Here is a quick tour around the workshop to see some of the tools and equipment that I use to bind books. Some are familiar but some are not seen so often. Please ignore the mess, there is always a lot of stuff lying around.
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The presses are crucial and there are three kinds:
Firstly the laying press. This is used to hold the books firmly while working on them in various ways during the binding process. I have several of these but this one is my favourite.
Next comes the nipping press which is used when a book has to be pressed very hard indeed. Again I have a few of these but this one can apply some serious pressure. You can just see a crowbar on the wall behind which is used for that extra bit of tightening.
Finally the gilding press which is used to firmly but delicately hold the book so that gold tooling can be applied to the spine. This particular press was designed by Geert van Daal and it is a fantastic thing. The whole press is mounted on a ball and socket joint, so the book can be worked at from any angle very easily. This is very helpful. As anyone who has tried it knows, gilding is a tricky enough business without having to deal with awkward angles. Here I am just finishing the gilding on volume 2 of a Little Dorrit first edition.
And the gold is applied using heated brass tools. I use two kinds:
Firstly the gilding rolls. These have a repeated continuous pattern embossed on them so they can be used for long lines or shorter ones. The most commonly used ones are a dotted line or a single line - you can see these patterns on the Little Dorrit above.
Then there are the hand tools and pallets. These have various designs. Here are some of the ones that I use most, including the tool used on the Little Dorrit above, a tool I use a lot as you can see!
I have marbled paper salvaged from disbound antiquarian books.
And also from fantastic paper makers who still use traditional methods today.
Here is some of my leather
And plain paper, also salvaged from old books. This is vital if the endpapers are going to match.
I can see some books waiting to be bound lying on the worktop. Two sets of Dickens' Master Humphrey's Clock. And on top something very special for me…..
…. a first edition of The Pickwick Papers. Completely disbound but the text block and plates are in beautiful condition. Even more important: it is the very earliest print of this book. As Dickens nerds will tell you this has four stripes (not six) on the footstool pictured on the frontispiece and Veller (not Weller) on the pub sign pictured on the illustrated title page. A thing to behold!
Some bookbinding tools change the way you work entirely. Dutch bookbinder Geert van Daal has perfected an electrically heated hand tool for holding and heating brass gilding tools of all kinds as well as rolls and pallets. The thermostat keeps the tool at a constant temperature at all times. It has revolutionised the way I work. Sometimes the old finishing stove has to come out but this heated holder is wonderful. Also pictured are some of my most commonly used finishing tools and pallets.
Finally, I use these two machines for embossing gold lettering on leather using heated type. It is mostly used for leather spine labels.
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