Leather Jointed Endpapers

Just working on a Quarter bound Journal with Leather Jointed Endpapers, and I thought I might as well document and share them with you. Back in Post1 I made mention of many different forms of endpapers. I tend to stick to the ‘Made’ endpapers that were used then but from time to time I do like to dabble in the madness that is the Leather Jointed Endpaper.

Leather jointed endpapers when completed and affixed to the book give the appearance of the leather both on the outer cover and on the inner joint. Mainly used in fine bindings it doesn’t hurt to keep your hand in now and then.

For each endpaper you are going to need:

2 white folios

1 colour folio

1 colour single sheet cut 10mm wider than the colour folio

1 piece of leather

All pieces are over sized.

For the whites I’ve used the same paper as my book block, Somerset Book White 115gsm. For the two coloured components I’ve chosen a grey and light brown Ingres paper 90gsm.

First paste out one side of the colour folio and apply it to the single colour sheet with the ten millimetre excess protruding from the folded edge. Give it a firm nip in the press then place under weighted boards to dry. Repeat the process for the other endpaper.

When dry trim the excess ten millimetre piece of coloured paper down to five millimetres and sand the edge down to reduce its profile. Paste out and fold over the folded edge and firmly bone it down. Again repeat the process for the other endpaper.

While they are both drying we can now prepare the leather for the joint. The leather needs to be pared very thin, if it’s left too thick it will cause problems when sticking it down later.

For this I’ve used a paring machine but you can use a knife and spokeshave. If you were going to use a spokeshave I would pare a larger piece of leather so you can clamp it down easier and then cut both pieces you need from that.

I’ve pared my pieces down to about 0.3 of a millimetre then further edge pared one side super thin. Each piece is roughly five centimetres wide and slightly shorter than the endpaper for ease of positioning.

When the endpapers are dry remove them from the weighted boards. Paste the endpapers folded edge and attach the leather hair side down onto the folded edge of your endpaper leaving a little of the folded colour visible. Remembering to put down the super thin edge pared side of the leather. This stagers the material at the fold, making the edge less bulky. Give both endpapers a gentle nip and leave to dry under weighted boards.

When dry we need to attach a compensation sheet to the leather. This will be removed at the end but needs to be there during binding, otherwise the endpaper will have an uneven thickness and the leather will mark the adjacent sheets. 

When making any book where something will be added after binding you need to use compensation sheets i.e. photo albums. If we just applied the leather after all the binding had been completed the book would not function properly. This way the leather joint has been part of the construction from the beginning.

To attach the compensation sheet first trim the edge of the leather to give a good straight edge. Stretching may have occurred during paring.

Now attach a piece of card/paper the same thickness as the leather to the trimmed edge with scotch tape on the flesh side.

Next paste one side of a white folio and place it on the side of the colour folio with the attached leather joint, sealing the leather between the white and coloured folios. Gently nip then place between weighted boards again. Repeat for the other endpaper.

Finally paste between four or five millimetres of the final white folios folded edge and tip onto the white folio you have just stuck down. Bone down then open this final folio and fold it around the whole endpaper so it’s wrapped in the final white folio.

This will be the waste, which in this case I will use to form a tongue that will fit between the split boards of my covers. I’ll show you those another time.

For now trim them down to match your sections. Mark up for sewing as before and pierce. The rest of the book block is also pierced with the kettle stitches sawn.

These endpapers are sewn on in the same way as the Made endpapers we used in the previous posts.

10. Endpapers

We’ve reached the final stages now, just the endpapers and that’s it.

Right then, first thing we need to do is prep the inside of the boards to receive the endpapers. To make life a little easier place some boards under the cover when open to prop it up and then use a blanket to protect the leather.

We’re going to trim back some of the turned in leather so we need to mark where to make the cut. Use the point of your bone folder and a straight edge.

For our first cut I use a No 25 scalpel blade and using the back of the blade cut in from the edge of the board. Not the other way as you may add a little too much pressure and cut into and through the joint.

Now using a No 10 A scalpel lift the excess corner leather and peel away. As you get to the joint lay the blade flat on the board and trim the excess.

We need to now remove the waste to reveal the endpaper. So fold it a couple of times to make it easier to hold and then pinch and tear making sure you’ve got the waste and the Fence attached to it.

Now cut a piece of good quality paper that fills the inside area of the boards that matches the depth of the remaining leather turn in and paste on.

Finally place some waste paper inside the endpaper to protect the rest of the book and paste out the remaining leaf.

