I was looking for inspiration for this week's video.
I'd pulled out my offcuts of marble paper, but I couldn't really think of anything to do with them.
I was thinking, what makes a really popular YouTube video.
Where there's cats? And there's mucking with stuff that's dangerous.
But what is dangerous in bookbinding?
Nothing came to mind.
And as for cats, well, I thought they might help me make some paste papers.
But all they wanted to do was paw prints.
I've been experimenting a lot with edge decoration techniques, and then looking at marble paper reminded me of
edge marbling, but I don't do marbling.
So that doesn't really help much or does it?
It triggered a memory of something I'd read in a favorite book of mine, The Art of Bookbinding by Joseph Zaehnsdorf.
There's quite a bit of detail in the book about marbling, including edge marbling.
And there's even some details about fake marbling of edges using a roller.
And another method of transferring the pattern from real marbeled paper to the edge of the book.
Now, my teacher, June, had told me about this technique using a transfer paper, and she'd shown me examples that
she'd done. I've looked for this transfer paper, but I haven't been able to find it.
Zaehnsdorf's method is a bit different.
He says cut strips of the best marble paper about one inch longer than the edge.
Make a pad of old paper larger than the edge of the book and about a quarter inch thick.
Then get a piece of blotting paper and a sponge with a little water.
Now pour on a plates sufficient spirits of salts, muriatic acid to saturate the paper, which must be placed marble side
downwards on the spirit.
When soaked, put it on the edge, lay your blotter paper on it, then your pad.
Now wrap it smartly all over.
Take off the pad and blot and look at the work is right.
Zaehnsdorfs was a multi-generational business and there's a fascinating book about them by Frank Broomhead.
Frank Broomhead was a bookbinding historian and a bit of a hero of mine.
And it so happens that my main copy of The Art of Bookbinding came from Mr.
Broomhead's library.
I'm sure I had earlier more expensive copies.
But that's the one that I treasure.
So now I have the idea of using something dangerous in a bookbinding video.
Muriatic acid, also known as hydrochloric acid, edge marbling, and the need for an everyday copy of The Art of
Bookbinding. The Bulgarian bookbinder Stopan and has a nicely formatted copy of The Art of Bookbinding available
from his Etsy store.
So I paid my ten dollars and got that and printed it out and sewed it up into a text block.
And then I started preparing the edges, just like I'd prepare an edge for any other edge decoration technique.
Started by ploughing it and then used a card scraper and then sanded the edges.
I'll start with the fore edge and then I'll decorate that and then I'll round and back the book and then I'll do the
head and the tail. So I've opened up all the doors for good ventilation for when I use the hydrochloric acid,
which means you can hear our rooster and my son's budgerigars a lot today.
So if you're wondering what the weird noise is, it's the birds in the background.
And I did take some video of me wearing my safety equipment.
I did wear a respirator and safety glasses or goggles over my glasses.
And I thought I took some video of that to prove that I wasn't being unsafe.
But I must have forgotten to hit the record button, but I was only using about a quarter of a cup of hydrochloric
acid, and I was handling it very carefully.
So I look like I'm being a bit lazy with it, but I was being careful.
So I'm just gathering everything together that I need: tweezers for handling the paper, of course.
I did try using gloves the day before in one practice run.
I just found that I was clumsy with them and I thought it made it less safe.
There's my piece of blotting paper.
I did also wipe the edge of the book as per the instructions but I missed it on the video.
The acid I'm using is concentrated hydrochloric acid designed for pools.
That's pretty nasty stuff.
I wave my backing hammer over the trough yesterday and by the next morning it was covered in rust.
Of course, I went to do it and my piece of marble paper wouldn't fit in the trough.
And then I forgot to hit the record button.
So this is a reenactment right here.
As you can see, the marbling has already being done.
Now, I was getting very low on this marble paper as well.
So this is a different marble paper.
And it was interesting of all my samples of marble paper, only two of them worked.
And I realized that anything that was done with acrylic paint, the acid just wouldn't budge it.
It just stuck to the paper.
So I assume the two papers that worked were oil paints.
So here I am wrapping it.
And this is - now we're back to the real thing.
I actually did remember eventually to hit the record button, and I was using the plastic hammer because of the
fact that I had rusted up my backing hammer.
So it worked out pretty good.
I wasn't completely happy with it.
It didn't work out as well as my tests the day before.
And the hammer I was using has a little dimple in the middle of it.
So I blame the hammer and went back to using my backing hammer for the ends.
I let the edge dry about a half an hour before I took it out of the press.
I did put some beeswax and brush burnish the edge and it turned out okay.
It's not as bright as a real marbled edge.
So now I'll do the ends.
So I'll round and back the book.
Then I'll plough and prepare the edges the same as the fore edge.
This time I remembered to hit the record button.
Now, I'm sure the archivally-minded are thinking that I'm crazy putting a concentrated acid onto the edge of a book.
The paper in this book is photocopier Paper.
It's extremely buffered.
I'm sure the acid reacts with the buffer in the paper.
And most of the hydrochloric acids turned into chlorine gas, which is very fugitive and has probably dissipated.
But it would be interesting to see what the long term effects of this technique is on the book.
So if anyone's curious, then call my kids up in about 30 years time and they'll pull it out and have a look at it for
you.
Here's the completed book. I followed the instructions of Peter Verheyen in Der Gebrochene Rücken, A variation of the
German case binding.
The colours don't quite match, but I was down to my very last piece of paste paper and I was the only colour I had, a
green would have been better.
I'm sure everyone's going to rush off and get hydrochloric acid for their bindery.
I hope you've enjoyed my little bit of silliness for today.
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And until next time, cheerio.