Practical Bookbinding

by Paul Adam

Work with the Blocking Press.

We make a distinction between gold tooling and blind tooling. The latter is simply an impression on the leather or other material without the use of gold, whilst the other is an impression upon a specially prepared leather or other surface, using gold leaf.

Skill in blocking depends first of all upon a tasteful and suitable selection and arrangement of the engraved blocks and letters necessary for the decoration and inscription.

The blocks, &c., are to be had ready made from the engravers in properly arranged sets; but still it is essential that the finisher should possess certain artistic taste and feeling, especially in making up the lettering. It must be borne in mind that in an inscription or title the principal part (word or line) must be distinguished by larger or heavier type; furthermore, two lines of equal length must never appear in an inscription. Short words (the, and, for, &c.) worked into an inscription as separate lines add considerably to its appearance. See pp. 148 to 153 for what is said on the arrangement of the title in hand lettering. The same applies to the arrangement of all lettering.

The blocks and letters are always fixed to the upper part of the press—the platen.

To enable alterations to be made quickly or to secure pieces which may have slipped, there is a draw-out plate made in all modern blocking presses. The engraved blocks are not affixed to this plate with glue but with cobblers' wax. The following is a practical way of managing the ornamental blocks: On a thin but very strong board about the size of the article to be blocked, the blocks are arranged with the backs uppermost, the engraved face being next to the board. This board is fixed with wax exactly in the centre of the lower part of the press—the table. By "exactly in the centre" it is to be understood that the centre of the various blocks brought together lies on or near the centre of the draw-out plate. If there are more and heavier blocks fixed to the upper than to the lower side of the plate, the latter must be lowered a little—in a word, the plate must be so adjusted that all parts receive equal pressure. It is only by making a few trials that one can learn exactly what is right.

The press should be warmed by this time, and it is well to slide in the table with the blocks adjusted upon it, and to let it remain under light pressure until plate and table are warmed throughout and no trace of moisture may be seen on either. Now put a little wax on each block, lay over them a piece of stout wrapping paper, cardboard, or similar stuff, push in and press gently; the wrapper also may be waxed. After about five minutes, open the press to see whether all parts have stuck. Until this takes place the press must remain closed. If, however, all pieces are sticking fast, draw out the table and examine the imprint of each particular part to see whether the pressure is equal; if this is not so, it remains to be seen whether such inequality is due to a faulty fixing of the plate and, if necessary, to rectify it; otherwise, pieces of paper must be made up into a suitable packing and laid upon the back of the blocks until all inequalities are removed and an even impression is obtained.

This done, the back of the set-up blocks, or the wrappers affixed thereto, is waxed at as many places as required, or rather as far as the set-up blocks extend, the plate pushed in, and the press closed until the set-up blocks adhere to the upper plate. The lighter this first impression is made, the easier it will be to detect any inequality on the table (or matrix) and to set it right by backing up with paper.

Before proceeding further, a few words must be said about the construction of our modern blocking presses. For modern blocking we use knee-lever presses, whilst balances are now no longer used.