FINISHING & DECORATION

Marbling Kit

Size, pigments and a comb, for floating colour onto a tray and lifting it onto paper.

5Finishing stage Rank 22 of 28

Line drawing

Specification
Size	Carrageenan or methylcellulose, 1.5–2 per cent
Bath depth	40–60 mm
Tray	Shallow, larger than the sheet
Pigments	Ox gall, acrylic, or traditional earth colours
Combs	1 to 3 per inch, plus a stylus
Paper	Unsized or lightly sized, 100–160 gsm
Mordant	Alum for traditional pigments
Rinse	Two baths, then dry flat

Working parameters
Size viscosity	1.5–2.0 per cent carrageenan
Bath depth	40–60 mm
Suitable stock	Unsized or lightly sized paper, 100–160 gsm
Processes	Marbling endpapers, covers, edges, leather
Compatible materials	Acrylic and earth pigments, ox gall, alum
Drying	Flat, between blotters, 12–24 hours
Humidity	Above 40 per cent, or the size skins over
Yield	About 30 sheets per bath before the size degrades

Overview

Marbling floats pigments on a thickened bath, draws a comb through them to make a pattern, and then lays a sheet of paper on the surface. The pigment transfers, the paper is rinsed, and the pattern is fixed. Every sheet is unique and no two are ever the same.

The traditional use is endpapers and book covers, but the technique is also used on leather, on fabric and on the edges of a text block. The size — carrageenan or methylcellulose — is what makes the pigment float rather than sink, and it has to be the right viscosity or nothing works.

5Finishing: Foil, gilding, embossing and edge decoration.

Safety

Before you use itTraditional pigments include heavy-metal compounds. Use acrylic colours for anything that will be handled, and never pour a bath down a domestic drain.

Before you use itOx gall is a skin and eye irritant. Gloves and ventilation.

Before you use itWet paper is heavy and the floor gets slippery. Mop as you go.

Using it well

Let the size sit for at least four hours before you use it. Fresh size has bubbles, and bubbles print as white specks.
Drop the pigment from just above the surface, not from height. Dropping it in from above sends it straight to the bottom.
Skim the bath between sheets. A single stray drop of pigment ruins the next sheet and you will not notice until it is dry.

What it works with

Papers and substrates

Unsized and lightly sized paper 100–160 gsm
Leather
Book cloth

Type and fonts

Not applicable

Processes

Marbling endpapers
Marbling covers
Marbling edges
Paste paper

Note. Specifications are conventional working ranges for this class of tool, not a measurement of any particular machine. Follow the instructions that came with your own equipment, and treat every figure here as a starting point to check rather than a limit to trust. Nothing on this page is for sale and no manufacturer had any input into it.

PaperBind

Endpapers

The folded sheet that joins the text block to the cover, and hides the join.

Binding stage

PaperPrint

Handmade Paper

Sheet formed by hand in a mould: irregular, deckle-edged, and unlike anything machine-made.

Printing stage

BindingBind

Bone Folder

A polished, tapered bone used to crease, burnish and rub down a fold or a pasted sheet.