Gold tooling has evolved from the blind tooling of the 15th century, which up to that time had been the only method of decoration for the exterior of books, excepting where gold or jewels were used. The first application of this method was in drawn lines made by running the heated fillet alongside the rule, and even to-day the fillet, although improved in make, still retains its place as a suitable tool for the decoration of leather backs and sides. Speaking generally, blind tooling is not sufficiently appreciated by finishers, especially in shops doing much hand tooling; to many it is almost unknown, and they would be at a loss if there were any demand for it, and yet it is eminently suitable for simple finishing with slender resources, to obtain a result at once chaste and striking without excessive ornament, and this without a costly assortment of tools and other special appliances.
Before proceeding to the details in the work of finishing, a few preliminary observations may be made.
Blind tooling is the ornamenting of leather with tools without the application of gold. It might also be correctly described as matt tooling. Its peculiarity and beauty consist in its rendering the tooling on the leather in a darker tone. Blind tooling may be executed upon leathers of any colour, but its full decorative effect is seen only upon light colours, especially upon undyed calf and pig-skin and also upon coloured unpolished calf.
To produce the deepest and most uniform tone it is necessary to damp the leather previous to tooling. As it is well that the whole surface to be tooled should retain some moisture it is advisable to damp it evenly with a sponge on beginning the work.
The simplest tools are, as already mentioned, the fillets, which may be single, double, or triple, with lines of equal or different thickness.
The design is carefully traced with dividers, folder, and rule, and the heated tools run along the rule. Before applying the tool, which should be only moderately heated, the line previously marked out should be damped with a suitable brush. The instant the moisture has been absorbed by the leather, the tool should be applied. There should be no hissing, as the tool should be only lukewarm for the first application. The roll must touch the leather at the beginning without any uncertainty and the line made at once and without stopping, as otherwise a darker shade would appear in places.
Figs. 73 and 74—Simple line designs.
Each time before using the roll it is passed over a well-greased piece of leather.
The impression should appear uniformly brown; if it is lighter at any part, it has not been sufficiently damped; if darker at another place from the beginning, then that part was too damp. Success depends before everything else upon uniform damping of the leather and correct heating of the tool.