Second Blessing Book Complete and My New Bookpress!!

Second finished book in one week ~


This photo was shot in a rush, as I had very little time! I had some interesting glitches to deal with this time. Good thing I'm accustomed to repairs on both old and new books!
(name partially blotted)






signatures ready for marking up and sewing. 74 or 76 pages ~ the largest one I've made to date



Italian bookcloth and French Marbled papers, brown checkered headband material ~ They chose to order the chocolate brown cloth with this paper.


building the spine after the text is all sewn up (see sewing in a previous post)




Starting to paste the boards to the text block



New-to-me antique bookpress ~ It is phenomenal with its 200 pounds of pressure per square inch


Next in line: two 19th century medical books, a children's Bible, a vintage book that needs a case (covers) and a little sewing of the old textblock), Another _Our Island Story_ vintage book for a friend, and an old crossword dictionary (that belonged to her grandmother) for another friend.
Then there's the set of Francis Schaeffer's complete works another family wants me to make into a hardback set from a paperback. The problem is that they are so heavy and large, that it might not hold well with the cheap "perfect binding" that paperbacks have.

It seems that a very productive summer is in order!

What are YOU doing/planning this summer?? Any special projects that can't get done during the schoolyear?


Javamom

One Way of Spending My Summer Break

Blessing Book completed and delivered early June 13th ~

This one is for a graduate who is headed to West Point (hence the Army green)



One of the things these books are all about ^ (click to enlarge)


I'm currently working on another book, almost twice as long, for another family of a graduating son.


Javamom

Another Blessing Book under Construction

The bookboard is cut, now I need to add linen and a spine lining, paste the bookcloth onto the bookboard, then press and let that all dry under weight. Next comes turning in the edges of the bookcloth, then add the endpapers (tomorrow after properly dried). Lastly, any last minute fine-tuning needed to make sure all pages are flush, then in the press to create the creases in the gutters.

Early June Restoration

Before: dry, scratched, spine detached.



old, acidic tissue removal

lifting the leather


adding linen spine lining material



tucking in the endcap


almost finished!




post leather treatment, and after filling in two holes and color matching.