The cutting-press which has been referred to, con sists of two strong wooden cheeks f g, connected by two slide bars h h, and two wooden screws i i. Upon the cheek f arc two guides for the plough to work in.
The plough, which is the cutting instrument, consists of two sides, k connected by a screw m, and two elide bars, a n. A knife o is fastened to the under side of the cheek 1, by a strong square bolt, which takes into a groove cut on the circumference of the screw tn, and prevents it from moving later ally in the eheek. When the screw is turned, therefore, the two sides of the plough approach to or recede from each other.
Various attempts have at different times been made to improve the cutting press and its appurtenances. Mr. Baxter, of Lewes, proposed to obviate most of the inconveniences attending the use of the common plough-knife. His improved knife consisted of a brass or gun-metal stock p, having a dove tailed groove on its under surface, in which slides a steel blade or cutter r, which is kept in any required position by a set screw on the upper part of the stock at s. The great advantage of this knife is, that when once properly adjusted, the blade may be changed and ground ad infinitum, without deranging the adjustment of the stock.
In the year 1806, the Society of Arts presented Mr. J. Hardie, of Glasgow, with a reward for an improved cutting-press for bookbinders, which is delineated in the cut at the top of page 224. t is the left hand cheek of the press, con nected with a frame v v v, having two grooves on the inside, in which the cheek w slides backward and forward by means of the iron screw s, which is secured to it a collar at y. a are the guides for the plough. The advantages claimed for this press are its simplicity, great power, and increased facility of use, as compared with other presses.
But the most striking improvement is in a cutting-press recently constructed by an ingenious mechanic named Penny, which promises to be of great practi cal utility; for with this press, an indifferent workman will cut the edges of books or paper with mathematical accuracy and precision, which the very best cutter with the old press could never accomplish. Penn'ys press consists of two cheeks, with screws and slide bars, as in the ordinary machine ; but to the under side of the left hand cheek, a framing A A is attached, which projects some distance under the other cheek. Within this frame, a platform B rises and falls, perfectly parallel with the upper surface of the press, by means of a rack to which the platform is attached. A pinion at C, gives motion to the rack. On the axis of the pinion, and on the left hand side of the press, there is a large wheel D which the workman turns with his hand, to give the platform the necessary elevation, fixing it in any position, by means of a small catch. As the platform moves perfectly parallel with the surface of the press, and at right angles to the frame A A, it follows that any thing resting on the platform will be cut true throughout its whole thickness. This has been shewn to be the case, by taking off consecu tively, shavings from paper the thirty-second of an inch wide, which were per fectly accurate throughout, from first to last. The surprising accuracy of this press, however, would be of little avail with ploughs and knives of the usual description. Mr. Penny has therefore so far improved the plough as to make it a fit accompaniment to his press. For this purpose, the sides, screw, and slide bars are made with considerable care, the under surface of the sides being shod with metal, which on the right hand side is formed into an appropriate bed for the knife, as at E. The knife is of the form shewn at F ; the blade is placed directly under the screw, and secured by two screw bolts, in lieu of one. The bed for the knife being metal, and the knife itself being accurately finished, no tedious adjustment is ever necessary. The knife being in the centre, stands to its work well, and the plough does not twist about like the old ones. Mr. Penny received a reward from the Society of Arts, in 1832, for his improved plough. The standing-press employed by bookbinders is usually the common screw-press worked by a long lever, to which the power of a windlass is sometimes added: Having thus briefly noticed some of the machinery which is employed by the bookbinder, we return to the book, the edges of which had just been cut; the next thing, therefore, is to ornament its edges, which is done either by colouring, sprinkling, marbling, or gilding. The first of these processes is the most simple, and is that usually adopted for the commonest work. The books being laid one on the other, or screwed in the cutting-press, the colour is applied with a sponge. The colours mostly employed for this purpose, are Spirit-blue, Brown-umber, King's-yellow, Dutch-pink, Spanish-brown, and Vermilion, mixed with size. Sprinkling is performed by dipping a stiff brush in the colour, and striking it upon the press-pin held in the left hand, by which means the colour is thrown upon the books in fine spots, and a little practice enables the workman to distribute them very equally all over the edges. Better kinds of books, however, are generally marbled on the edges, the patterns being made to