Tag: delrin folder

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Layered Adhesives: How to Reduce PVA Use by 80% on Paper-backed Bookcloth

Fig. 1. The adhesives used in this post. Left: Aytex P wheat starch paste. Middle: Jade 403N PVA. Right: Lascaux 498HV. A simpler variant just uses paste and PVA.

PVA (PVAc, Polyvinyl Acetate) is the adhesive most commonly used in book conservation to make cloth covered drop-spine boxes. Most of my clients prefer these to other types of boxes. For large and heavy books there are few other options.

While PVA is convenient and sometimes necessary for boxmaking, offgassing is a concern. The Library of Congress ( LC poster) found PVA is still offgassing after 6 years! Apart from potential damage to objects, it’s a plastic; most of us are trying to use as little as possible. The offgassing from PVA will not cause instant flaming death for books, it’s not ideal for longterm storage. Books with copper alloy bosses and clasps are especially vulnerable. Box structures like a cradle box, which have many layers of cloth–adhesive–board are most likely offgassing much more than a standard box. The Library of Congress study found that even a box made with 90% paste and 10% PVA still offgasses enough to fail the Oddy test. However, the concentration was much less than straight PVA. As I understand it, testing is ongoing, including other of adhesives like EVA.

There is not a single convenient and cost-effective substitute for PVA. What to do?

Fig. 2. Thick Aytex P wheat starch paste. For this purpose, straining is not necessary, the lumps get smoothed out on when pasting out. Or you can use your fingers. This is the way bookbinders traditionally used flour paste. Paper conservators, please don’t freak out.

Paste is difficult to work on paper backed bookcloth because of the slowness of drying, problems with adhering edges and turn-ins, bubbling during drying, unpredictable stretching, and weak cloth-to-cloth bonds. An example of cloth-to-cloth bonds are when the trays are attached to the case of a drop spine box, so two outsides of the cloth need to stick together. Lascaux 498HV (an acrylic) is expensive, dries quickly, but also forms a fairly weak exterior face cloth-to-cloth bond. PVA is, well, PVA. I’ve heard of several different approaches, sometimes involving methyl cellulose, but they all pre-mix the adhesives together. 

In my Layered Adhesive technique, different brushes are used for each layer directly on the cloth instead of mixing adhesives together before application. It sounds a little like amateur hour — I know — but allow me to explain. Each layer of adhesive performs a different function. I’ve been using this technique on all my boxes since 2023.

PVA use is reduced by about 80%. Paste provides most of the adhesion, small amounts of Lascaux add extra tack to prevent unadhered areas at turnins, corners and board edges. I’ve found PVA is still necessary when attaching the walls to the base of the trays, and when attaching the cloth covered trays to the case. I’ve only used this technique with Halflinnen cloth because I use it all the time. I imagine other paper backed cloths would be suitable, possibly with some modification.

A simpler variation just uses paste and PVA, instead of Lascaux in some areas. Even this cuts down on PVA consumption considerably.

THE TECHNIQUE 

Fig. 3. Coating the Halflinnen cloth with paste. Note the thick paste. A tiny jar of Lascaux 498HV uses a  separate container and brush.
Fig. 4. Adding a layer of  Lascaux on the edges of the board. The paste thins the Lascaux and adds more open drying time. The Lascaux greatly helps adhesion when turning in, preventing bubbles, etc… Stretching the cloth is still a problem, so it needs to be handled carefully.

OVERVIEW OF THE LAYERED ADHESIVE TECHNIQUE

  • Paste, Lascaux, and PVA all use separate brushes and are kept in separate containers.
  • Paper to board, and board to board adhesion uses thick (6g starch per 100ml water) wheat starch paste
  • Corners and board edges get a thin coat of Lascaux 498HV on top of the paste. This makes them easier to adhere than paste alone, and I find there are less problems with delamination or bubbling during drying. The Lascaux gets diluted when applied on top of the paste.
  • If making a 3 piece case, for example, use paste then put a little Lascaux 498HV on the head, tail and foreedge turn-in areas. Similarly, when casing-in, use paste then add a strip of Lascaux 498HV on the edges of the pastedown, where it overlaps the cloth turn-ins on the case.
  • When making drop-spine box trays, I find the strength of PVA necessary to attach the walls to the base.
  • When attaching the cloth-covered trays to the case, use paste, with a coat of PVA on top, at the edges, again at the exterior cloth-to-cloth attachments.

ADVANTAGES 

  • Paste is cheaper than PVA
  • Paste is better for the environment
  • Less PVA equals less offgassing
  • Paste stiffenens the cloth/board much more than PVA; I like the feel. It is also perfect for stiffening the wedges in a cradle box
  • The cloth is easier to smoosh together at joins and blends nicer
  • Paste flattens the fibers on the cloth so it feels smoother
  • Paste works wonderfully for adhering double walls together; a little slip then bam they stick
  • There is less waste than premixing paste with other adhesives
  • Paste has a long open working time
  • Ideal for cradle boxes with many cloth/adhesive layers

DISADVANTAGES

  • Paste has a long open working time
  • Uses more brushes, longer cleanup
  • There is a small learning curve, and it takes more time when working compared to PVA. Then again, if you are charging by the hour….
  • May not work for other bookcloths without modification
  • Cross contamination with paste of other adhesives, need to use up in a few days
  • This technique is likely more suited to making a one-off boxes, rather than production

SUPPLY SOURCES

Halflinnen paper backed book cloth. Colophon Book Arts Supply: https://www.colophonbookarts.com/paperboard/rohhalbleinen With commendable transparency the manufacturer provided information on the paper-to-cloth adhesive, which is a PVA (!) specifically Brand VA518 from Intercol (https://www.intercol.info/pva-glue/) Warning: This PVA can be reversed with an errant blob of paste left to soak in. Just saying. 

