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YAPP
VOL 16 NO 3............................................. MAY-JUNE 2007
The Official Newsletter of the W .A . Craft Bookbinders Guild Inc
The aim of the Guild is to promote and exhibit the art of the hand-bound book ,
maintaining the traditional craft bookbinding skills .
Aesthetics of Book Conservation
By Gary Frost
“At its best, craftsmanship in conservation is not simply
a skillful use of tools and materials, but a knowledge and
sympathy for the volume and the period of its
production.” Familiarity must breed the opposite of
contempt in the book conservator. The book conservator
meets each book with an expectation of some message.
The Bonefolder: an e-journal for the bookbinder
and book artist Volume 3, Number 1, Fall 2006
http://www.philobiblon.com/bonefolder/vol3no1contents.htm
DANGER BEWARE DANGER
JUNE MEETING AT NEW VENUE, TUESDAY 26 JUNE 2007
See Pages 3 and 7 for details

Minutes of the WA Craft
Bookbinders’ meeting held on
Monday 30th April 2007
The Meeting was opened at
7.05 pm. with an attendance 19
members and two visitors.
Apologies. Gavin Rankine;
Claudia Kurowski; Shirley
Withers.
The minutes for February and
March were printed in “Yapp”
and taken as read.
Sub-editor of YAPP, Mervyn
Bond, was thanked for a well
produced “Yapp” and Shirley
Withers thanked for doing the
March minutes at very short
notice.
The Treasurer reported little
change from the March
meeting.
General business.
Designer Binders Announce
their competition for 2009 on
the theme of water, with very
big prizes to be won.
George Ross spoke of his
advanced bookbinding course
from May 1st which will
concentrate on sewing and
finishing with three books to be
produced.
Peter Foss was asked to explain
“geocaching”, a word not
known by any member present.
A game involving hiding
something and leaving complex
clues on the internet for others
to interpret and find the object.
David Millhouse showed a
sample print of selected letters
from various type faces to
show the progress made in
sorting the Guild’s collection.
Agenda for May is tentatively
Paper conservator Sylvia Bass,
who is overseas till the 1st.
week in May. To be
confirmed.
George Ross, as guest speaker,
demonstrated the techniques of
floating off end papers from
cover boards and lifting book
labels etc.
Minutes of the WA Craft
Bookbinders’ meeting held on
Monday 28th May 2007.
The meeting opened at 7.00 pm
with an attendance of 21.
Apologies were received from
Shirley Withers, Geoff & Joan
Dimock, Judith Montgomerie
and Kay Fisher. Expressions of
regret were made for Joan and
Kay who were seriously
unwell.
A quorum of Officers was not
filled, so no resolutions were
passed, but the Treasurer was
strongly in favour of the July
meeting to be the end of our
fiscal year and the AGM to be
held in September, allowing
time for a full audit of the
books. Officers present agreed.
The President spoke briefly on
our pending removal of
premises and where we expect
to go. Most members were
quite concerned about this
matter. David, Frances, Bob
and Gavin had already
inspected the hall with Jan
Stroud and everything was
fully explained.
2
The existing premises are to be
vacated on Wednesday 30th
May and David Millhouse, Bob
Crowe, Gavin Rankine, Neville
Duckett and Peter Foss will
remove all of our belongings to
Gavin’s premises for storage.
The Secretary expressed
concern that of 54 persons
contacted, only 21 turned up at
this vital meeting.
The Secretary also stated that
Cockerells Marbled Paper (the
famous English Bookbinders)
seemed to be out of contact.
With the expansion of more
skilled binders, a higher quality
of PVA glue is to be stocked,
but it is twice the present price.
Normal PVA will still be
available.
Doug Firth gave a lengthy talk
(with his usual enthusiasm) on
paper as a material and
techniques to preserve and
repair it. He spoke about
Reemay (random spunbonded
Polyester cloth), Mylar,
washing, rinsing, wet Bibles,
flood and fire damage. He
showed a book; ‘Papermaking’
by Dard Hunter as an excellent
reference. He mentioned the
use of atomizers to keep paper
damp, metal fragments causing
‘foxing’, freezing a wet book
until sufficient time is available
to properly repair it and many
other items of great need and
interest in this endeavour.
The course that George Ross
was running on advanced
finishing was extremely
valuable and a further course
would be run on July 17th,
24th, 31st & August 7th at his
Bullsbrook Bindery.
The meeting closed at 10.30pm
with an attendance of 15.

