The method of paring with a French knife ([fig. 60], A)—the only form of knife in use by binders that gives sufficient control over the leather—is shown at [fig. 59]. To use this knife properly, practice is required. The main thing to learn is that the knife must be used quite flat, and made to cut by having a very slight burr on the under side. This burr is got by rubbing the knife on the lithographic stone on which the paring is done. The handle of the knife should never be raised to such a height above the surface of the stone that it is possible to get the under fingers of the right hand over the edge of the stone. Another form of knife suitable for paring the edges of leather is shown at [fig. 60], B.
Fig. 60.
To test if the leather has been sufficiently pared, fold it over where the edge of the board will come, and run the finger along the folded leather. If the paring has been done properly it will feel quite even the whole length of the fold; but if there are any irregularities, they will be very apparent, and the paring must be gone over again till they have disappeared. When even, the book must be again laid on the leather with the boards open, and a pencil line drawn round as before. If there are leather joints they will have been pared before the book was sewn, and care must be taken in paring the turn-in of the cover that it is of the same thickness as the leather joint, or it will be impossible to make a neat mitre at the back corners.
COVERING
Before covering, the book must be looked at to see that the bands are quite square and at equal distances apart. Any slight errors in this respect can be corrected by holding the book in the lying press between backing boards and gently tapping the bands from one side or the other with a piece of wood struck with a hammer. This is best done when the back is cleaned off, but by damping the bands slightly it may be done just before covering. The squares must be looked to, and the edges of the board well rubbed with a folder, or tapped with a hammer, to remove any burr that may have been caused by the plough knife, or any chance blow. The back is then moistened with paste, or, in the case of a very large book, with thin glue, and left to soak. The cover can then be well pasted with thickish paste, that has been previously well beaten up. When the cover is pasted, it can be folded with the pasted sides together and left to soak for a few minutes while the back is again looked to, and any roughness smoothed down with the folder. Before covering, the bands should be nipped up with band nippers (see [fig. 61]) to make sure that they are sharp. The coverer should have ready before covering a clean paring stone, one or two folders, a pair of nickeled-band nippers, a clean sponge, a little water in a saucer, a piece of thread, and a strip of smooth wood (boxwood for preference), called a band stick, used for smoothing the leather between the bands, a pair of scissors, and a small sharp knife, a pair of waterproof sheets the size of the book, and, if the book is a large one, a pair of tying up boards, with tying up string, and two strips of wood covered in blotting-paper or leather. It is best to have the band nippers for covering nickeled to prevent the iron from staining the leather. The waterproof sheets recommended are thin sheets of celluloid, such as are used by photographers.
Fig. 61.