Some machine gilding

My relationship with the darling gilding machine continues. During the past two months I have come to like this so much that I seem to prefer it over hand gilding. I tend to get sporadically interested in everything - this month it's the gilding machine and all possible brands of slightly kitschy gold foil, the next month something else. Hopefully fine binding and leather tooling. The good thing in this steady rotation is that when I'm interested in something I'm getting so intense about it that I usually learn a lot. When I have learnt a thing or two I move on, but only to come back some point later in time to learn more and to practise. This is also one of the reasons why I have never been able to accommodate myself in standard routines of work and school.



As I mentioned in my last post I have been busy binding newspapers and magazines. Here's a picture of some of them finished - the books are quite large and thick and I have covered them with black bookcloth. The set pictured features titles gilt with foil on separate pieces of Miradur (a type of durable PVC coated paper, easy to gild).

Alive and well, living only in theory!

Lately I have been very busy with work and other things. Because I haven't had much time to write anything, here's a picture of me drilling magazines. Oh yes!

Impressions

Recent book finds

I like to go to fleamarkets and every now and then I make nice book finds. I have been wanting to purchase The Forsyte Saga in some form or other, so naturally I just stumbled upon it earlier this week. This set of four books in pristine condition cost me a couple of euros, it's a Finnish translation but that doesn't bother me. Finds like these make perfect practice pieces for leather bindings, but because the books are so neat and surprisingly nice looking I might even leave them the way they are now. All right, let's admit it - I did immediately have this brilliant vision of turning them into a set of four quarter bindings which, when shelved together, would form a gigantic hand tooled head of Soames or something. I struggle to prevent myself from doing it.

I also found a copy of Friday's Child by Georgette Heyer. I find myself fascinated by all the sartorialism and tea drinking this book seems to advocate. However, in a couple of months or so it will probably turn in to several little book necklaces, or dismantle itself for random collage pieces that will travel to all the corners of the world. So.. so, that's all!

WWJLD

Slowly getting back to the books. I know I haven't been much of a blogger or even a binder lately, but I'm still alive. During the last two months I have been mostly just organising things (also dismantling some, it seems) and now that everything's organised, I'm ready to start working on something. I have a reason to believe that this autumn and winter will both provide more than enough time for just about every project I have been intending to do. I kind of like the idea. We'll see what comes out of this all.

Hand tooling with gold

I have spent an interesting summer week with Gianfranco Mombelli, who came from Switzerland to teach us hand tooling and gilding. I have never really done gilding with gold leaf so I learnt lots - even if I wasn't always around. My dear white enamel stove from the 60's ended his earthly life in the middle of the week with a loud crack and some smoke and soot, so I had to take one day off looking for a new one. To be honest I learnt so much on Monday that I just spent the rest of the week digesting all the information and pondering about different ideas and approaches. I did find a new stove too.


During the week I also bought a couple of pallets and punches which are pictured above. I don't own a great many tools so I'm always happy when I have the chance to buy some. Hand tooling with pallets and leaf gold was my favourite part of the week because it was easy enough for me to handle and I've always liked polishing my skills detail by detail. I have previously tooled with foil and found tooling with gold leaf much more delightful and rewarding. I created my first title with brass type and typeholder, tooled a bit of this and that, and practised some basic edge gilding with Franco.


This is my very first gilt edge, which was done with paste, Aurofix and gold leaf. It was surprisingly difficult to take a decent picture.. then again, now no-one can see how crappy the edge really is. Some parts of the edge dried so fast that the gold flaked off, some parts were just fine, and some parts still showed marks from the scraper. Ha! Always do your best with the prepping. I'm happy with it anyway, because I finally understand the process and am ready to practice on my own. Always do your best with the prepping, and always make sure your scraper has been sharpened the right way.

Sketchbook

Some of you wished to see more of the handdyed bookcloth, so here it is again in a bit more "processed" form. This book belongs in my line of A6 (approximately postcard) sized sketchbooks that I make for my Etsy bookshop and the PikkuPutiikit shop in Tampere, Finland. I like to think these books as small everyday luxuries, something you can either give as a gift or keep yourself; The world is full of ordinary blank books so I kind of thought I might as well make something slightly different then. Because all these books are covered with the handdyed cloth none of them are exactly identical.




These books don't have separate glued-on endpapers, which in fact makes them a bit sturdier, as the 160g/m² paper of the book block is pasted straight to the inner covers and the hinge area is reinforced with mull. Through personal experience, I have come to the conclusion that since visual journals and sketchbooks are often carried around and altered with different kinds of media, they have to be compact and hard-wearing - even if they were rather small in size like these ones.



The book pictured is at the moment for sale on my Etsy bookshop, so in case you're interested you can find it here. I will be adding more books in the following weeks now that I have sold most of my old work and the shop looks quite empty. I'm still open for commissioned work too, but my turnaround times might be a bit longer than usual, being the summer and all.

I also want to take this opportunity to say hi to all the new people reading my blog - I appreciate it and it's nice to meet you, so thanks for following!

