book conservation – Page 15 – Peachey Conservation

March 10, 2015March 10, 2015

Gebrauchsspuren

Gebrauchsspuren [1], like many other extremely precise and descriptive German terms, does not have an exact English equivalent. Generally it means marks or traces of use, a physical record of existence in the life-world.

When I examine a book, it is important to determine how the mark occurred, what it might mean to the object, its history, the culture that made it, the individual who purchased it, and so on. Marks of use are not only important historically, but are becoming increasingly valued aesthetically, perhaps as a counterpoint to our digitally sanitized environment. It sounds stupid to say this, but part of what I like about old things is that they look old!

I’ll go out on a limb. I predict that in the future, the books that have real gebrauchsspuren will be the most valued. We already see the beginnings of this with some institutions buying heavily annotated and marked up copies. Although this is concerned with the text, I suspect (and hope) it will spread to the binding as well. For me, a pristine, unread book is often as uninteresting as a made-for-the-collectible-market plastic toy in the original blister pack.

Check back with me in 2040, the year singularity is projected to begin.

NOTE

1. I discovered this term thanks to Graham Moss’s The Anagnostakis Pocket Guide to Austrian, German and Swiss Antiquarian Bookdealers Terminology (Oldham, England: Incline Press, 2012) Graham is the man! Hats off for making this useful pamphlet. He also has printed many excellent and very reasonably priced books in sheets for binding.

September 30, 2014September 30, 2014

The Delrin Folder

Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you. Just one word.

Benjamin: Yes, sir.

Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?

Benjamin: Yes, I am.

Mr. McGuire: Plastics.

Benjamin: Exactly how do you mean?

-The Graduate (1967)

Bookbinders have used a variety of materials for folders. Wood, bone, and ivory are common traditional materials. The Excelsior metal folder, made from aluminum bronze, is an oddball patent from 1889. Nylon, bakelite, carbon fiber, Teflon and sometimes even steel have been used more recently. Today, most bookbinders and book conservators use bone and Teflon. Each material has its advantages.

Earlier this summer, senior rare book conservator at Harvard Library, Alan Puglia, showed me a small spatula for pigment consolidation, which he made out of Delrin. Delrin is a plastic which was invented by Du Pont in 1960. Alan mentioned several advantages of this material, including its low coefficient of friction and rigidity. The material seemed ideal not only for spatulas, but folders.

After making a folder and test driving it for a while, I became a devotee. It is a great material for a folder ( apologies Jim Croft ) combining advantages of both bone and teflon, while not feeling plasticky and soft like Teflon. It can be shaped with hand tools. It is food compliant and impact resistant. It is used for the stock of the M16 rifle. Du Pont’s informational Delrin booklet.

Delrin is much stiffer than Teflon, and twice as hard, yet has about the same coefficient of friction. The hardness of Delrin is 120 on the Rockwell R scale, Teflon is 58. Delrin has a dynamic coefficient of friction of .35, and Teflon about .2. More technical specifications of Delrin and Teflon. I had a lot of trouble finding technical specifications on dried bone, possibly because they can vary so much, but this article, “The Mechanical Properties of Bone” , is somewhat useful. There is a dust hazard in working Delrin, MSDS here. Because of its slipperiness, all adhesives I’ve tried are easily wiped off, even if dried. Delrin is not quite as dense as Teflon. Teflon is 2.2 grams per cubic centimeter, Delrin 1.41 grams per cubic centimeter. Searching for “Bone Density” leads to entirely different results.

Plastics, unlike natural bone, can be made in almost any shape or size. This gives the maker a wide range of possibilities in designing a folder, since there are essentially no limitations on the shape. I decided on this shape began by examining how I use folders and the various ways I hold them. I notice I often used a Teflon folder flat, as a burnisher, so needed it to be fairly thick and have smoothly rounded corners. Unlike Teflon, Delrin is that a folder can have large gently rounded, non-marring areas and fairly thin, knife like sharp areas that don’t distort like Teflon.

I am a firm believer in the importance of learning how to make and modify your own tools. Next week I will share some DIY tips for making Delrin folders. I’m almost embarrassed how much I enjoy working it by using hand tools. It has no grain, so can be attacked from any angle, and it is very clean, so tools stay sharp a very long time. Like most plastics, it doesn’t have a “mind” of its own but is consistently compliant with the tools and wishes of the maker. Benjamin?

*****

DELRIN FOLDER

This folder is carefully designed to accomplish all the general uses a bookbinder or conservator has: scoring, folding, turning-in, applying non-marring local pressure, large scale smoothing. The small rounded tip area is shipped slightly blunt, but it can be sharpened if you prefer. Delrin is hard and stiff like bone, but has a coefficient of friction similar to Teflon. It can hold a much thinner and sharper edge than Teflon. It has a nice, non-plasticy feel. I saw, file, scrape and polish these from a solid block of Delrin.

Delrin Folder: 6.5 x 1 x .375 inch. $65.00

September 16, 2014September 17, 2014

A Book and a Model of a Book

A two image gif: a model of an 18th century French binding and a real 18th century French Binding

Conservators often make models of bindings in order to understand how materials, structures, and techniques interact. Models are different from a facsimile or pastiche bindings: they are not intended to look like an old binding, but are made as closely as possible to replicate an historic structure. Making models helps conservators understand subtleties and procedures of construction, and aids in determining what physical evidence is essential to preserve. While acknowledging a model’s new materials, conservators can also use them as a mock-up to test treatment options.

The model above was made by following the technical descriptions in Diderot, Dudin, and Gauffencourt. (1) How does this gif inform our understanding of the relationship between the model and historic binding? How can the lacuna between them be interpreted? In this gif, the model simultaneously bursts out of the historic binding as the binding disappears into the model, possibly analogous to our conceptual understanding of the two.

___________________

1. Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d’Alembert Encylopedié ou Dictionnaire Raisonne des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers, Paris, 1751-1780; René Martin Dudin L’Art du Relieur-Doreur de Livres, Paris: Saillant & Nyon, 1772; Jean-Vincent Capronnier de Gauffecourt Traité de la Relieure des Livres (originally 1737) trans. by Claude Benaiteau, Austin: W. Thomas Taylor, 1987.

Added 17 Sept 2014: