Bookbinding challenges - Taking stock of the first test

What you are seeing here from left to right are...

a) a book cover theory laid out on paper;

b) the first complete test of 10 or eleven test signatures, folded, sewn, glued, and trimmed, with a first complete test leather cover, and with the book block cased into the cover; and

c) the complete test book block of 23 signatures with all the book's pages in the correct order, each signature folded, all signatures sewn, and a first coat of glue applied to the binding.

It's far from perfect, and it's even far from good.

What you can't really see is how much I have learned up to this point.

Test

Test

Test

There are things I already knew before the first test, like how important precise measurements are, the importance of having the right materials, and the key role that skills play in achieving something that meets the objective of producing a really nice and valued leather-bound book.

Here is what I have learned so far, thanks to the first complete test, in no particular order:

•  The idea of having the book title printed on book cloth in a window on the front cover works nicely. The problem that you can see is that the front cover window is a sandwich of two cover boards and a sheet of book cloth. It's way too thick. Like twice too thick. I think I can reduce it to a single thickness, but that is going to require a separate test.
• I suspected the test leather was too thick. It's just random leather from scraps I got at the local crafts shop. The leather I need to find is a nice red leather to match the ultimate design. I'll see if that will be available in a thinner lighter weight. If not, I think this thickness of leather will actually work. We'll see in the second test when the complete book is bound. 
• The end papers I used are just plain sheets of paper. I am kind of shocked at how well they did their job. What I learned is the role they play can't really be understood until you actually use them to secure the cover. It's the most important role that paper ends up playing in a properly bound leather covered book. To play that role properly, the paper needs to be thicker and stronger than the paper used to print the book. Ideally what may be best is a Japanese paper with a heart motif, in red. We'll see if that even exists. 

Bookbinding challenges - Ploughing and sewing

Hi there!

Bookbinding is actually very far removed from farming, even if the title of this post sounds like it might be about farming.

So why sewing?

To make a book you need many signatures, and no, I'm not talking about anything to do with petitions. I'll do a separate post on signatures since they have their own very exquisite complexities and can result in a lot of head-scratching. Suffice to say that a signature is a basically a booklet. In the case of my book, we're talking about four sheets of letter-size paper, 8 1/2" by 11", with two pages of the book printed on each side of each sheet, so four book pages on each sheet, resulting in each signature containing 16 pages of the eventual book. In the case of my book there are 22 four-sheet 16 page signatures, and one five-sheet 20 page signature.

To make each signature, once the four sheets are printed, they are folded in half, all together, so that they are nested. If the signature plan is right, and they were printed correctly, when you turn the pages of the first signature you will find pages 1 to 16 in the correct order. Once I did all the printing and folding (there will be a separate post just on the art of folding, amazing no?) I had the 23 signatures.

This is where the sewing comes in. Oh... right, did you punch holes in the signatures? Check out my post on hole punching if that's something you plan on doing.

A special kind of waxed thread is used to sew the signatures together. Depending on the technique you  choose (there are many) you will need a weird curved needle, the waxed thread, a template and a piercing cradle to make sure that the holes all line up (see that post), and, in my case, I used a combination of French stitches and kettle stitches. I learned it all from this amazing YouTube post by Chanel of Bitter Melon Bindery.

Here's what I have. It's made up of my 23 signatures, printed on cheap paper with my Hewlett Packard black and white laser printer. I printed them to make sure they were right, and for proof-reading. As you can see, they have been sewed, and a layer of glue has been applied.

What you are seeing is kettle stitches at each end, and French stitches in the middle. It looks pretty good, but looks can be deceiving.

So why ploughing?

It's all about uneven edges.

With 23 signatures, even if the folding was meticulous, and the sewing was really, really good (this is only my second attempt, so no, it's not), inevitably the edges of the signatures don't line up as you see with even the cheapest paperback, or a commercial pamphlet.

The solution is simple.

Well, no it's not, at best it's simple-ish. Professional artisanal bookbinders use massive wooden ploughs with a kind of a special matched tool like a hand-held wood plane that runs back and forth across the edge of the book and trims the edges. Industrial outfits use massive hydraulic gillotines to do the job. So what the heck am I doing?

The key turns out to be a skiving knife

Since I'm only going to produce, at most, one or two books, it doesn't make sense to invest in a plough. An alternative approach is to use a sharp knife to trim the page edges. First you need a setup using a book press and some scrap book board. The trick is press the book once it has been sewn leaving the edge to be trimmed aligned with the edge of the press set up.

