#coloured edges

[zhalfirin-binds]

Graphite Edges

I did some graphite edges again, this time going for a mirror finish (I'm still not sure they couldn't be even more shiny).

(The 2 pictures above show the difference between the graphite edge on a trimmed but otherwise untreated edge and a trimmed and sanded edge with burnished graphite.)

When doing all 3 edges, I always start with the front edge because that's the most difficult one to do without making too much of a mess when it's curved from rounding the book.

My process is first of all sanding (so much sanding in bookbinding).

I started out sanding with a 120 grit and worked my way up to 400 before applying a graphite-paste layer. There are pre-made liquids for graphite edges, but I mix my own batch each time, because graphite powder is what I have, so I use that and it's not really difficult to mix it with a thin paste.

It looks pretty patchy before polishing, which is perfectly normal. When applying the graphite paste the edges should be dust and fuzz free to avoid weird specks on the finished edge. The issue with those specks is that they are usually thicker than the rest and tend to flake off.

Next is waiting for the graphite-paste to dry a bit and then start polishing with a wad of cotton or any soft fuzz-free cloth until the edge is shiny and no graphite comes off anymore.

My graphite paste was a tad too thin though. I polished it, but noticed after a bit I wasn't getting a good coverage on the edge. So I just added another layer, let it dry again and polished some more.

This time I really wanted to see if I could get a mirror finish by burnishing the edge with an agate burnisher. If you do this, make sure your tool, agate burnisher, bonefolder or whatever you use, is clean and unmarred. it's terribly annoying to get scratches on the edge at the very last step. I finished up with a thin layer or wax to protect the paste from getting reactivated, polished and burnished again with cloth and agate.

I'm not sure that's the best it can be, but it certainly is more shiny than the merely cloth polished edge.

[zhalfirin-binds]

coloured edges with colourshift acrylic inks

One of the things that baffles me most is how these colours look like nothing on a white ground, just a pale pearly shimmer that often doesn't even look much like the colours it shifts to, but have a dark surface and there it is.

I still have to get the hang of how much to dilute these acrylic inks for colouring edges though (I had a bad case of flaking with the first edge I coloured and needed to do it new, but it still turned out with a nice shift eventually).

[zhalfirin-binds]

WIP Winnie-the-Pooh

Part III Decorating the edges

For colouring the edges I had a special design in mind that would take a few more steps the the usual single colour edge. After all the sanding that needs to be done to apply the colour evenly I had a honey comb pattern traced and transfered by tracing it again (graphite side up! because with light colours, like the one I settled for, smudges will show).

After a first light tracing I took the paper away and traced it again until the edge was properly gauffered. 

Then I mixed up my colour palette. I first thought to get a darker brown by mixing lemon yellow and black...  which turned a nasty green so I added some dark red. and got this brown.

I probably should have gone for a lighter hue, but by then I had the fore edge done and I was not up to sand it smooth again so I could gauffer a second time.

Once dried (I used a hairdryer to speed the drying up) I sanded the edge lightly so the surface was lighter again without completely cleaning out the indentions. You can clearly see the area where I backed the book. Now it takes more colour too because there’s no pressure applied there so the edge wasn’t quite as smooth as the pressed area and the colour can settle deeper in the paper due to that too. 

Then came the second layer of colour with a gold-yellow mix. I let it dry again, waxed the edge with beeswax and polished it with a wad of cotton.  The soft shimmer does not show well on the pictures but aside from the protection it offers I like the warm look it gives the edge.

As you can see I settled for a three sided colouring.

The front edge was the worst to work on the looks the messiest. I was sloppy about the sanding there, but I’m still happy enough with it. Considering I didn’t even do a test run to check if this gauffering-colouring-sanding-colouring combo would work at all.

Also here is what the spine area looks like just backed and sanded. The triangle (mine is not even so I, and now you too, can see I didn’t back very evenly) is completely normal for backed books. Part of it will be covered up by endbands later on.

[zhalfirin]

[tarotmum13]

Another deck freed...

Been feeling a bit under the weather so I can’t go out.

Perfect time to set another tarot deck free from the restrictive borders that bleed the colours from the artwork and stop the characters from interacting!

Dreaming Way Tarot this time…

Cut and Cornered…

And edged bright green to compliment the card backs!

It would look even better without titles but I don’t feel like counting wands or cups before I know which card I am talking to!

[the-booted-kat]

[gregorromswan]

A photo of my book titled This Page Has Been Left Intentionally Blank.