Jade 403N PVA. Conservation Resources. https://www.conservationresources.com/shop/jade-403n-adhesive/

Lascaux 498HV. New York Pigment Company. Recently formed by former employees of Kremer Pigments, which has closed. They are Kremer’s NY distributer. https://www.newyorkpigmentco.com/products/lascaux%C2%AE-acrylic-glue-498-hv

Aytex P Wheat Starch Paste. Polistini. https://polistini.com/products/wheat-starch-aytex-p

FURTHER RESEARCH

This isn’t perfect, but using less PVA is better than using more, right? I’m curious if others have found different workable techniques to cut down on PVA when used on bookcloth? Have you been able to eliminate it completely?

Fig. 5. An in-process cradle box, using the layered adhesive method. I just need to make the case and glue everything together. The flat spinepiece is an improvement from Annie Ujifusa, the wedge pull mounting (at the bottom) is Mitchel Gundrum’s idea, and I’ve started making these 5cm wide bookcloth pulls for ease of opening. Laminated with PVA of course!

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New Tool! The Fox Folder

The Fox Folder is ideal for miniature bookbinding.

The Fox Folder is a miniature version of a larger bone folder that Gabrielle Butler gradually modified over for years to fit her working methods. Reducing the size for miniature books proved challenging, since it had to function like the original while being comfortable to hold. 

This is a precision tool that can be used for all aspects of miniature binding. One end is rounded, and can be used for drawing down a line or getting into a tight area. The other is angled to get into corners both when building and covering miniature boxes. One side is straight and rounded for smoothing, the other thinner for detail work. The back is flatter, ideal for little turn-ins and board edges when covering. Although this description sounds complex, it becomes easily embodied in use.

Gabrielle Fox Butler is an internationally known bookbinder who specializes in miniature books. She has had a long interest in developing new tools and equipment for miniature bookbinding, including consulting on design with Frank Weisner for his presses and Jeff Peachey for this tool.

Delrin is an ideal material for the Fox Folder since it combines durability with a low coefficient of friction. This tool is a great way to improve the accuracy and quality of your miniature bindings. Supplied in a protective storage tube.  The Fox Folder. The price is for one folder, the images show both ends. 

Delrin. Approximately 3 x .5 x .15 inch. $75.00

Purchase Here

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Karen Hanmer’s Five Essential Bookbinding Tools

Karen Hanmer

Bookbinder in solo practice, http://www.karenhanmer.com/

Only FIVE?!

Maybe that’s not so limiting after all. Two experiences have taught me that with tools it is true that less is more. First: observing time lost when someone is forever rummaging through their steamer trunk-sized toolbox. Second: over my career learning to work more efficiently. An important component of this has been finding several uses for whatever tool is in my hand rather than suspending work to reach for another.

These are the essential tasks I perform:

fold

sew

measure

mark

cut

apply

press

All of these tasks can be accomplished with a very modest toolkit made up of the following five items.

1. Folder. Bone for a sharp crease on paper, Teflon for surfaces that might become burnished. A Delrin Folder combines the best properties of both.

2. Needle. A #18 John James is strong enough to go through any paper text block and the eye is large enough to thread effortlessly with sizes up to 18/3, and with some persistence 12/3. I use the same size for sewing endbands.

A needle in a pin vise becomes an awl, which can also be used to score, scribe lines, mark measurements, clean tooling, and apply adhesive or color to precise areas. A pin vise is more versatile than an awl because it can be outfitted with any size needle, sharp or blunt. I favor this one over Jim’s because it is narrow, rolls up with other tools for travel.

3. Knife. If limited to one, I’ll take an ergonomic scalpel handle and outfit it with a #23 Havel’s blade.

4. Straight edge. Not cork-backed. To make them non-skid I’ve been saving the ½-inch that remains after cutting the finest grit micro finishing films to fit sharpening plates and adhering that to the back of all my straightedges. Too fine to scratch whatever I place the straightedge on, and adds almost no thickness to skew my cuts.

5. Brushes. A selection appropriate in size to the area of adhesive being applied.

I’m going to consider the final two items freebies since they can be scrounged up in any home or office:

Paper “rulers.” Narrow strips of unprinted waste paper used with a pencil tick or fold mark to transfer measurements from one material to another, functioning as no-cost dividers, and sometimes better because they can measure spine width and other non-flat surfaces. These can also be used to mask areas when applying adhesive and to mark the center of sections when sewing endbands. [Note: this is called comparative measuring]

Weights.

I’d supplement a larger kit with the following:

A microspatula.

Dividers.

A small rectangle of non skid shelf lining anchors a finishing press in place, keeps beginners’ work from sliding all over the bench when they are learning to case in, and an even smaller piece will help grip a needle for binders who are losing their dexterity.

A small brass triangle with a handle is easy to grip and position, can mark corners prior to covering, is a stable mini straight edge, and doubles as a light weight to aid in placement.

The variety of machinist square called a “footed square” ensures book blocks and boards are square, aids transfer of marks at the board edge to the point of lacing, and is another light-duty weight.

A thin, narrow folder is essential for forming headcaps and doubles as a short-handled microspatula.

An inexpensive English paring knife separate from the one I use to pare leather for utility cutting: back corners, pre shaping boards prior to sanding, and cutting off excess cords and leather “pegs” on historical bindings.