Making A Medieval Book By Hand - Part 5 - FINALE - Leather Tooling - Brass Hardware - Final Assembly
Hello everyone, and welcome to my bindery!
This is the fifth and final installment of my in-depth video series on making a medieval-style book - for more information see Part 1 at the link below. This series has no speaking and a minimal amount of music for those who want to enjoy the peaceful simplicity of quiet hand-work. For those seeking insights into my materials and techniques, you can turn on subtitles to read my full commentary on the process as you watch!
In this installment everything finally comes together to finish the book! With the leather complete from episode 4 I turn to finalizing the design for the tooling. I first use my brass finishing tools (many of which I made myself) and an ink pad to lay out the design for both covers. With the design complete I then heat up the tools on a hot plate and impress them into the dampened leather of the cover. And as an added feature I embellish the blind tooling with a some gold foil highlights.
To truly transform this book I add my handmade brass furniture (which is the proper name for the metal hardware on a book). I filmed the entire process of making the furniture and you can watch that video here: Attaching the furniture requires drilling holes through the leather and wood covers, which feels just all kinds of wrong! But the brass nails complete the look, and the bent-over ends are covered and hidden by the pasted-down endpapers.
This has been an amazing project and I’m thrilled with how the book turned out. Thank you to all of you who have been watching since part 1, and to anyone who has just now discovered my channel. If you enjoyed the video then please consider subscribing and turning on your notifications for any future videos. And as always let me know your thoughts in the comments down below!
Thanks for watching!
Previous Episodes:
Part 1 - Folding Pages, Endpapers, Piercing & Sewing:
Part 2 - Trimming & Rounding, Edge Decoration, Sewing Endbands:
Part 3 - Wooden Boards, Carving & Mortising, Attaching the Covers:
Part 4 - Paring and Applying Leather:
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List of Materials Used in This Episode
Ink Stamp Pad
Water
Gold Foil Heat-Transfer Sheets
Brass Furnishings & Brass Nails
PVA/methyl cellulose glue
List of Tools Used in This Episode
Stainless Steel rulers, various sizes
Pencil & Pen
Brass/Iron Bookbinder’s Finishing Tools, various designs
Pencil Compass
Dividers
Natural Sponge
Electric Hot Plate
Soft Cloth
Scrap Card Straightedge
Awl
Pin Drill Holder & Drill Bit
Chisel
Nail Set
Leatherman Blast
Hammer
Paring Knife
Paring Stone
Paste Brush
Laying Press
Various bits of scrap card / waste paper
2 Bricks
Bone Folder
Sandpaper & Sanding Block
Blotting Paper / Release Paper
Pressing Tins
Pressing Boards
Iron Book Press
Selected list of Suppliers (Not affiliated)
Brass Nails / Woodworking / General Tools: Lee Valley Tools -
Bookbinding Tools & Materials: George Hill & Co. -
Writing Materials: Wonder Pens -
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All original works of art in this video are copyrighted exclusively by Four Keys Book Arts.
Music Credits:
’Yonder Hill And Dale’ by Aaron Kenny -
’Marked’ and ’Tavern Loop One’ by Alexander Nakarada |
Music promoted by
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Image Source Bibliography:
’Fig. 21: Mediæval Book-Binding’, from ’Gately’s World’s Progress’, Edited by C. E. Beale. Édition de luxe, Boston : Gately & Co, 1886, p. 283.
’Fig. 8: ’Travail de la Reliure’, from ’Procédés de la gravure (Nouv. éd)’, Lostalot, Alfred de, A Quantin, Paris, 1882. p. 26.
#bookbinding #fourkeysbookarts #handmadebooks #medievalbook
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