Notes from the bench
Ten articles on the parts of letterpress and bookbinding that are learned the hard way: what a first press actually costs, why grain direction ruins an otherwise good job, how the three common bindings differ, and what to do about lead dust and solvent vapour.
How to Start Letterpress Printing: A Beginner's Guide
What a first press actually costs, which of the three routes suits a small workshop, and the purchases beginners regret. A guide to the first six months at the press.
Typesetting Basics: From Composing Stick to Lockup
A composing stick, a chase and a quoin key are enough to set a page. How to space and justify a line, how much leading to use, and how to lock a form without springing the chase.
Understanding Paper Grain and Why It Matters
Paper has a direction, it remembers being folded, and it will tell you which way it wants to go. How to find the grain in three minutes, and why a book spine must follow it.
Bookbinding Stitches: Coptic, Long-Stitch, and Case
Three sewing structures that solve three different problems. Thread sizes, sewing stations, spine swell, and how to choose a stitch before you cut the paper.
Choosing Paper for Letterpress and Binding
Pounds or grams, text or cover, coated or uncoated. How to read a paper specification, what the numbers mean in the hand, and how to match stock to press and structure.
Ink Mixing and Color Matching
Mixing by weight, judging colour on the slab, and the four variables that change how an ink behaves. Why the same formula prints differently on two papers.
Hot Foil Stamping: Tools and Techniques
Temperature, dwell and pressure are the three controls, and they trade against each other. How to set up a foil job, read a bad transfer, and finish without blistering the sheet.
Book Repair Basics for Beginners
Loose hinges, torn pages, detached boards and a spine that has gone. What can be repaired at home, what should not be touched, and why the first rule is to do as little as possible.
Workshop Safety: Lead Type, Solvents, and Cutters
The three hazards a print and bindery workshop actually presents, and the controls that work. Lead, solvent vapour, and the blade — handled without drama and without complacency.
Setting Up a Home Bindery
Bench height, lighting, humidity and where the heavy things go. How to lay out a small bindery so that the work flows, the board stays flat and nothing is stored on the floor.
No article matches. Try a different topic, or clear the search box.
Beginner
Starting out, first equipment, and the mistakes worth avoiding.
Press
Presses, type, inking and impression.
Paper
Paper, grain, substrates and choosing stock.
Binding
Folding, sewing, gluing and cases.