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Making Paper
Paper can be made in many different ways and from many different fibers. When making paper from clothes or rag, the fabric is cut into small pieces, soaked, then put into a large beater and beaten until it is a usable pulp. The pulp is added to a large vat of water and a mould and deckle is dipped into the vat. Fibers are gathered on the mould screen and lifted out of the water. The paper is couched (kooched) off of the screen onto felts. The steps are repeated until there is a 10 to 20 sheet post of paper to be pressed. The press squeezes water out of the paper and the papers are parted, placed on dry felts, and pressed again. The paper is parted again and stacked onto blotters, under weight, for further drying.
Shown left from top:
1. The paper shake.
2. The paper couch.
3. The paper parting.
Photos of Papermaking class, Spring 2005
by Ellen Knudson.
Other photos on this page by Kevin Knudson.
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Setting type
Setting metal or wood type by hand is the way type was set before the advent of photographic reproduction or computers. Type comes in a variety of typeface styles and sizes. In a font of type, each letter of the alphabet, (plus other characters, figures, & ligatures) is set on top of a piece of metal of a specific height (.918", or type high.) The letters are selected from the type drawer, one by one, and set side by side to form words and sentences. Spacing material sized shorter than the type is placed between words for wordspacing, and pieces of leading are placed beneath each finished line of set type for line spacing. The lines must be set firmly in the composing stick so they can be removed without falling apart, tied together into a form, and moved into the bed of the press for letterpress printing.
Shown left: Setting 14 pt. type on 30 picas with 2 point leading between lines.
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Letterpress printing
The process once used for printing everything from literature to newspapers is now used for printing as an art form and craft. The type high object in the bed of the press — whether it's type, linoleum, wood block, or photopolymer plate — is impressed into and becomes part of the paper on which it's printed. The possibilities of words combined with images are endless. Different types of letterpress printers include fine press printers, (traditional books and poetry chapbooks), job printers (invitations, announcements) and book artists (books and flat art pieces, combined with other art and printing processes). Crooked Letter Press produces letterpress books in the realm of book arts, with a focus on high craft and quality printing in the tradition of fine press printing.
Shown left: Printing type onto the end sheets for the book How Swimming Saved My Life.
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Making the Book
The range of options is broad for structure, style, and complexity in bookbinding. The binding of a book depends greatly upon the contents of a book. The steps involved in making a book depend somewhat on the style of binding being executed. In most cases the steps proceed like this:
1. Trim book block and end sheet papers to correct size.
2. Fold folios (single sheets) into a section (group of folded sheets) using a bonefolder for crisp folds.
3. Press the folded sections between boards in a nipping press. (see photo at left).
4. Using a punching jig, punching trough, and awl, punch holes through the sections to prepare for sewing. The type of sewing depends on the style of book being made.
5. Sew the book. If the book is a non-adhesive structure, (and the covers have been made) no further steps are taken.
6. Prepare the spine of the book. This involves many possible combinations of straightening, rounding, backing, gluing, and adhering of spine linings.
7. Make the case of the book. Cut boards to size, make spine stiffener, cut cover and spine covering materials, glue all pieces of case together.
8. Case in the book. Position the book in the case and glue up end sheets one at a time. Press book firmly in nipping press and allow to dry under light weight.
Shown left from top:
1. Pressing the sections.
2. Punching the sections.
3. Sewing the book.
4. Prepared case and book to be cased in.
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