bookbinding – Page 39 – Peachey Conservation

December 22, 2015December 21, 2015

Books as Tools and Owner Repairs

book repair — Machinery’s Handbook. My Collection.

This is not the way I would ever repair a book. On the other hand, this is my book, and I bought it because of this repair; the massive amount of masking tape. I can appreciate that the owner—likely a machinist—did anything possible to keep this book functioning. This book was as important to a working machinist in pre-internet days as any of his other tools.

Machinery’s Handbook contains charts, reference information and formulas, and was so useful that Gerstner, a wood machinist chests manufacturer, incorporated a special drawer in some of their machinist’s chest to store this book.

Screen Shot 2015-12-21 at 4.18.58 PM — The book fits into the middle drawer, spine up. Source: http://gerstnerusa.com/restoration-and-repair

All books are tools for reading, but in many ways this book is even more of a tool than other books. So should it be repaired, conserved or restored differently? Nineteenth century owner repairs, which are often sewn, are becoming increasingly valued as part of the history of a book’s circulation, value, and usage. Could a masking tape repair be similarly prized a hundred years from now? But what would be left? Could the “patina” of cross-linked deteriorating adhesives someday be valued?

Mindy Dubansky recently posted other cool examples of owner repairs at ” It Seemed like a Good Idea at the Time: Crazy Book Repairs, Part One” In general, I don’t consider these types of repairs crazy, though. They are expedient. practical and reflective of the bookbinding knowledge of the owner, which is understandably low. Just don’t expect them to last too long.

December 15, 2015December 15, 2015

Losing It

At Hopes and Fears, Jared Fischer asks a variety of educators, neuroscientists, and others the question: “How long does it take to lose a skill?”

Most of the answers are theoretical, and the main consensus is that it is dependent on the skill and how it was acquired. Similar to the ‘you never forget how to ride a bicycle’ adage, crafts and activities that require extensive muscle memory to learn (and the least conscious attention to perform) tend to be the most durable. Many aspects of bookbinding and knife sharpening fall into this category, and these are some of the most difficult skills to initally learn.

It’s a great question, relating not only to the acquisition of craft skills, but the maintenance of them. Some answers in the article may contain seeds of argument for institutional conservators who feel they are trapped in front of a screen and need to justify bench time. But no practitioners were ask to self-report on their own experience, so I will ask myself.

Q: Jeff, how long does it takes to lose a skill?

A: I usually don’t subscribe to the idea that various crafts and skills sets are so different that there are isolated muscle memories associated with them. When I teach freehand knife sharpening, for example, I try to emphasize the relationship between sharpening and leather paring: the muscle memory that it takes to hold the knife freehand on the sharpening stone is closely related to the way you need to consistently hold the knife to pare. So in many regards, I think if you are active in some craft activity it can slow the erosion of neglected skills in another.

That said, when I was a kid I tried to learn how the juggle one summer. It seemed like hundreds of hours were spent, essentially in failure. But the next summer, I picked up the three balls and for some reason it just worked. Juggling may be pure muscle memory, since it primarily depends on how accurate you throw the ball. Now when I try it, I am not nearly as good, but can keep the balls in the air for a short time and suspect if I kept at it could return to a basic proficiency. So in this case, the skill is severely degraded, but not lost.

A dispiriting aspect of this question is that one’s intellectual knowledge of what constitutes skillful performance often increases during the time that the physical ability to accomplish this decreases.

Well worth reading other perspectives: “How long does it take to lose a skill?”

November 24, 2015November 24, 2015

A Guide to Swell

In bookbinding, the term “swell” describes the thicker area of a book block at the spine due to the addition of sewing thread. It depends on factors detailed below, but a binder or conservator generally does not have control over all these variables. Knowing how to estimate the amount of swell that will develop is one of the most important aspects when planning to sew a book, since it corrolates to the degree of round and the shape of the shoulders that a book will end up with.

