A New Challenge Begins

 Marilyn D. issued a challenge to Louise M. and myself, to make a pair of bookend vignettes, and gave us the bookends to get going with. They're well on the way with theirs, but I was having a bit of a problem coming up with a theme. At our last get-together, a lighbulb blinked and I though it might be fun to do a front door/back door theme with the bookends. (Yes, that is deep snow in the woods outside my window!)

I'm using recycled foamcore for the body of the vignettes, and the first thing was to establish a base on which to work. Then you have to hollow out enough of the foam core for the base of the bookend to fit underneath seamlessly. It took a bit of experimentation, but I managed to do it to my satisfaction. I think that fabric may end up being the thing to best hold the foamcore to the metal bookends, once the construction is done, as anything thicker would make it difficult to use the bookends as, well, bookends.

By this time, it was dark and therefore the core shape of the steps isn't all that visible! I layered slices of foamcore to create a pair of three-step stairs, one for the front door and one for the back. There is still some experimentation going on in regards to how the steps will be positioned. My template for the basic design is from a Dutch website, minimaakje.nl (which you can find by googling that title), their project #76 for a raised veranda with a door and at least one window.

Next up, I have to make a decision using some doors in my stash, as to how high the foamcore walls of the project will be. The idea is that the front door step area is beautiful and therefore has high curb appeal, while the back door one is, uh, well, rather more utilitarian and may include dirty boots, a bag of garbage and, given the weather outside my window visible on the photos, perhaps a bunch of snow removal tools!

The vignettes will have a narrow porch with a railing, a door, and a window, as well as the steps. Then I get to play with the rest of it. Today I hope to measure for the height from the "ground" to the porch level and then add in the height of the door with frame, and of course of bit of "wall" above that. And I don't really like arithmetic....

It is my hope to once again use recycled/re-used construction materials, mostly foamcore and cardboard of various thicknesses, and things that already exist in my rather alarmingly large mini stash.

Posting is still difficult, as the Carpenter-in-Chief has to hunt and peck each time photos are uploaded to the computer, but I hope they can increase a little bit in frequency! Stay tuned.

More Gnome Silliness and Merry Christmas!

 

Primus got a partner in blue, named Secunda. Together, they've decided to use the fresh snow to carry some of their belongings to a new place. Primus is prepared to light the way through the forest as the sun sets, while Secunda is carrying a loaf of bread in her basket along with a bottle of wine.

I'm borrowing items from my mini stash. A third gnome is on the way, as Santa brought me the requested gnome book; I'm learning a technique that requires less sewing, as I don't enjoy sewing knitted items. I will, however, have to knit on an item that is partially stuffed and weighted. Learning something new is supposed to be good for creating new neural pathways....

We'd been looking at a green Christmas, but while we were sleeping snow fell, and allowed us to wake up to a beautiful snowy, misty and sunny Christmas morning.

The crow on the front of the sleigh is one of a couple of dozen that appeared in my Christmas stocking; they have different poses and will work beautifully in one-twelfth scenes.

When Hobbies Collide....

 

So you know from my previous post(s) that I have too many hobbies, and now that I've finished the socks that needed to be ready for Christmas, there are a lot of little tiny balls of left-over yarn.

Well, Dutch children when I was growing up were very aware of gnomes (kabouters), as many of the books we loved features these little mythical creatures. I stumbled across a page of gnome designs on-line, and realized that here was a use for those little left-over balls of yarn after all....

This is Primus, my first gnome; the photo is a little dark, but Primus is wearing a multi-coloured robe that features purple and green, and his hat is actually purple. The collision occurred when I thought what I'd do with my little gnome. I had a tiny plastic lantern in my mini stash, and with the aid of some paint and a piece of heavy-gauge floral wire, he is now set to be the leader of what may turn out to be a parade of gnomes, equipped with the tools of life, from my mini stash. The Carpenter-in-Chief spotted the sleigh among Christmas decorations at a hardware store, and thought it would be a perfect accessory, and I agree. The rope is a bit heavy, but I can always make another one out of left-over yarn....

I did knit a friend for Primus; Secunda is currently about half a dozen knit bits, awaiting assembly.  And I'm hoping Santa will bring me a book all about knitting gnomes!

We're at the tail end of a wind storm, and electricity is being provided by the generator. Thousands of people in the Canadian Maritimes are without power right now, and the streets and roads are littered with fallen tree branches. And the rain that preceded the wind storm has melted all the snow. That will make the C-in-C's sister sad as she is coming here and hoping for a White Christmas. However, the weather here changes from minute to minute, so who knows, we may yet get snow.