MONTHLY MEETING
JUNE TUESDAY 26, 2007
7.00 pm
Alexander Park Craft House
Clyde Road
Menora
SEE PAGE 7
AGM
Explore the venue
Show and Tell
MONTHLY MEETING
JULY TUESDAY 31, 2007
7.00 pm
Alexander Park Craft House
Clyde Road
Menora
Speaker/Activity
to be advised
Show and Tell
.
FROM
THE
PEN OF THE
PRESIDENT
The news from the Red Cross Library that they
would have to move due to Hollywood Hospital
redevelopment came as quite a shock. The
unexpected move has happened twice before in my
time with the Guild. But this time there is no
room for us to go on with the Red Cross.
The following week was a long one. Even so it was
just a week later that, following a tip from Mervyn
Bond, Frances and I were looking at an alternative
venue; Alexander Park Craft House, Clyde Rd.
Menora. The following day Bob Crowe and Gavin
Rankine also went to assess the venue. We all
agreed the venue had what we need to make a new
home.
At the last meeting in the Red Cross Library, 28th.
May, the probability that we may have to meet on
a different evening to our usual last Monday of
each month was discussed with lively interest.
The last Tuesday of each Month was
overwhelmingly popular, mainly because the
alternative, Friday, was much too busy with traffic
for most members coming from distance.
My Thanks to Gavin Rankine. Bob Crowe, Neville
Duckett, and Peter Foss who volunteered help to
move out of the Red Cross rooms on Wednesday
30th. Additional thanks to Gavin Rankine who
also provided the space to store our materials and
equipment until we can move to a new home.
The application for membership of the Alexander
Park Craft House has been made. We will not
know the outcome until later in June , but all
members will be notified before the June meeting
is due.
Happy Binding
David Millhouse.
3

FLOATING OFF ENDPAPERS
A demonstration by George Ross
Materials required
• Tray to hold water with a length and breadth
sufficient to fit in the boards being processed. A
Kitty Litter tray accommodates A4 pages.
Sometimes the glue softens at different rates so
an area might stick. Carefully lay the lifted area
of the endpaper back down and return to the
moistening procedure.
When the endpaper is remove put it in the tray of
water face down and check the back for glue.
Gently rinse/lift off the glue.
Lay the rinsed endpaper face up on the laminex
surface making sure there are no wrinkles. Cover
with a clean dry piece of blotting paper and lay
the glass over the blotting paper.
Boards soaking in water in tray
• Blotting paper - lots.
• Plate glass about 260 mm x 350 mm or a
plain tempered glass kitchen cutting 'board' of
about the same size (available from kitchen area
of supermarkets for about $5)..
• Smooth clean laminex table top or a board
covered with laminex or such and about the same
size as the plate glass.
• Spatula or bone folder.
• Boards from a book.
Procedure
If the board is to be used again later then lay the
board on the laminex surface with the endpaper
face up. Dampen a clean cloth or dip a sheet of
blotting paper in the tray of water and lay over
the endpaper.
The time required to sufficiently moisten the
endpaper to allow it to be lifted off will vary from
twenty minutes to several hours. During this
time maintain the dampness of the cloth or
blotting paper.
Wrinkled blotting paper
When the blotting shows signs of wrinkling
remove the glass, gently remove the blotting
paper, cover the endpaper with a fresh sheet of
blotting paper, replace the glass. Repeat this
process, perhaps four times, until no wrinkles
appear. The endpaper could now be used or kept
flat under light pressure until required.
If the board is not going to be used again then
soak the board in the tray of water. How long the
board should soak will vary as for the first
method. A two hour minimum is very likely and
overnight is possible.
When the endpaper can be lifted proceed as before
rinsing off glue and applying the blotting paper
procedure until dry.
A book plate removed using the
blotter/cloth method
Separating the
endpaper from a
soaked board
Do not hurry the process. Test with the spatula/
bone folder at a corner by gently inserting the
blade or tapered end under the endpaper. If it
lifts readily then attempt to lift the rest of sheet.
4
Report by Mervyn Bond