Reference literature for headbands

· Headbands, How to Work Them, by Jane Greenfield & Jenny Hille
This is a great little book that introduces the reader to 14 different headband designs, from simple styles like the French double headband to more exotic ones including Armenian and Islamic headbands. It offers a nice variety with illustrated step-by-step instructions. I have yet to teach myself all the interesting designs in this book. Published by Oak Knoll Press.

· The Thames and Hudson Manual of Bookbinding, by Arthur W. Johnson
The ever-so-useful Thames and Hudson bookbinding manual offers a description and easy to understand instructions on how to sew a single and double core headbands with the bead on the front. This book is also highly recommended for anyone who wants to learn the basics of bookbinding and some of its history.

· Modern Bookbinding, by Alex J. Vaughan
Has a couple of pages describing the process of sewing a single core headband with the bead on the front. There are some simple drawings included.

· Fine Bookbinding - A Technical Guide by Jen Lindsay
For those interested in fine binding, this would be a great step-by-step reference book. It also features illustrated instructions on how to sew a classic double core headband. However, if you don't work with leather bindings this book will be of no use to you and I'd recommend you to buy a more versatile reference manual, just for the sake of saving money.

· Bookbinding & Conservation by Hand: A Working Guide, by Laura S. Young
I haven't had the chance to read this book myself but according to Jane Greenfield and Jenny Hille, this book gives instructions for sewing single and double core headbands, German style headbands and headbands that are extensions of the sewing of the book block. This book is often recommended and seems to be a good overall manual of bookbinding.


I know there are tons of manuals that have information and instructions for coptic headbands, braided headbands and other historical designs, so if you happen to know any just let me know! Will add them to the list.

Vintage fabrics

The May Day is getting close and I have tried my best to do absolutely nothing! So I thought I'd just share a couple of pictures of these new blank books I have made for Onnia Fabric. The books are covered with vintage and antique Finnish home textiles. Adding to the uniqueness of each book, many of the textiles used are handmade and/or hand embroidered.



The philosophy of Onnia Fabric is to rescue and repurpose beautiful fabrics and create all sorts of neat and practical things such as household items and jewelry out of them. Naturally, some of the old fabrics may have small flaws like holes or rusty stains but all the clean parts of them can be used for new creations. I love this concept so I decided to collaborate: Anni chooses the fabrics from her vast collection, maybe gives me some ideas, and I make them materialise as these universal books that can be used as journals, guestbooks, sketchbooks..



The books pictured in this post are sized approximately A6 and feature 100 pages of off-white paper, and you can find them and a couple of other ones for sale on Onnia Fabric online shop.

Thoughts on paper

As a person who likes to sketch, smudge and cover everything with paint I'm a bit selective with the papers and the structure of the books I bind. I need them to be compact, open well, resist wear and tear, tolerate odd water media and not fall apart.

I mostly use fine, archival quality Munken papers which are manufactured in Europe by Arctic Paper. My favourite is the off-white and cream shade Munken Pure which is FSC & PEFC certified, uncoated and fully biodegradable. In some of the chunkier sketchbooks I like to use sturdy drawing papers like Canson Mi-Teintes, which seems to be suitable not just for pastels but for all sorts of media including inks, acrylics, pens, pencils and even tea or watercolour. I have tried them all and am entirely satisfied with the results! I have made the same experiment with 120 g/m² Munken Pure, with similar success. Never until now I have understood how much I love good paper.

When I ruin a book experiment I usually repurpose it as a personal journal - the sketchbook pictured above was screwed up last year and then got quietly decorated with ink portraits of V. Butusov (...). I find it easier to draw in awful looking books. As long as the paper is fine, everything is fine.

On the edge

(Jesus, I stole that title from some ancient bookbinding article)
I spent the whole day today trimming book blocks:


The tools of the trade:


This great basic plough, along with the beechwood cutting/laying press, is manufactured by J. Hewit & Sons - who by the way have the most oustanding service, remember them if you ever need to mail order any bookbinding tools or machinery. I got these both a couple of years ago and they're brilliant.


When I was studying bookbinding I never had the chance to use a plough, so I taught myself. The basics are very simple - Decide how much you need to cut off the edge, cover the book with a couple of loose mill boards, fasten with masking tape, put the book in the press. Stand or sit with the press leaning to your stomach. Don't try to plough too fast: Only cut a couple of papers at one time, turn the handle a bit tighter every time you pull the plough up ie. towards yourself. You can always rush it through like crazy if you want, but you'll usually end up with a ruined, torn edge. With some time and patience you'll get edges that are smooth enough to gild - to me bookbinding is about slow pleasure, anyway.


The best thing is, it doesn't even matter what kind of shit edge you have. This book was bound of nice drawing paper I repurposed from a big, ugly guestbook I never used for anything. I'm not the most pedant bookbinder so if I already know I'm about to trim the edges I just cobble something together and then trim it nicely afterwards. Here are some random wonky blocks from today: