Page:The Art of Bookbinding, Zaehnsdorf, 1890.djvu/92

62 upon its edge, it will be certain to cause ridges on the paper. The top edge being cut, the book is taken out of the press and the tail cut. A mark is made on the top of the hind or back board just double the size of the square, and the board is lowered until the mark is on a level with the cut top. The book is again put into the press, with the back towards the workman, until the board is flush with the cheek of the press; this will expose above the press the amount to be taken off from the tail, as before described, and the left hand board will be, if put level with the cut top, exactly the same distance above the press as the right hand board is below the cut top. The tail is cut in the same way as the top edge. To cut a book properly requires great care. It will be of great importance to acquire a methodical exactness in working the different branches, cutting especially. Always lay a book down one way and take it up another, and in cutting always work with the back of the book towards you, and cut from you. Give the turn to the screw of the plough as it is thrust from you, or you will pull away a part of the back instead of cutting it.

In cutting the foredge, to which we must now come, always have the head of the book towards you, so that if not cut straight you know exactly where the fault lies. The foredge is marked both back and front of the book by placing a cutting board under the first two or three leaves as a support; the mill-board is then pressed firmly into the groove and a line is drawn or a hole is pierced head and tail, the foredge of the board being used as a guide. The book is now knocked with its back on the press quite flat, and trindles (flat pieces of steel in the shape of an elongated U, about 1½ inch wide and 3 or 4 inches long, with a slot nearly the whole length) are placed between the boards and book by letting the boards fall back from the book and then passing one trindle at the head, the other at