DAS Bookbinding

In November 2022 book conservator, knife-maker, and bookbinding historian Jeff Peachey did a virtual presentation with The American Bookbinders Museum on hand paring of vegetable tanned leather. In the presentation he discusses and demonstrates in detail the techniques and thought processes that paring leather for bookbinding involves. In a collaboration between Jeff, The American Bookbinders Museum, and Darryn & Carrie of DAS Bookbinding, the recording of this event has been edited to provide a concise overview of the subject described as “one of the most admired skills in bookbinding” (Arthur W. Johnson). During the presentation Jeff demonstrates a bookbinders’ party trick of seeing how many continuous edges of a rectangular piece of leather he could pare continuously. While this is not a normal way of edge paring leather, it does demonstrate embodiment in tool use. Jeff has written a fascinating article on this subject titled On Tool Embodiment.

Find out what I think of magnetic corner clamps from iBookbinding.

The three main ways I know to make trays. I'll demonstrate covering them in the next video.

Once you've made a tray it needs to be covered. I use two methods in covering trays. I demonstrate the first in this video, which is a tray that needs a solid top. For instance, a lid of a box. The second method is when the lid does not need to be solid. It might be the trays of a clamshell enclosure, where the trays are attached to a case. To cover in this case, the walls can be covered by a piece of material that wraps around the tray. I will demonstrate this in the next video. I'll also make a short video on how to line the inside of the top of a tray.

In this video I'll demonstrate covering the outside of a tray by wrapping around the walls.

In this video I'll demonstrate making the box for a slipcase. In the next video I'll show how to cover it.

In this video I'll demonstrate covering the slipcase in full cloth.

In this series of two videos I'll make a replica, or model, of the original box that a mid 20th century Oxford Reference Bible came in. In the first video I'll make the lid, and in the second, the base, or tray. I'll show how I analyse an object to work out how it was constructed, and how I go about trying to replicate it. The method of making this box was common in trade production work, and is very different to how most hand bookbinders make books now. This might be useful if you want to make a similar box for a bible, make a model of another box or book, or restore a box made in this manner.

In this series of two videos I'll make a replica, or model, of the original box that a mid 20th century Oxford Reference Bible came in. In the first video I made the lid, and in this video, the base, or tray. I'll show how I analyse an object to work out how it was constructed, and how I go about trying to replicate it. The method of making this box was common in trade production work, and is very different to how most hand bookbinders make books now. This might be useful if you want to make a similar box for a bible, make a model of another box or book, or restore a box made in this manner.

This is a great little project. If you know what you want to bind and have the materials at hand, it can be done in under 30 minutes. It is a common technique used in commercial printing/bookbinding and limited editions.

In this video I make a basic screw-post guarded album, suitable for items like photos or scrap booking. It is based on the specifications in Arthur Johnson's The Thames and Hudson Manual of Bookbinding. There are many other variation of these which I will explore in the future.

In this video I cover a slipcase by wrapping the side walls in a robust buckram and covering the sides with a decorative paper. I’m sorry the background traffic noise is worse than usual. We live very close to the village of Brookfield on the edge of Brisbane. It’s Brookfield show weekend and they block the traffic through the village for the event. All the detoured traffic goes past our place. For American’s, a show in Australia is like a fair. Country comes to town, carnies running questionably maintained rides and food that never tastes as good as you remember from when you were a kid.

In this video I'll demonstrate changing the blade on an Ideal 4205 paper guillotine.

In this two-part series I will bind The Tail of Peter Rabbit using the sewn-board binding structure. This robust structure, along with the heavy paper I use, make it a perfect book for little children.

In this two-part series I will bind The Tail of Peter Rabbit using the sewn-board binding structure. This robust structure, along with the heavy paper I use, make it a perfect book for little children.

In this video I make a simple clipboard which uses magnets instead of a spring to keep it closed. The idea came from seeing a menu holder at Books and Boxes.

In this video I make a basic screw-post guarded album with a covered spine and folded tabs for guards. It is based on the specifications in Arthur Johnson's The Thames and Hudson Manual of Bookbinding. There are more variations of these which I will explore in the future.

In this video I sew The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin using a sewing machine. This approach is sometimes used in commercial bookbinding for single section/signature books for economical or ephemeral binding. The downside is the close row of holes along the spine fold of the book which could weaken the paper making it prone to tearing.

The special feature of this book is covering with a single piece of cloth. All my other versions cover the spine and then the boards - 3 pieces. This robust structure, along with the heavy paper I use, make it a perfect book for little children. But what you want to know is how I stuffed up. I was binding a copy of Peter Rabbit and Squirrel Nutkin at the same time. They look almost identical, except for the text, but who looks at that. I mixed up the first section of the two books. At about 5:45 I start sewing a section with a squirrel on it and the next section has bunnies on it. The text paper I used is from OfficeWorks and is J.Burrows Premium 200gsm A4 Digital Copy Paper This paper is long grain A4 which I can in half to make short grain A5

In this video I'll discuss the best practice for cutting materials in relation to grain direction for box and enclosure making.

In this video I make a card scoring or creasing jig which makes folding card much easier. This is useful for making phase boxes/wrapper and simple enclosures such as the 10-minute slipcase. The card stock I generally use is 300gsm Bristol board which is equivalent to 10pt card in the US and is about 0.3mm thick. The adhesive I use in this video is Evasol EVA. Any EVA/PVA designed to be used with paper will be fine for this application. Since it is just a tool just about any convenient adhesive that tacks quickly would be oaky.

In this video I'll demonstrate, three times, how to make a two-piece phase box to protect paperback books.

In this video I demonstrate how to attached oversized folio (a single folded sheet) endpapers and trim them to the size of the text block, giving perfectly fitted endpapers.

In this video I make a box for a jeweller's ball vise. I want it to fairly air tight so I use a design often called a neck box. Please find a better name!

In this video I make a box for a jeweller's ball vise. In the first video I made the base, and in this video I make the lid, dealing with the unusual height for a tray. I completely forgot about the cork base. I'll do a 5 minute video next week about this.

In this video I demonstrate how to make your own stuck-on headbands.

For everyone that celebrates Christmas, Merry Christmas. If Christmas is not part of your culture, please let me share with you our tradition of decorating a pine tree in the sweltering heat and humidity of Queensland, Australia.