As with every aspect of this project, I am deeply aware that trial and error will be the key to eventual success. Another key ingredient is making do with homemade tools to the extent possible. The trick is to know where to draw the line. It is possible to be too cheap.

To figure out the do-it-yourself book press trimming method, I am learning from a master bookbinder's insightful course on edge trimming that he was kind and considerate to post on YouTube. If you are seriously considering binding a book, watch this video by DAS Bookbinding.

I live in a condo and my home office is my workshop. That means that I don't have the tools handy that my Dad had in this home wooodworking shop. For instance, the only grinder I have is my Dremel. That means that repurposing a wood chisel into a proper skiving knife by rounding the edge, is out of the question.

First I tried trimming with my scalpel - blade's too small and too short, and the edge is tapered on both sides of the blade. Then I tried, multiple times, with my box cutter. It kind of worked, and the trim was 'OK', but not good enough. These attempts were applied to my first 11 signature attempts, the experimental ones that taught me how to make proper signatures.

So I ordered a proper skiving knife from Lee Valley.

It is perfect, the edge is perfect, and it is beautifully Zen, with its plain wood handle, and a blade that came stunningly sharp. That it is made in Japan delighted me. I wasn't expecting that.

Why was I delighted, you ask. That's a good question. Allow me to digress a little.

The other day I was trimming bookboard with my scalpel. Depending on whether I am cutting with the grain or against it, and whether I am using a fresh blade, it takes me from 75 to 143 passes with the scalpel to complete the cut.

That takes concentration, and a lot of patience. Getting ready for our imminent trip to Japan, I bought an album of modern Zen Japanese music on iTunes. To complement the wonderful calming serene musical backdrop, I posted this image on my iPad, taken from a recent newspaper article on the best places to see in Japan, so I could contemplate the image while I took pass, after pass, after pass with my scalpel. Me being me, I counted my passes ("... 54, 55, 56, 57...").

I suspect you may feel that this a poor way to spend my precious time, but I assure you, it made me feel... very "Zen". When the cut completed and the board separated, and I saw that the edge was close to perfect, it was a source of deep satisfaction.

Practice makes perfect

That is so true.

This project of mine has two test books, and hopefully one final attempt that will be close enough to perfection. My fingers are tightly crossed.

Where do things stand?

As mentioned earlier, I have at present two test books. 

The first test is truly trashy. It consists of the earliest signature tests, something like 10 or 11 signatures. As I worked on this initial test, I also started experimenting with covers. The cover and the book are closely related but in fact are completely separate until the very end.

The first test cover was just glued to the first book test, and the 'finished' book will sit in the book press overnight. I'll share that little saga in an upcoming post. For now all I can share is that it has a brown leather cover, with a 'window' on the front cover that reveals the cover art. It has many flaws. The good news, I think, is that I have learned a lot from the first test.

The second test will attempt to come much closer to the final product. At present that second test book has been folded, sewn and glued, that's all. The good news is that all the pages are right side up, and all in the right order, from the introduction to the conclusion.

Stay tuned. That's all for now.

Feel free to ask questions in the comments. I promise to do my best to answer them.

Bye for now.  

Elbows up, Canada!

I was twelve when Canada's Prime Minister Lester Pearson decided that it was time for Canada to celebrate its independence by adopting a national flag to replace the flag known as the Canadian Ensign. The former flag placed too much emphasis on Canada's imperial roots. I remember the summer of 1964 when versions of our new flag were circulating seeking public consensus.

Ultimately our simple red and white maple leaf flag won the day.

When I began riding Vespas I sewed a modest Canadian flag on each of my riding jackets. That was pretty much the first and only time in my life that I had a Canadian flag on anything I owned. I did that because when I rode in the US, which I did on multiple occasions, I wanted people to know I was a proud Canadian.

Canadians never flew their flag anywhere near as much as Americans flew theirs. Most Canadians felt, to be honest, that Americans were far, far, far too addicted to the Stars and Stripes. 

All that said, if you look carefully, you will now see a Canadian flag on my Brompton.

There is one on the other side of the bike as well, and I have one on my helmet, and one on my helmet's winter shell.

I sewed one on the strap of my sling and there are now Canadian flags on our cars, one here...

