalog image courtesy of Gary Roberts of Toolemera Press, who has posted a PDF of a 1910 C. Hammond & Son trade catalog on his website.

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The Thread That Binds: A Book Review

I recently reviewed “The Thread that Binds: Interviews with Private Practice Bookbinders” by Pamela Train Leutz in The Bonefolder, Volume 6, No. 2, Spring 2010.  Here is the beginning of the review:

“In a field as small as bookbinding, a book reviewer occupies a precarious position, since they often have personal knowledge of, if not direct relations with, the author. At the very least, the reviewer and author are usually connected by a friend, or friend of a friend. So reviewing a book that includes interviews with 21 of leading bookbinders currently working in the field places this author in a position beyond precarious – an ideal chance to anger friends, alienate acquaintances and antagonize colleagues. The book even featured a long, highly complementary blurb from the publisher of this journal, Peter Verheyen on the back cover.

Foregrounded by these preoccupations, my hands trembled as I unwrapped my review copy…”

Read the entire review here.

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How Many Soles

How many soles have tread on this board shear clamp pedal?  How many decades did it take the original deep crosshatching  to become almost completely eroded in the center of the pedal? How long did it take for the original japanning to become mirror polished? How many different people have used this machine?  How many shins has this pedal bloodied?  How many blades has this machine had? How many cloth case bindings have been cut on this machine?  How many boxes? How many curses have been hurled at this machine,when something was miscut?

And how many times has this board shear subtly retaliated, going minutely out of square, cutting one book board a hair short, tearing material rather than cutting, or even pinching a finger in quiet defiance, only to be stepped on once again?