Different binding styles need different amounts of swell. Too much swell creates a textblock that is unstable, squiggly, and difficult to back. Too little swell and there are insufficent shoulders which are necessary for some styles of binding. In all case binding structures, there is more leeway with amount of swell, and as long as it is not excessive it will be sucessful; with bound books the tolerances are much tighter. For example, if you are resewing an existing text block it is critical the new shoulders exactly fit the original boards.

Softer, multi-ply threads afford much more control of swell while sewing as compared to a hard modern thread. Currently, I primarily use threads sold by Colophon Book Arts, including the Colophon Best Blake Thread and the Londonderry Linen Lacing Cord #4. Both can be deplyed if desired to make them thinner. I also prefer to support smaller, specialist bookbinding supply companies. If you are using standard threads, 25/3 is a reasonable starting place.

Many early binding structures—even up to the late 18th century—manipulate the shape of the boards to fit the spine, rather than the modern fine binding tendency to fit the boards to a 90 degree shoulder. This makes it easier to fit a wider range of boards to a given swell. Obviously, this is not an option for many binding structures.

There is no formula, instead these ten aspects need to be considered:

1. THICKNESS OF THREAD. Thick thread (or more plys) = more swell. Thin thread (or fewer plys) = less swell. Although not ideal, the thickness of thread can be changed during sewing if too much or too little swell develops.

2. HOW HARD OR SOFT THE THREAD IS. Hard thread does not flatten in the signatures = more swell. Soft thread flattens in the signatures = less swell. A compressible thread gives more control. It is often advisable to untwist hard modern threads a bit to make them softer by running them through your fingernail and thumb, and let them relax. Waxing thread also makes it harder, so I generally avoid it if possible. Sometimes excessive kinking and twisting comes from using too small of a needle. Softer thread can fray more during sewing, though.

3. THICKNESS OF THE TEXT PAPER. Thick paper absorbs more thread = less swell. Thin paper absorbs less thread = more swell.

4. HOW HARD OF SOFT THE PAPER IS. Soft paper absorbs more of the thread = less swell. Hard paper absorbs less thread = more swell. It is easier to control swell with softer paper. Guarding the spine will increase swell. Washing and resizing can also affect how much swell develops. Swell can also be adjusted before sewing by beating or otherwise compressing the sections.

5. HOW MANY LEAVES ARE IN EACH SIGNATURE. More leaves can absorb more thread = less swell. Fewer leaves = more swell.

6. HOW MANY SIGNATURES THERE ARE. More signatures = more swell. Fewer signatures = less swell. Some binders like to visualize this by wrapping the thread around a pencil the same number of times as there are signatures.

7. SEWING STYLE. All-along, two-on, three-on, etc. All-along produces the most swell, more “-on” sewing styles = less swell. Packed sewing produces more swell due to a small overlap of thread. This can be controlled, to produce naturally packed sewing, which has one length of thread on the cords for each signature.

8. SEWING SUPPORTS. Tapes, cords, thongs. Tapes produce the least swell, cords and thongs slightly more since the thread can overlap slightly inside the signature. Supports also differ in the amount of adjustment that can be done after sewing, ie. how much the thread can move on the supports during consolidation and backing. A professional sewing frame, such as the Nokey makes this easier.

9. HOW MUCH CONSOLIDATION IS PERFORMED DURING SEWING. More consolidation during sewing= less swell. I have often observed students sewing identical text blocks, with identical thread, end up with significantly different results. A loaded stick, or knocking down stick can help with compression, although some people prefer to use a bone folder or wedge shaped piece of wood.

10. TIGHTNESS OF SEWING. Tighter sewing makes a thinner book before pressing. Looser sewing can develop due to improper tensioning or too large of a needle. A book sewn too tightly can develop a “banana” shape, thinner at the kettle stitch. Even tension is crucial.

Best practice: sew with the thickest thread possible.