...and one here as well...

... and we are also flying a Canadian flag on our balcony...

We are doing this because for the first time in our lifetime, Canada is under attack from the US. I never would have thought that would be possible. And yet that is what is happening. Our economy is being hammered by American tariffs, and as American democracy flails under a growing aggressive presidential dictatorship, our independence and our sovereignty are under attack by Americans, along with those of Panama and Greenland, all while an aggressive tariff war is being inflicted by Americans on the global economy.

We are now flying our flag not so much to make an impression on Americans, because that is pointless. We will never cross the border or buy American products so long as this insanity lasts. We are doing it to remind our fellow Canadians that we stand strong and defiant, because we cherish who we are as a nation.

Elbows up Canada!

Make sure your voice is heard by voting in the upcoming Federal election!

Riding into the past's present

Cemeteries make some people cringe. I get it.

To me they are interesting, and a nice way to find valuable context.

On my Vespa I visited family members at the Mount Royal cemetery, back in Montreal.

Here in Toronto, my Vespa took me across Toronto to see the intimate connections of Toronto to Vimy Ridge, including majestic Vimy oak trees, and the resting place of Walter Allward, the man who gave the Vimy Memorial to France in honour of Canada's soldiers who fought and lost their lives in World War I.

Back in Montreal, in suburban Beaconsfield actually, my grandfather's resting place is in the Last Post Cemetery, one of the few military cemeteries in Canada. Georges Terroux fought in World War I. I would often ride my Vespa to visit his grave, and it was also within dog-walking distance from our home. 

My Brompton, all by itself, doesn't get me too far from home, but we do have a cemetery within bicycle range. And that cemetery has its share of surprising wonders.

Among them: 

• a member of the Romanov family who escaped from the Bolshevik revolution, Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia;


• THE Tim Horton (yes THE doughnut king!);


• and yet another amazing individual you are about to meet.

Last year I found the princess and the king, but I couldn't manage to find the person whose resting place meant the most to me.

It's completely appropriate that her resting place eluded me.

Having lived an amazing and very public life, Barbara Frum is now very much sheltered and protected. It's as if she is wary of public life, in death, and seeks to avoid attention.

It's almost poetic.

To access her tomb, first you need to find it. It's not really visible the way most graves are. In the height of summer it all but disappears in the greenery. That's because it is a modest intimate gravel rectangle completely surrounded by hedges, with a single narrow gated stone passage on one end. The headstone is not in any way visible from outside the hedged enclosure.

Even in leafless early spring, it's still hard to find.

Once you do, you find the narrow passage through the hedge guarded by a massive cast-iron gate.

There is no catch, latch, or lock. All you need is a fairly hefty push to gradually open the gate and enter Barbara Frum's presence. A final obstacle is an unadorned grey stone high curb that makes you turn right as you enter the enclosure so that at first you face the hedge, instead of the headstone.   

True to her spirit, Barbara Frum's gravesite lacks any trace of typical pomp and circumstance. Her tombstone is very bare and does its best to be inconspicous. It faces inwards, into the gravel-covered, hedge-surrounded space, doesn't face the enclosure entrance, and faces away from the cemetery's open spaces. Such humility is rarely seen in any cemetery.

Who is this Barbara Frum, you ask?

She was the soul of CBC's As it Happens. I have such fond memories of commuting in a car and listening to the most amazing news stories. Like when in the spring of 1977 there was a large hostage event in three office buildings in Washington D.C. Barbara Frum managed to have one of the hostage takers on the phone at the B'nai Brith offices, and was speaking with him. She asked the guy to hold the line, they had another person to speak to. On the other line she managed to get the Washington D.C. police chief. Have you spoken to the hostage takers, she asked. No, came the reply, we can't reach them, and we don't have time to talk to you, we have our hands full. I have them on the other line, Ms. Frum said. And that's when the negotiations began. It kind of left me speechless. No? This was not an isolated bombshell, Barbara Frum managed to do this kind of incredible in-depth reporting week in, and week out.

So here you now have a tiny slice of my present, and of Barbara Frum's present.

Finding it, and sharing it with you, was easy-ish, thanks to my trusty Brompton, presently the key ingredient in my life on two wheels.

Bookbinding challenges - Building a piercing cradle

Bookbinding is a holy endeavour.

Relax! This has absolutely nothing to do with religion at all. Not even in any remote, metaphorical way.

