Volume 8, Number 6
Dec 1984

Supplies &c.

For Sale By Owner

• Stamping machine, Magic Systems IX; 3.5" x 1.5" type head, one font upper and lower case 14 pt. gothic type, one font upper and lower case 24 Pt. gothic type, one roll imitation gold foil, instructions, etc., table model in excellent condition, price complete $195 + shipping, from Bruce K. Herald, The Book Hospital, 1905 Johnson Mill Rd., N. Branch, Ml 48461.
• Crawley Rounder Backer, excellent condition, $5000; Bobbins & Bendror speed Nipper Model SM620, hydraulic book nipper, $5,500; Hickok Backer for hand binding, $1200; Challenge Single Head Drill, $600; Building-in boards 16" x 24", $5 each; Stevenson Shrink Wrap Machine 115 volt, $300; 2 Smyth Sewers, No. 12, $3,500 each; from Thomas Thomson, Equity Publishing Corp., Orford, NH 03777, 603/353-4351.

Suppliers

• In the recently published Conservation of Bookbinding Leather (see review this issue), the authors reach the conclusion that the most stable leathers for bookbinding are chrome tanned skins, alum tawed skins, or vegetable tanned skins retanned with an aluminum salt. Aluminum retanned leather is available from:
  • J. Hewit & Sons Ltd., Kinnauld Leather Works, Currie, Edinburgh EH14 5RS, Gt. Britain, marketed in this country by Andrews/Nelson/Whitehead, 31-10 48th Ave., Long Island City, NY 11101, 212/937-7100, and available through various other distributors.
  • W. Pearce & Co. (Northampton) Ltd Billing Park, Northampton NN3 4BG, Gt. Britain
  • C. W. Russell & Sons Ltd., High Street, Bancroft, Hitchin, Hertfordshire SG95. Gt. Britain.

  Tests which may result in the introduction of aluminum retannage are to be carried out by:

  • Harmatan Leather, Block J, Penfold Industrial Estate, Imperial Way, North Watford, Hertfordshire, Gt. Britain.
• The Binder's Merchant, 2000 W. Addison, Chicago, IL 60618, now stocks Cockerell marbled papers in 28 patterns, at $4.25/sht., and Payhembury marbled papers (from Devon, England) in about 25 patterns, also at $4.25/sht. They also have in stock a special run of Barbour's linen thread which is unbleached and unsized, in the following sizes: 18/3, 25/3, 36/3, 35/3, 40/3, all at $3.75/SO-gm spool.
• Handmade contemporary paste papers, neutral pH, in 29 patterns, available from Claire Maziarczyk Paperworks, 716 Willow Ave., #18 Hoboken, NJ 07030. Sample book $3.50.
• A new domestic source for the German paper-backed bookcloths from Vereinigte Güppinger-Bamberger Kaliko GmbH, mentioned in the last issue of this Newsletter, is Whitman Products Ltd., 21 Brayton St., West Warwick, RI D2893, 401/828-4200 or 800/556-6872. They are stocking the Iris 101 cloth (100% rayon), a very fine-textured natural finish cloth with a moderate sheen, in 26 colors at $2.45/yd. for orders less than 226 yds; the Tex-Linen 2B3 (100% cotton), a natural finish cloth with a coarse texture, in 7 colors at $2.30/yd. for orders less than 220 yds., and the Sailcloth line, which includes the Rohhalbleinen 402 (42% linen, 17% rayon) at $2.90/yd., a very tough cloth of natural color and finish often used for covering archival boxes and portfolios. There is no minimum order, but price breaks come at 226, 499 and 999 yds.
• The linen tapes from William Tolson Ltd., mentioned in last February's Newsletter, which are marketed as their Fine Dutch Linen Tapes, were incorrectly identified as being of 106% linen. They are made of 100% linen yarn in the warp and cotton in the weft, which is the traditional construction of this material, but indeed do have a higher thread count, tighter construction, and less bulk than the more familiar variety of linen tapes, which are also available from Tolson as their D.132 Grey Linen Stay Tapes.

Recommendations

• Chris Clarkson sent the following circular letter to various conservation facilities in this country: "I have just completed an order for a heavy weight linen buckram which is more flexible and does not crack on the fold. I have it in two colours, brown and blue, but I am told any colour at all could be produced; I would have also liked an 18th Century crimson, for instance. I am afraid I cannot offer to get involved in ordering for you, but have listed below all those people in America who have shown an interest in obtaining such book cloths. Your first move would be to contact each other and then for one person to find Out the latest prices. (Minimum order was 1000 metres per colour.) Later perhaps you should choose colours from Munsell and send the Irish firm your choice samples. The firm: Mr. S. A. MacClure, Islandreagh Dyeing and Finishing Co., Dunadry, County Antrim, Northern Ireland." The price is apparently about $10/meter. The samples included with the circular were linen in the warp and weft and extremely tough, with a starch-filled surface. It is not known yet who will coordinate such an order. Interested readers may contact the column editor at the Newsletter office, who will forward their letters to the coordinator when they become known.

Equipment

• A very interesting line of library binding equipment manufactured in Hamburg, West Germany by the Schmedt Corp. is now available in this country from the Tolfan Corp., PD Box 7805 Jersey City, NJ 07307-0805, 201/659-6746. The Tolfan Corp. will supply a 35-40 minute video cassette showing the equipment in operation in binderies in Germany. The column editor has viewed this video and can report that the equipment is aimed at the small to mid-sized bindery. What impressed us was the simplicity and efficiency of the design of the equipment as a whole, i.e. there did not seem to be more or less machine than was necessary to do the job. Generally the equipment was not as automated as would be found in many larger commercial binderies, and perhaps more suited to smaller workshops including edition binderies. The equipment includes a casing-in machine, a building-in machine, a turning-in machine, a manual case-maker, a case hollow rounding machine, a semi-automatic double-fan adhesive binding system, a cloth storage and dispensing system, and a hand blocking (stamping) press. Although the equipment has been designed as an integrated system, this does not preclude the use of individual pieces separately. Pieces of equipment which appeared potentially very useful to this viewer were the following. The double-fan adhesive system, called PräCOLL ($2590), for journal binding and other adhesive binding jobs, accommodates a maximum book block size of 14-3/B" x 3-7/32", with no adjustment necessary for books of various sizes, and an output of 60 books per hour. The turning-in machine, PräKANT ($2085-$3850), utilizes an ingenious roller and blanket system for turning over the two opposite sides of the cloth at the same time. The cloth dispensing and storage system, PräNUTZ ($2128), is a very compact system which enables book covering materials to be stored in roll form in a rack storing 16 rolls of maximum width 23-S/B". The material is then drawn from the dispensing unit to the precise size of the case and cut with a circular knife. The hand blocking press, PräGNANT ($2995), is specifically designed for "one-off" titles, stamps in almost a vertical position which affords very easy and precise sighting, and utilizes either a typeholder for loose type or slugs, and a block holder for cuts. Only one line is stamped at a time, but very precise alignment of lines is possible because of a jig system and a movable stamping platform. Product literature and the video are available from the Tolfan Corp.