Remove the waste and gently holding the pasted endpaper down, close the cover onto it.

Turn over, open and smooth off with your folder.

I now place acetate sheets between board and book block and leave to dry under weighted boards for at least 24 hours.

When it is dry I like to give the cover a light waxing. This isn’t necessary but I feel it sometimes gives the leather warmth and makes the joint a little more supple.

That’s it. It has been a long journey but we got there in the end.

I hope you've enjoyed these posts, but if there is anything I haven't covered in enough detail please let me know. Everything I do is self taught so if there is anything you feel I could be doing better or a way of making it more simple please don't hesitate to contact me.

For our next outing I think we will do something a little more straight forward. We’ll do a Traditional Four Hole Japanese Bound Journal.  

8. Paring the Leather

We now need to pare the leather so that it is thin enough to work at the turn-ins and reduce the bulk along the edge.

Before we start attacking the leather with sharp pointy things, we need to make a template so we can cut a piece to the correct size. I usually use a Bulky Newsprint, but I seem to have none in stock so standard newsprint will have to do today.

Start with an oversized piece and making sure you have a right angle on at least one corner, mark a border 25mm along the top and down the left side. These will be the head and left fore-edge. You don’t want more than an inch excess around the boards as the larger they are the more pull they will exert on the board and cause excessive warping.

Lay the book front board down on the marked paper and mark the tail and the edge at the spine.

Holding the book down, firmly smooth the paper over the spine and crease around the backboard.

 

Now lay the paper flat and the crease marks should indicate where the backboard will sit. Mark it in, along with the spine area and the 25mm excess all around. Cut it out and your template is ready.

 

 

Use the template to cut a piece of leather from your chosen skin. For this book I have chosen a deep chestnut coloured Calfskin. Once cut out transfer the marks from the template to the flesh side of the leather.

Ok, for the paring process I’m going to use a combination of English and French paring knives and a flat-faced Spokeshave. Your knives have to be as sharp as possible, so always spend time checking for nicks or burrs. For sharpening the knives I use a 600 grit wet and dry paper glued to one side of a piece of 6mm MDF, and on the reverse, a piece of leather for stropping.

The surface you pare on should be strong flat and smooth. Most binders seem to favour old Litho stones as they are more sympathetic to the knifes edge. They are, however, quite hard to get hold of. I use an old inking ‘stone’ which is actually steel but you could use a thick piece of glass or granite.

With a piece of wood to protect the leather clamp it to the stone to keep it steady.  

 

Our first job is to edge pare the leather to take the majority off so that when we use the spokeshave to literally ‘shave’ the leather, the shavings won’t build up and tear it.

To do this place the point of the knife on the stone, and using a shallow angle, draw the knife across the edge. This does take a lot of practice, and I’m by no means an expert. Definitely practice on off cuts and spare pieces, you may find a technique that suits you better.

Once the edge has been angled about 6/7mm in, you can start using the spokeshave.

The spokeshave needs to be modified for use on leather rather than wood. This link will guide you through the process, http://www.hewit.com/skin_deep/?volume=16&article=2

Starting about 15mm away from the 25mm line, push the spokeshave away and off the pared edge. Shave all along the edge evenly; repeat until the thickness has been reduced significantly. Brush the shavings off the leather and from under it regularly. 

I’ve read that it needs to be 0.4mm or so, but you will before long get a feel for how thick it should be. As long as you bear in mind that it has to form around the edge of your boards, you can make a decision as to how thick it needs to be. The image below shows the same leather folded before and after paring.

Once the edge has been sufficiently thinned, feel for any uneven areas and rectify them. Once done move on to the tail and then finally the fore-edges.

Our next stage is to further pare the areas of the turn-ins that will form the head caps. These are the areas that will be turned and tucked into the hollow back, and therefore need to be thin so as not to form an unsightly ridge. 

For this process I use either the rounded French paring knife or the heel of the English paring knife. I then take the edge right down to the hair side so it’s incredibly thin.

The corners need now to be cut at a 45% angle. You need to leave a small gap between the cut and marked rectangular area of the board. This is so the board won’t poke out when covered. The measurement for this should be about a board and halves thickness. But I tend to leave around 6/7mm.

Cut the corners and edge pare them very thin. 

Finally feel the entire surface of the flesh side and what you may feel is a noticeable step between the original thickness of the leather and where you have pared it. This needs to be rectified or it will be visible when pasted down. Using the spokeshake gently reduce the step, feeling constantly for uneven areas.

When finished reapply the markings and the job is done.