I say it's "holy" because once you figure out the deeply strange domain of signatures (yes there will be episodes here devoted to the magic of signatures), the next thing you must do, if you plan to make your way to a beautiful leather-bound book with gilded pages, is to punch holes in the fold of the signatures.

The thing is, of course, that the holes can't be just anywhere, ideally, they must be right in the middle of the fold crease. In addition, the position of the holes should be identical in each signature.

As I experimented with signatures, I applied what I learned from Chanel of Bitter Melon Bindery. If you tend to be nervous or anxious, even if you have no interest whatsoever in bookbinding, check out Chanel's channel (odd, I just saw that - Chanel channel). Chanel is an expert bookbinder, and also a wonderfully calming person.

I learned everything I thought I needed to know from Chanel about hole punching. Following Chanel's lesson, I made a piercing guide, and bought an awl.

I figured I was set. So I punched holes in all my test signatures as they were printed, folded, and proofread.

Then a couple of weeks ago I looked closely at my draft signatures, and saw that my holes weren't as aligned as they ought to be.

Fortunately, Dennis of Four Keys Book Arts, another very gifted bookbinder, taught me I would be well served if I had a piercing cradle. Click here to watch the lesson I learned.

Following his guidance in his YouTube video, and only using the materials I had available, I was able to craft my own piercing cradle. Since the materials I had couldn't exactly match Dennis' measurements, first I made a test model from a sheet of paper.

Since that worked, I proceeded to make an actual piercing cradle from the book board I had and some scrap leather.

My piercing cradle will absolutely essential once I print the final version of the twenty-three signatures that make up the book I am making in their proper format, on really nice paper, in colour.

There will be no room for errors.

Using the piercing cradle, the holes I punched are now quite nicely aligned.

Bookbinding challenges - beginnings

Bookbinding is a hobby that has appealed to me for quite a while.

It began when I chose my career.

No, wait...

as I reflect on this, it truly started with books.

The earliest book I loved was a hardcover early 1941 edition of Curious George. I must have gotten it as a gift from my mother when I was three or four, so 1955 or 1956. I still have that book, it's in my library, quite beaten up, with love.

The iconic book jacket is long gone.

Books, books, books.

School meant more books. By the time I was done with school, books had literally framed my life. I once told my nephews when the eldest told me he was in grade three, that I was in grade 27. Their look of shock and disbelief was cute.

Early in my career as a lawyer, I started collecting leather-bound classics. As time passed, I received more leather-bound books as gifts.

Later still, I was responsible for selecting gifts to honour a prominent CEO on his retirement. One of the gifts was a custom-made, small, leather-bound book, in a custom case, that told the story behind another gift, a perfect reproduction of an iconic item from the company's historical collection from its private museum.

The process of creating that book introduced me to the brilliant bookbinder who made it. She was from Paris, and ran a bookbinding craft shop in Montreal where she and her colleagues also taught bookbinding.

A few years later I was working at another company that freed up a little time. I decided to take a bookbinding course taught by that very talented bookbinder. Among her skills was restoring medieval manuscripts. Wow.

Binding a custom-made book is a curious recipe combining paper, folding paper, measuring precisely, cutting exact shapes, sewing French stitches, and kettle stitches, practical geometry, a surprisingly complicated series of mathematical formulas required to achieve what is referred to as the imposition of pages and sheets to form signatures, and lots of sticky messy glue.

Finally, I am in the midst of actually creating my very first book from scratch.

I am lucky to be doing that now, because YouTube is a stage on which very talented bookbinders teach the intricacies of the craft.

I still have the tools I purchased when I took that bookbinding course (a steel ruler, a scalpel, two dividers, and a cutting mat). I recently added a bookbinding needle, waxed thread, special glue, brushes and a few other tools. I have also made some necessary tools (a book press and a hole punching guide) and I am now in the midst of making a piercing cradle. Oh... there's software too!

There is a lot I want to share on this journey of discovery, so that means that this is the first in a series of posts I plan to share. I may even decide to make a video or two. Time will tell.

I suppose that technically, this whole process is the polar opposite of Life on two wheels. This is not careening on a spontaneous journey on the spur of the moment. This is definitely slow and steady. It's not even life on four wheels. It's deep and thoughtful life, at a desk.

Who knows... if you are here, bookbinding may be in your future too.

