by Bill Minter

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Over the years, I have heard that binders will use a carpenter’s square to test the squareness of the fence on a board shear. While this may work, there is another way that should be more accurate, at least when one considers mathematics, and specifically geometry.

Take a large, approximately 18″ square, sheet of thin cardstock, such as 10 pt. or 20 pt. map folder stock. Align one edge to the fence, make a cut and identify that as #1. Align that #1 edge on the fence and make adjacent cut #2 —you are obviously cutting in a clockwise rotation with the most recent cut along the fence:

by Bill Minter

Over the years, I have had an opportunity to test the cutting action of many board shears. While some are OK, others have a major problem. Not only are they difficult to use, they could be causing serious damage to the components. And in some cases, there is a possible danger to the user. In 2000, the Guild of Book Workers produced a video on maintaining the Jacques Board Shear. That video is still available through the Guild Library. (Note: Be sure to look under the year 2000 – Salt Lake City, Utah for the “Examination of the Jacques Board Shear”.) The following information will supplement that video.

by Dan Paterson

Chair, Potomac Chapter

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This experiment in creating a false grain for a re-backing leather was inspired by a conversation with Renate Mesmer. She had been looking for a way to create a simulated grain on a cast composite repair for a 19th century cloth spine and used the belt from a belt sander as her mould. (For a fuller explanation of cast composite repair techniques see the Book and Paper Group Annual, 2010, Grace Owen and Sarah Reidell, pp 98-105.) She was pleased with the results and showed them to me.