Learning Framework

Still in development, the following is the basis for my learning journey, incorporating all aspects of the practical side of bookbinding.

Understand and be able to explain the following terms and bookbinding techniques:

• Book anatomy
• Tools, Materials and Equipment

• Basic Bench Technique
• Single Section Pamphlet
• Two Section Pamphlet
• Picture Frame
• Four Needle Two Thread Sewn, Soft Paper Cover
• Four Needle Two Thread Sewn, with Full Cloth Covered German Case All-along Sewn, Quarter Cloth and Paper Covered German Case
• Tape Sewn, Half Cloth and Paper Covered German Case

• Lining and Filling of Boards, Making Bookcloth
• Concepts of Warp and Pull
• Concept of Grain
• Concept of Swell
• Concept of the Joint
• Concept of Adhesion, Expansion and Contraction
• Concept of the Natural Shoulder
• Recessed Cord Lap Stitch Sewing, Review Tape Lap Stitch Sewing
• Invisible Hinge and Visible Hinge Hooked Endpaper
• Simple Edge Treatments
• Traditional Two-Stripe Endband
• Rounding and Backing to a 45 degree Shoulder
• Oxford Hollow
• Bradel Attachment of Boards to Textblock
• Covering-in On the Book
• Restoration and conservation concepts and ethics

As an introduction to the use of tools and materials, the student will make several non-adhesive bindings of blank books, including:

• Coptic
• Historic longstitch
• Modern longstitch with wrapper

Take two perfectly bound books (non-sewn, glued spine—basic cheap paperback) and pull, clean, repair if necessary. Create endpapers, overcast sew, round and back spine, create and title case. Constructing blank books the student will make cloth bindings of various styles; the student will work on several books simultaneously, creating bindings that are appropriate for the individual books. These bindings will be sewn several ways:

• On tapes
• On frayed cords
• Linkstitch
• On sawn-in cords.

• Full cloth
• Half cloth
• Rounded back case
• Flatback case
• English Library Style - split board
• Onset boards
• Endpaper structures - single and double folio, hooked endsheets, made flyleaf
• Applying case binding techniques learned in the previous sections, the student will perform identical bindings on a ‘production’ or limited edition basis.
  • Use of sewing frame
  • Jigs

On text blocks of single sheets the student will use appropriate binding techniques to make a durable binding:

• Unordered List Itemdouble fan adhesive binding
• rounding of adhesive binding: rounding in tube, gluing up flat and rounding and backing
• guarding single sheets into sections
• oversewing

The student will make two bindings using paper as the cover material:

• conservation paper case
• 17th century model, paper over boards, sawn-in cords, hooked endsheets

Using a Kwikprint stamping machine the student will title bindings either directly on a case or on labels using coloured foils and inks

• stamping on labels of paper, cloth or leather
• stamping directly onto cases: down the spine, across the spine and on covers backing and fixing labels

The student will make enclosures appropriate to the item needing to be housed:

• four flap with and without case
• drop spine box
• book shoe
• slip case

Student will restore all of the old book, using old cover, spine, etc. Pu * ll

• Clean
• Repair
• Sew through the centre (section sew)
• Re-bind
• Rebacking Cloth Bindings. On damaged books the student will reback cloth bindings.
• Case attachment structures
• Corner repair
• Documentation and photographic records
• Pricing and estimating

While working on cloth or leather bindings, the student will use appropriate repair techniques to make repairs to the text block and binding as needed.

• Repair papers and adhesives
• Repairing tares and filling in losses
• Hinging plates
• Guarding together single sheets
• Inserts
• Tape removal
• Washing and deacidifying
• Guarding folds

Students will begin working with leather on two simple leather bindings: a limp leather, and a half leather case.

• leather paring with spoke shave and French knife
• headcaps
• sewn silk end bands

The student will repair at least three leather bindings that need structural repair, saving as much of spine, endpapers, etc. as possible.

• Pull, clean and repair.
• Onlay old spine on top of new leather and repair leather corners;
• Board attachment - laced in, laced over, slit boards
• Begin to learn paring leather for repair of old spine; Selection of leather
• Re- back the book, dye leather, and oil book.
• Rebacking leather bindings with dyed Japanese paper

Using hand tools the student will practice lettering and decorative tooling in blind, carbon, and gold on plaquettes and bindings.

• Lettering in gold with handle letters and letter pallet
• Blind tooling
• Gold tooling
• Onlays and inlays with gold, graphite and blind outlines

Student will shape and sharpen tools.

• bone folder
• French knife
• lifting knives
• spoke shave and blade

The student will make four variations of Millimeter style bindings.

• True millimeter
• Head and tail
• Extended head and tail
• Rubow

The student will bind models in historical and modern structures in full and half leather. The student will then bind textblocks in appropriate bindings.

• single and double flexible full calf bindings
• full leather fine binding
• sprinkled single flexible half calf with hooked endsheets
• leather hinge
• historical and multiple core endbands
• reinforced kettle stitch

The student will execute a limp vellum binding.

The student will make a half leather, rounded spine clamshell box.

Students will design and create a dust jacket to fit a previously made book.

• projects of the student’s choosing
• more advanced fine binding techniques
• photo albums
• edge treatments
• alternate endpaper structures

Typed explanation (and illustration as required) for ‘basic knowledge and terminology’

Typed explanation (and illustration as required) for: Mending teas with wheat-starch paste Mending tears with heat-set tissue “built-in-groove” case Construction of a “Normal Case” Sewing 2-hole linkstitch Pamphlet sewing Consolidating and shaping the rounded and backed sewn textblock Cloth reback with the boards off

A comparison of two different four-flap housings, in terms of speed of construction, price of materials, ability to withstand physical abuse and ease of use. 2 pages minimum.

Student will use the techniques learned in the cloth and leather re-backs. The student will make a 1⁄4 and a 3⁄4 bound leather. The 1⁄4 leather is to be a case binding, sewn on tapes, hollow back with French joints, cloth or paper covers and hand-sewn endbands. The 3⁄4 leather is to be sewn on raised cords, English joints, tight back, laced in boards and hand-sewn endbands.