This year we are also having the joy of our son and his wife spending Christmas with us; they moved this year from Alberta in Western Canada to a wonderful old home and property across the street from the Gulf of Maine in Nova Scotia. The climate there is a little more welcoming than the wide open prairies.

There may be another gnome guest on the blog occasionally!

Haven't Disappeared Again

 Just finishing up some socks and quilting as it needs to get into the mail before there is another strike! Back soon....

Some of the New Furniture

 There are two large shelf units, to hold all the paraphernalia of a bookbinder's workshop (much of which still has to be made!). There are two tall, deep shelf units. Bookbinders use animal hide, fabric, book-board and lots and lots of paper in their craft. The long table is the general worktable, where more of the messy work is done, while the smaller table is for the finer stuff, like gilding and tooling of leather and buckram covers and spines. The ladder-like unit is a utility shelf which hold smaller bookbinding necessities. Fancy and plain endpapers - I especially like the marbled ones - and tissue to go between plates would also be held on the premises.

I had already prepared the solid wooden block and the wooden mallet; these would be used to thin out leather, along with sharp scalpel-like knives used to "skive" and thin out the edges of leather covers that are crimped or folded over at the corners and the spine.

On this table are a ledger, and a notebook for office use, as well as a simple leather-covered book. Glue pots are a necessity, along with brushes. There is a right angle on the table, as well as the first of a series of bone folders, used to define the creases of the folded signatures. The little box with the padded chamois top has been shown before; it is filled with gold leaf for the tooling and titling, and a rubber mallet used to make those rounded ridges on old leather books, over a filler of twine or rope.

Many books have been prepared to sit here and there. I'll need to make spools for twine, rope, tapes, and threads used in the book preparation. I'd like to try to make some convincing-looking roller tools for the tooling, and am regularly researching bookbinding and making sites. Not a bad way to spend breaks, with a good cup of coffee or tea, and a cookie.

Next up is the floor press; the wood has been cut and sanded, now I need to find a decent maple stain. If I can't find one, it will be done in the golden wood tone I've already used.

Somewhat of a Mystery Item

 This has been one of the more complex items to make for the bookbinders' workshop, and I believe it is a form of bookbinder's plough, a type of office guillotine machine for cutting the page edges evenly. Once upon a time, this was done by a type of chisel and a hammer, which of course left the edges of the pages rather ragged; these days a version of that is the deckle edge, which most often in my experience shows up in modern books of poetry. Every once in a while, a collector's edition of a novel might also have a deckle edge.

The plough consists in this case of a clamp, operated via the handle at the top. The circular edge just peeking out of the housing is the knife blade. However, what I can't figure out is how this arrangement allows the blade to cut the pages. The modern version of a bookbinder's plough has a very different shape.

It was an interesting item to make in miniature; the vertical posts are square in cross-section, and fit into square openings. The horizontal bar moves up and down by means of the handle at the top of the plough, to hold the signatures in place, but how does that knife cut a stack of pages?

If anyone has any ideas, please enlighten me....

It was great "fun" hollowing out the housing for that circular knife in the base of the plough, and involved a lot of sandpaper strips in between applications of emery boards and scalpel blades! I am almost convinced there has to be some sort of a handle involved in manipulating that circular knife blade.

Soon I'll begin tackling the building, but I have some other projects to finish up first.

A Lovely Book Sewing Bench

 This is probably, so far, one of my favourite pieces for the bookbinder's shop. It is very similar to the sewing benches being used nowadays by modern, bespoke bookbinders and bookbinding hobbyists. It is the item on top of the table, and you are looking at the back of it, where the folded and pressed papers would sit while they are being sewn together. 

It would be used to sew the signatures, i.e. the stacked pages in equal groups that are folded and then sewn through at the fold. A group of these signatures makes up a book, with sewing through the stitches at the folds forming the spine, which are done in another tool. Again, there are moveable threaded rods, and an adjustable beam to keep the cords taut.

This is the side one works from: the stacked signatures are laid against the cords, which can be tightened by the brass keys at the bottom. The cords go through a slot in the bench, and there is also a slanted finishing edge. The upper beam has a rounded top. All the shaping was done with hand tools; a pin vise drill, sharp scalpel, assorted emery boards and fine sandpapers. I'm not dirtying this one up!

The item leaning against the front of the table is called, in translation, a press aide (persknecht),which I think means that it is used with the presses. It consists of 2 layers of wood, one slightly longer than the other, and has slats at the ends which protrude. The middle is hollow, allowing a certain amount of give. This one is decorated with a thin line of black, with decorative elements at the corners, all around the top of the press aide, and has been antiqued to suggest use.

I need to visit a bookbinder, to learn how these tools all work....