DOUG FIRTH'S BIBLIO FOLIO REVISITED
by Peter Foss
Biblio Folio
It was like being part of a secret conclave as we all
headed to Doug Firth's BiblioFolio in Fremantle.
By the time I got to High Street, Fremantle, there
was a flood of members heading towards number
15; some emerging from the Villa Roma next door.
Inside, Doug's premises were a wonderland of
accumulated antique bookbinding machinery all
perfect for craft
Ludlow
bookbinding. Doug took us
typecaster
through each one explaining
its use and history and
showing how well each huge
cast iron item performed its
function. We also learned of
the small miracle that had
stopped one over-massive
item crashing through the
floor when it was upstairs.
Among the machines he had
were: 188O’s Furnival
flywheel guillotine, 1912
Krause boardcutter, 1930’s
standing press, two 1860’s
nipping presses and a
McKay No3 blocking press.
admired and who had lectured him - Allan
Stratton. He was painstakingly restoring a book of
Stratton's -The History of Bookbinding. Only a
few were made and they were printed on
newsprint. One of the big problems was getting
the types.
Doug showed us a beautiful paper he was using
called Bird and Pomegranate.
Arab printing press
Then it was time for a
practical demonstration.
Doug has thought his
methodology through and
has some very useful
systems.
He demonstrated repair
with a very dilapidated 17th
Century book he was
repairing. It was a book
from the times when you’d
buy your book as sheets
from a bookseller and take it
to your bookbinder to be
bound.
With any repair he always
first brushes out the spine.
Then he checks the
Press with height
adjustable patten
He has since obtained some more really precious
items: An 1870’s ARAB printing press and a
Ludlow typecaster with 47 fonts. The ARAB is
being restored currently.
He demonstrated his blocking press and told us of
a NSW bookbinding lecturer whom he greatly
pagination and if necessary repaginates. Then he
washes and de-acidifies the paper to be repaired.
Only then does he start the repair. This he does on
Mylar on a light-table. He places Mylar above and
below the page.
Cont page 6
5

Cont from page 5
You can buy Mylar at Historical Society, Zetta
Florence or Inertech. He lays the repair tissue
paper over the Mylar on top of the paper to be
repaired and water cuts it to size. To hold the
water he uses a beaker inside a bowl. With the
paper he was using he would probably only do the
outside of each section and the map. He has even
finer paper if it needs more repair. He only pastes
the toothed side of the paper. For his paste he
uses methyl cellulose. It shouldn't go mouldy - if it
does go mouldy you know your container or your
brush is not sterile. When the paste is dry he
sprays the paper with de-acidified water. Then he
dries it in a sandwich of rag mat-covered
corrugated cardboard; with Re-May for release
paper then blotting paper. During the process,
depending on the needs of the occasion he has the
light table on or off. For fine handling he uses
dental tools and both toothed and untoothed
tweezers to handle strips. If there is text on the
area to be repaired, you tack the other side first.
He can get several uses out of his blotting paper
and when eventually he has to retire it he uses
the old blotter to remove glue on spines.
After more demonstrations we all adjourned for
coffee in the small kitchen at the back and were
entertained by the sound of crashing crockery
from the kitchen next door. Apparently the newly
opened restaurant was having staff problems.
The use of japanese repair tissue was recently demonstrated at one of
our meetings by David Millhouse. The article below, by David, picks up
the key elements of that demonstration
Conservation, this site worth a visit.
http://idp.bl.uk/archives/news29/idpnews_29.a4d
6

THE GEORGE ROSS FIVE DAY WORKSHOP
MAY 2007
GETTING STUCK UP WITH A BETTER QUALITY PVA
Over the past five Tuesdays Peter Foss
and I have enjoyed the privilege of being
taught by George Ross. This is a unique
experience which I encourage as many
members to take part in as can manage.
George begins with basics and takes one
right through all stages of the binding
process. It matters not from what level
one begins.
A major outcome that will affect the
whole guild is the experience of using a
much more suitable PVA glue. In the past
the PVA has dried hard and stiff with
little ability to hold clay impregnated
paper.
I have suggested that the Guild purchase
a quantity of the glue we used at the
workshop. The workshop glue dries with
much more flexibility which enables the
rounding and backing process to be done
with ease.
While being more expensive it may not be
needed for every job. But for that fine job
that needs extra care I would encourage
the best.
David Millhouse
June 3 2007
‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡
‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡
DRIVEWAY
HOW TO GET TO OUR NEW VENUE
JUNE MEETING 2007
CRAFT
HOUSE
7

Coming Events
Tuesday 26 June 2007 - the Monthly Guild meeting
AGM
Tuesday 31 July 2007 - the Monthly Guild meeting
George Ross’s July bookbinding courses
6 people or less - will run from 9 am until you drop
Tuesdays July 17, 24, 31 & August 7
Friday 24 August to Sunday 26 August: Craft & Antique & Collector's Fair
Claremont Showgrounds Exhibition Centre
9.30 am to 4.30 pm daily
Perth Royal Show
29 September - 6 October 2007
WA CRAFT
BOOKBINDERS
GUILD INC
Executive
President: David Millhouse 08 9295 2491
V/President Bob Crowe 08 9328 3110
Secretary Gavin Rankine 08 9459 0295
& c/- 44 Austin Avenue
Course convener KENWICK WA 6107
rankinegg@optusnet.com.au
Treasurer Neville Duckett 08 9448 9925
Editor Graham Levey 08 9228 2725
YAPP
Editor Graham Levey 08 9228 2725
Sub-editor Mervyn Bond 08 9330 3310
Contributions:
By Post:
By email:
The Editor
c/- 232 Charles Street
NORTH PERTH WA 6006