correspond with the marble paper lining. Marbling is performed as follows : a trough is pro vided of a convenient size, about two inches deep, which is filled with clean gum water ; various coloured pigments, ground in spirits of wine, and mixed with a small quantity of ox-gall, are then thrown upon the surface of the gum-water, and disposed in various forms, according to the pattern that is desired, with a quill and comb. The proper pattern being obtained, the book is tied between two boards, and the edges dipped into the trough, when the floating colours become transferred to the book ; cold water is immediately dashed over the edges, which sets the colours, and gives them a clear appearance. If the edges are to be gilt, they are nicely cut and tied between two boards ; they are then sponged over with yellow-ochre, which is scraped off, and the edges rubbed dry with shavings. Parchment size, or a size composed of equal parts of water paper of eggs, is laid upon the book eke, and covered with gold leaf; it is then dried gradually, and before it gets quite hard, is burnished with an agate burnisher. The edges are then protected from injury during the remainder of the process by a paper covering. Head-banding then follows. Head-hands are of two kinds, stuck on and worked. The stuck-on head-band is formed by cutting a piece of striped or coloured linen about an inch deep, and equal in length to the thickness of the book ; one side is pasted, and a piece of well-twisted cord laid across one third of its width; it is then folded over, enclosing the string, and worked well up to it. The back of the book being glued, the linen is laid upon it, the cord or bead-band being placed flat upon the end of the leaves. For all extra work, however, the head-bands are worked in the following manner. A strip of thick vellum, board, or string, prepared by rolling it tight in pasted paper, is taken of a dimension suited to the size of the book ; stout well-twisted silk, of two or more colours, is then taken ; if two colours are used, they are doubled and tied together by the ends, one of them being previously equipped with a needle. The book is then placed in the cutting-press with the back uppermost, the head towards the workman, and considerably elevated ; the needle is then passed through the middle of the second section, on the left-hand side, just below the catch-stitch, and drawn out far enough to bring the knot joining the two silks close into the middle of the section; the needle is then brought up, and passed again through the same place, and the silk drawn nearly close ; the round strip is placed in the loop thus formed, and the silk drawn tight with the left hand ; the other silk is brought over with the right, and passed under and over the head-band, when that is held tight with the left hand; the other silk is now put over that, and also under and over the headband; they are thus worked alternately over each other, as far as the middle section of the book, through which the needle is passed below the catch-stitch, and brought over the head-band, when the working is proceeded with as before, as far as the last section but one; the needle is passed through this section, and ewer the head-band twice, and finally fastened on the beck. The ends of the
head-band are then cut off, almost close to the silk at each end. The part produced by working one silk over the other is called the braiding, which forms the principal beauty of the head-band, and should be ranged close down upon the leaves of the book on the inside of the baud, which is easily managed. Both ends of the book having been worked in this way, the glue brush is drawn across the back of the bands, which strengthens them and keeps them in their proper places. It is now the usual practice to make a hollow back, on account of its enabling the book to open better, and also preserving the leather from cracking. The hollow back is formed by cutting a strip of cartridge paper twice the width of the back, and the same length ; this is folded in half, and the back being fresh glued, one half of the folded paper is stuck on, the other half being doubled upon it. If the book is to have raised bands, they are now put on • they are formed of strips of thick leather, as wide, and at such distances from each other, as taste directs ; they are glued on the loose back, and pared down at the ends, the sides being kept sharp and square. They are used to give a neat appearance to the back, and are a great improve ment on the old method of sewing the book on raised bands in lieu of the sunken cords. The book is then ready for covering, with leather, if to be whole bound, or with leather and paper, if to be only half-bound. For whole binding the leather is cut about half an inch larger all round than the book, and carefullyround the edge with a sharp knife on a piece of smooth marble ; it is pasted, folded together, and left a few minutes for the paste to soak in ; it is then opened out, and the book laid on one half (the fore-edge being towards the workman), while the other half is carefully and tightly drawn over the back and uppermost cover ; the covers being then adjusted at the head and foot, and pulled forward, the edges are turned down and the ends tucked in ; the corners being raised are