Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books
A Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology

pallet

1. A finishing tool having a long narrow face bearing a line or design, and used for decorating books, usually those bound in leather. Straight-line pallets are available in various lengths, and a complete set, used for building designs, ranges from 1/16 inch to a maximum of 2, 3, 4, or more inches, increasing (in very complete sets) by as little as 1/16 inch at a time. Pallets are generally used to impress lines on the spines of books, although they are also used on the covers, especially to finish off lines impressed with fillets, or other tools. Very short pallets are usually referred to as "short-line pallets" or, occasionally, as "short-line tools." The edge of the pallet is made very slightly convex in order to avoid cutting the leather in the process of tooling. A decorative pallet is called a "band pallet," while one with more than one line on its face is called a "two-, "three-," etc., "line pallet." 2. A tool used for holding and heating type for lettering a book. See: LETTERING PALLET (1) . (161 , 236 , 335 )