CHAPTER X.
GLUEING
UP.
The book must now be glued up; that is, glue must be
applied to the back to hold the sections together, and make
the back firm during the rounding and backing. Knock the
book perfectly true at its back and head, and put it into
the lying press between two pieces of old mill-board; expose
the back and let it project from the boards a little, the
object being to hold the book firm and to keep the slips
close to the sides, so that no glue shall get on them;
then with glue, not too thick, but hot, glue the back,
rubbing it in with the brush, and take the overplus off
again with the brush. In some shops, a handful of shavings
is used to rub the glue in, and to take the refuse
away, but I consider this to be a bad plan, as a great
quantity of glue is wasted.
The Germans rub the glue into the back with the back
of a hammer, and take away the overplus with the brush;
this is certainly better than using shavings. The back
must not be allowed to get too dry before it is rounded, or
it will have to be damped with a sponge, to give to the
glue the elasticity required, but it should not be wet, this
being worse than letting it get too dry. The book should
be left for about an hour, or till it no longer feels tacky
to the touch, but still retains its flexibility. A flexible
bound book should first be rounded, a backing board being
used to bring the sheets round instead of a hammer, then
the back glued, and a piece of tape tied round the book to
prevent its going back flat. |46|
But all books are not glued up in the press; some workmen
knock up a number of books, and, allowing them to
project a little over their press, glue the lot up at once;
others again, by holding the book in the left hand and
drawing the brush up and down the back. These last
methods are, however, only practised in cloth shops, where
books are bound or cased at very low prices. The proper
way, as I have explained, is to put the book in the lying
press. The book is then laid on its side to dry, and if
more than one, they should be laid alternately back and
foredge, with the back projecting about half an inch, and
allowed to dry spontaneously, and on no account to be
dried by the heat of a fire. All artificial heat in drying in
any process of bookbinding is injurious to the work.
CHAPTER XI.
ROUNDING.
The
word “rounding” applies to the back of the book,
and is preliminary to backing. In rounding the back, the
book is to be laid on the press before the workman with
the foredge towards him; the book is then to be held with
the left hand by placing the thumb on the foredge and
fingers on the top of the book pointing towards the back,
so that by drawing the fingers towards the thumb, or by
pressing fingers and thumb together, the back is drawn
towards the workman at an angle. In this position
the back is struck with the face of the hammer, beginning
in the centre, still drawing the back over with
the left hand. The book is then to be turned over, and
the other side treated in the same way, and continually
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changed or turned from one side to the other until it has
its proper form, which should be a part of a circle. When
sufficiently rounded, it should be examined to see if one
side be perfectly level with the other, by holding the book
up and glancing down its back, and gently tapping the
places where uneven, until it is perfectly true or uniform.
The thicker the book the more difficult it will be found to
round it; and some papers will be found more obstinate
than others, so that great care must be exercised both in
rounding and backing, as the foredge when cut will have
exactly the same form as the back. Nothing can be more
annoying than to see books lop-sided, pig-backed, and with
sundry other ailments, inherent to cheap bookbinding.
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The back when properly rounded should be about a third
of a circle, according to the present mode, but in olden times
they were made almost flat. They were not rounded as
now done, but the swelling caused by the thread used
made quite enough rounding when put in the press for
backing.
Flat back books have a certain charm about them, the
more so if in other respects they are properly forwarded.
The theory is altogether averse to practical binding. I
have always been given to understand that we round our
books in order to counteract the tendency of a book to sink
in and assume a convex back. Any old well-used book
bound with a flat back will show at once this defect.
Messrs. Hopkinson and Cope, of Farringdon Road,
London, manufacture a rounding machine. They claim that
this machine will round 600 books per hour, and that any
desired “round” may be given to the book with great
uniformity.
CHAPTER XII.
BACKING.
The boards required for backing, called backing boards,
should always be the same length as the book. They are
made somewhat thicker than cutting boards, and have
their tops planed at an angle, so that the sheets may fall
well over.
Hold the book in the left hand, lay a board on one side,
a little away from the back, taking the edge of the top
sheet as a guide, the distance to be a trifle more than the
thickness of the boards intended to be used. Then |49|
turn over the book, with the backing board, holding
the board to the book by the thumb, so that it does not
shift, and lay the other board at exactly the same distance
on the other side. The whole is now to be held tightly by
the left hand and lowered into the press. The boards may
possibly have shifted a little
during the process, and any
correction may now be made
whilst the press holds the book
before screwing up tight, such
as a slight tap with the hammer
to one end of a board that may not be quite straight.
Should the boards however be not quite true, it will be
better to take the whole out and readjust them, rather than
lose time in trying to rectify the irregularity by any other
method. If the rounding is not quite true it will be seen
at once, and the learner must not be disheartened if he has
to take his book out of the press two or three times to
correct any slight imperfection.
| Before Backing. |
After Backing. |
The book and boards having been lowered flush with the
cheeks of the press, screw it up as tightly as possible with the
iron hand-pin. The back of the book must now be gently
struck with the back of the hammer, holding it slanting
and beating the sheets well over towards the backing
boards. Commence from the centre of the back and do |50|
not hit too hard, or the dent made by the hammer will
show after the book has been covered. The back is to be
finished with the face of the hammer, the sheets being
brought well over on the boards so that a good and solid
groove may be made. Each side must be treated in the same
way, and have the same amount of weight and beating.
The back must have a gradual hammering, and the sheets,
when knocked one way, must not be knocked back again.
The hammer should be swung with a circular motion,
always away from the centre of the back. The book, when
opened after backing, should be entirely without wrinkles;
their presence being a sign that the workman did not know his
business, or that it was carelessly done. Backing and cutting
constitute the chief work in forwarding, and if these two
are not done properly the book cannot be square and solid—two
great essentials in bookbinding.
Backing flexible work will be found a little more difficult,
as the slips are tighter; but otherwise the process is exactly
the same, only care must be taken not to hammer the cord
too much, and to bring over the sections very gently, in
order not to break the sewing thread.
Two-edged Backing Boards.
The backing boards may be replaned
from time to time, as they become used,
but boards may be had having a double
face of steel to them; these may be used
from either side. The edges of the steel
must not be sharp, or they will cut the
paper when backing. The ordinary boards
may also have a face of steel screwed to
them, but I prefer to use the wood—one
can get a firmer back without fear of
cutting the sheets.
There are several backing machines by different makers
but they are all of similar plan. The book being first
rounded is put between the cheeks, and the roller at the
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top presses the sheets over. I am sorry to say that a great
number of sheets get cut by this process, especially when a
careless man has charge of the machine.
CHAPTER XIII.
MILL-BOARDS.
There is no
occasion to wait for the book to be advanced
as far as the backing before the workman sees to his boards;
but he should take advantage of the period of drying to
prepare them, to look out the proper thickness of the board,
and to line them with paper either on one side or on both.
There are now so many kinds of mill-boards made that a
few words about them may not be out of place. The best
boards are made of old rope, and cost about £30 per ton.
The various mills make each a different quality, the prices
ranging down to £14 per ton; about this price the straw
boards may be said to commence, they going as low as £7,
and even less.
A new board has lately appeared called leather board;
it is exceedingly hard and durable. I made several experiments
with this board, but up to the present have not
succeeded in getting it to lay flat on the book.
Boards are made to the various sizes in sheets varying from pott
(17 1 ⁄ 4
×
14 1 ⁄ 4
inches) to double elephant (40 × 28 inches). The
thickness is known as 6d., 7d., 8d.; 8x, or eightpenny one cross;
8xx, eightpenny two cross; X for tenpenny. Here is a list in full of
all the boards likely to be
used:—|52|