worked together, and the part so raised cut off, and the head and foot pieces being smoothed down, the fore-edge part is folded over them. The head of the book is then neatly set with the folding stick, pressing it inwards in the joint where the corner was taken off the boards, and flatting the leather over the top of the head-bands ; the form thus given in the damp state is permanently retained when dry. If the raised bands, previously described, are used, a piece of fine cord is tied round the book, (the edges being guarded with a piece of board), pressing on the upper and lower side of each band, which brings the cover close upon the back, and preserves the distinctness of the bands. For half-bound books a strip of leather is cut, about an inch longer than the back of the book, and of sufficient width to lay well over the boards; the leather corner pieces are cut of an oblong quadrangular shape. The leather being pared, the corner pieces are put on first, and the back afterwards, being worked in the same manner, and with the same care, as the whole-bound book. Marble, coloured, or other fancy paper, is cut of a proper size and form, and pasted on the sides. Smooth sheep and calf bindings are frequently ornamented by marbling or sprinkling, which is performed by throwing various colouring liquids on the cover while it is wet with water : but there is so great a variety in these processes, both of colours and patterns, that there is not space for their enumeration here ; nor are they of much importance at this time, the coloured leathers having been brought to such perfection, and in so general use, as to render the employment of sprinkling, &c. of more rare occurrence than formerly. The forwarding of the book is now completed, and it is banded over to the finisher. The first step of the finisher is to wash the cover of the book with paste or glue water, to prevent the glaire from sinking in and staining the cover; when the sizing is dry the cover is glaired. Morocco and roan require to be glaired but once, sheep twice, and calf three times; this ' done the book is ready for gilding and lettering. The places where the gilding is to be applied, are then slightly greased with palm or sweet oil, and covered with gold leaf. While lettering and gilding the back, the book is placed in the cutting-press, with the head a little elevated. The brass letters having been selected and laid in their proper order before a fire, are moderately heated ; before using, they are tried on a piece of waste leather ; when at the proper temperature, they are forcibly impressed upon the gold, one after the other, care being taken to keep them straight, upright, and at uniform distances—a process which requires great practical skill. The whole of the letters being worked, the superfluous gold is wiped off with an oiled rag, to which it adheres, and when saturated, the rag is sold to the refiner, who recovers the gold which it contains. Common words of frequent use, such as Bible, Prayer, Album, &c. &c. are cut in one piece, and worked off at once, which greatly facilitates the process of lettering, while it insures a uniformity of appearance not otherwise attainable. Metal types are sometimes used as an excellent substitute for the brass letters ; with the former, any word may be set up in a frame and worked at once, but it is essentially necessary that the types are clean and bright ; there is also some difficulty in giving them the proper temperature ; it would therefore be a great improvement to have brass letters cut so that they might be set up in a frame, in the same manner as the types. These would combine the beauty and accuracy of the brass letter, with the convenience of the types. The lettering having been completed, the remainder of the book is gilt with appropriate tools ; these in general consist of straight lines or fillets, rolls of various breadths and patterns, and single ornamental devices, all cut in brass, and used the same way as the letters. The tools are frequently heated, and worked upon the leather without the interposition of any gold, which produces a neat and elegant contrast to the gilding ; it is denominated blind-tooling. Whole bound books are frequently very handsomely gilt on the sides as well as the back, frequently by running a broad gold roll round the edges of the cover, and sometimes by means of corner and centre pieces, with or without lines. The following ingenious method of working these ornaments was designed by Mr. Bain, of Broad-court, Long-acre, who received the silver Isis medal and five pounds, from the Society of Arts, for his invention. The brass ornaments used for the covers are mostly triangular ones for the corners, the centre being formed by the combination of the same or other four pieces. In the ordinary manner of working, a single tool is used, which requires to be applied eight times on each cover, or sixteen times in all on each book. This occasions the loss of much time ; to save the greater part of which, Mr. Bain employs four triangular blocks, capable of being fixed in a simple adjustable frame, so as to suit any sized book. The frame a a in the accomppnying engra ving, is made to hold the rods b b parallel to each other, and allow them to be set at any required distance apart.