Tag: bookbinding

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Census of Beating Hammers

When I was at the Conservation lab of the National Library of Wales last week, I noticed they had a very fine example of a Harrild & Sons beating hammer.  The other side of the hammer, in equally impressive large letters reads “LONDON.”

The polished rim is similar to the Hickock I own.  It is a bit curious why the rims are polished so far up- I can’t imagine the hammer being used  on its side.  The hammer weighed almost 10 pounds (4.5 kg.) and the head had a fair amount of belly and 4.75 inch (12 cm) diameter. The handle is a replacement.

The Bodleian library’s blog, Oxford UK also has a nice unmarked beating hammer pictured, which looks early 19th century to me, just guessing from the smooth casting and more gradual transition from the face to the segmented head.

But beating hammers are fairly hard to find, so far I know of only a few.  I’m going to atttempt to keep up to date a census of know examples, any other examples (and photos) are much appreaciated.

CENSUS OF BEATING HAMMERS

American Bookbinders Museum. (not yet accessioned) Hoole?

Bodleian Bindery.  19th century unidentified, bell shaped. Harrild?

Boston Athenaeum Conservation Lab. Looks like a Hoole.

Cambridge University Conservation Lab.  19th century, bell shaped.

Harcourt Bindery, Boston. Very large 4″ face. Illegible markings” MAR—SON & Co., BOSTON”

Anne Kahle, Capriconus School of  Bookbinding and Restoration. Hickock.

Richard Minskey. A medium and large Hickock.

North Bennett Street School, Bookbinding Department. I think a Hoole.

Jeff Peachey. A small Hickock, an unidentified make (possibly not even a beating hammer) and a French style one.

St. Catherine’s Monastery Bindery, Mount Sinai. Two reported hammers.

The National Library of Wales.  A Harrild & Sons.

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Blank Book Sewing Frame, Part Two

Earlier this year I wrote a post about the  Hickock Blank Book Sewing Frame.  I finally got to see one in person this past weekend, thanks to Karen Hanmer, bookbinder and book artist, who brought it to the Historic Cloth Case Class I was teaching at Columbia College, in Chicago last week.

It is a very cool sewing frame, beautifully made, and works for all types of sewing supports: cords, tapes or thongs.  The brass t-slots are stamped with the a Hickock logo in the middle (barely visible in this image) and I think the brass is the same thickness and size as the large pressboards that they also manufactured. A small screwdriver type tool tightens or loosens the buttons.  She mentioned that the only drawback is that because of the size of the buttons, supports cannot be spaced too closely together.  I suspect that the only reason the top bar is adjustable is that the uprights were  a standard Hickock product.  Also the front keeps the frame from sliding around, although the lighter colored wood in the bottom picture appears to be either a replacement or later addition.  Because the supports are at the front of the frame, it is much easier to start sewing, or sew in the round.  The buttons make tensioning the supports a breeze, with no complex knots or keys to deal with.  In the 1920’s, this frame cost $15.00, verses $4.50 for a standard frame about the same size, which may be why it didn’t became more popular.

I was so impressed by the frame, that I have started experimenting making a modern version, out of aluminum, with closer spacing for the supports, and with a little luck I should have a prototype by the end of the summer.   I plan to make the uprights on a hinge, so that the frame, when collapsed, will be less than two inches in thickness for easy, dust-free storage.

Images courtesy of Karen Hanmer.

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The Use of Parchment to Reinforce Split Wooden Bookboards

I was quite pleased to receive the new Journal of the Institute of Conservation, Vol. 33, No. 1, 2010, since Alexis Hagadorn and I have an article included in it titled “The use of parchment to reinforce split wooden bookboards, with preliminary observations into the effects of RH cycling on these repairs”

Here is the abstract:

“Split wooden boards are a common problem in early book bindings, and treatment can be complicated by the need to disturb original components as little as possible. A technique used to reinforce or rejoin fully or partially split wooden boards using parchment has been evaluated. A reinforcing parchment strip has sometimes been employed to treat cracks in wooden musical instruments and examples of reinforcing strip repairs to wooden bookboards have also been observed. The books considered in this article presented an opportunity to use this technique and make observations about its merits. With favourable results but some questions, the authors undertook a systematic study of this method, considering and comparing several options for re-joining split wooden boards. Samples of some common repair techniques were made and subjected to relative humidity cycling to compare how each method might withstand extreme RH fluctuations at a constant temperature. The response of reinforcing strip repairs to RH changes showed a negative impact on join adhesion within the sample group, which may indicate that modifications are necessary to improve this technique. When re-examined after three years, the treated boards were intact and stable.”

It took over four years from the start of the project until the revised manuscript was accepted for publication, but it is gratifying to see the results of our research, and images of a couple of my treatments in a peer reviewed journal.  Unfortunately, the journal is not available online yet, although I have heard it is in the works.  And if you are not a member of ICON, this single issue costs, gulp, $228.oo!