A useful suggestion from The New York Botanical Garden (this appears in the Midwest Chapters newsletter): In our bindery at NYBG we have two 40" Jacques board shears which had been refitted with new wooden beds and 1" square steel rails on the table. We discovered that over time the rails on our shears had become slightly warped and off square (probably from using a steel square as a left-hand gauge against the rail). We ordered an "Easy-Rider" left-hand gauge from Robert Espinosa, which he makes to fit the Vagelli board shears. In order to use the "Easy Rider" we had to have new rails created which matched the size of those on the Vagelli. The rails were made by the servicemen at Ace Grinding (address and phone # in the GBW Supply Directory) and installed in one afternoon. It was not inexpensive but certainly much less expensive than purchasing a Vagelli. Now our shears are square and our new gauge glides with ease across the rails. We would recommend this upgrade to anyone who has a model worth retrofitting. Call us if you have any questions about our project to upgrade our Jacques. Erin Vigneau and Judith Reed, Conservation Dept., NY Botanical Library, Bronx, NY 10458; (718)817-8754.
Equipment available
Eleanor Peters, (Mrs. William), 92 Timber Drive, Storrs, CT 06268, 203/429-1970, is selling her bookbinding equipment and supplies. She says it is in perfect condition, the price is negotiable, but shipping costs would have to be paid.
The bookbinding unit, purchased together in France in 1976, consists of: stitching frame, backing vise, finishing press/standard press, and plough.
The supplies include: a few Morocco grain goat skins; Italian papers for endpapers; acid-free paper; one cutting board with metal blade and guide, 24" x 24".
Smaller items, such as books on bookbinding, animal glue, linen thread and headband thread, etc.Call her for more details and/or arrangements to view.
Casing (book) press. Pete Jermann has designed a light-weight, portable casing press that has its screw placed toward one edge so as to apply pressure closer to the books spine. Special edged press boards slide into the upper and lower platens much like drawers; the platens have a broad notch cut into them so that they ride up and down on the side posts as the press is opened and closed. The press fits on the edge of a bench, held by C-clamps. The casing press costs $300; a stand for it is $125; and backing boards are $75. Shipping is $25. They also have a fangluing press - an aligning device for production of fan-glued bindings - which sells for $300 + $10 shipping. Contact Pete Jermann at TeMPeR Productions, 117 South 14th St., Olean, NY 14760 (716/373-9450). Their e-mail address: 76242.3073@compuserve.com
Copy cradle for fragile books. A new copy cradle has been designed specifically for conservators and librarians who work with rare books. The cradle holds a book in position under a copy camera and minimizes stress to the binding and pages by holding the book open at a small angle and flattening only the pages on the side being photographed. The cradle also speeds up the copying process by making the repetitve handling tasks associated with copying a book easier for the copyist. For details contact Curt Lang, 216-B West 17th St., North Vancouver, BC, Canada V7M 1V6 (604/985-4794).
For Sale: Hand bookbinding mail-order business of finely-bound notebooks, journals, portfolios, boxes, etc. Customer base throughout the U.S., as well as Canada, Europe and elsewhere. All sales via catalog. Respond to: The Bindery on Main, 1074 Monroe Street, Eugene, OR 97402. (503) 342-7439. Hugh D. Stump.
This from Sam Ellenport:
In conjunction with research underway, I would appreciate hearing from any binder about the length of time it takes to do one or more of the following operations:
Measuring and making a drop-spine box in cloth and/or leather,
including titling, for an octavo.
Rebinding an octavo in and full leather, including new
endleaves, trimming, gilding, titling, etc, assume the
book is soundly sewn.
Above two projects, but in quantities of 10 and 25.
Please be as specific as possible and feel free to elaborate
on structures used, materials, techniques, etc. Send information
to Sam Ellenport, c/o Harcourt Bindery, 51 Melcher St. Boston, MA 02210.
Fax 617.451.9058. I would appreciate knowing who you are, though I will
not use any names in future articles without permission.