I am honoured, truly!

I recently received news from Anuj Agarwal of Feedspot that this blog had been rated in the top 100 moto blogs.

“I would like to personally congratulate you as your blog Life on two wheels has been selected by our panelist as one of the Top 100 Motorcycle Blogs on the web. This is the most comprehensive list of Top 100 Motorcycle Blogs on the internet and I'm honored to have you as part of this!”

I can't begin to say how much I appreciate the recognition. It means a lot to me.

Thank you Anuj.

Back to 'normal'?

On Tuesday, April 1, 2025, ironically April Fools Day, I declared myself 100% recovered from my stupid overworking of my right leg on a morning ride on Tuesday, August 29, 2023. That the issue started and came to an end on Tuesdays, is just a silly coincidence that I discovered just now as I was punching the dates into my trusty date calculator. 581 days is a long painful time.

Well it's behind me now, and I feel blessed.

I am gradually getting back to my weekday routine. ~35 minutes of exercises (before the misery it was only 17 minutes, but the recovery path involved more exercise), followed by a bike ride.

I have taken my bike out each of the last three mornings.

I love to ride. That's why I live my life on two wheels.

This morning I was blessed with fog.

Out of the blue, a star?

I discovered jazz when I was, I'm guessing now, eleven or twelve years old.

There was a show on CBC television that played Dave Brubeck's Take Five as its theme. I knew instantly in that moment, in spite of my youth, that I was listening to something very different and it resonated with me. Wikipedia says that Take Five is the biggest-selling jazz song of all time and a Grammy Hall of Fame inductee. 

Going back to the dawn of smartphones, I have listened to two jazz radio stations pretty much all the time thanks to the magic of streams. The station I listen to most of the time is Toronto-based JazzFM91. The other station is Paris-based TSF Jazz. Their streams are stored in the Apple Music app on my iMac and my system is set up so that I can fill our home, room by room, with the jazz those stations offer with a trackpad click or two. Thanks to the stream aggregator TuneIn, Siri brings me the stream instantly when I say "Siri, play JazzFM on Apple Music".

Jazz helps me focus. Whether it was when I was still riding a Vespa and I streamed those stations into my helmet over bluetooth, driving the car and listening on-air, riding my Brompton as jazz streams into my AirPods, or sitting at my desk deep into some variety of a legal issue or into hobby time.

In the case of JazzFm, the station is "listener-supported". The only way the station and its amazing crew can continue to bring jazz into their listeners' lives, is with the donations it receives from its listeners, myself included.

As wonderful as jazz is, and in spite of the benefits to its devotees in terms of providing a creative soundtrack for our lives, it is not nearly popular enough to generate the advertising revenues that would allow the station to thrive without donor support.

A couple of months ago, the station reached out to me offering Susan and I a guided tour of the station's studio. How could we pass that up?

I wasn't expecting much, to be honest.

It turned out to be as expected, meeting the staff and crew in their work space... BUT, it exceeded my expectations in many ways.

First and foremost, the warmth, generosity, and welcome that greeted us as we intruded in the middle of a work day, was extremely touching. And not just from the station's listener-facing staff, but from the technical personnel and the legendary on-air host Brad Barker, even as we listeners invaded his studio with its complex of networked equipment with a myriad glowing lights and hundreds of buttons and sliders.

Brad Barker

Brad Barker

Talk about bulls in a china shop!!

As special and fascinating as the tour was, offering us a deep dive into the exquisite complexity of radio broadcasting in the 21st century, it also reminded us of the amazing commitment of the station to the community, and particularly its contributions supporting the jazz artists making a living in the medium, as well as the students at the most important music faculties in the local universities who know they can look to JazzFM for expert support as they take on the many challenges of launching a demanding career in entertainment.

But there was one stunning moment that I could never have anticipated.

We crowded into a small production studio that is used, among other things, for one-on-one in-studio interviews. As the producer explained the recording equipment spread out in a semi circle on his desk, he invited one of us to approach the microphone and speak their name when prompted.

Well... the space was cramped, and guess what? Susan happened to be right in front of the microphone. Never, never, ever, would Susan have volunteered to speak into a studio microphone. But what could she do... Susan was the only visitor in a position to meet the request.

She leaned into the microphone, and when prompted, simply said her name. She said it as you might imagine she might. Not by any means even close to the tone and assurance of a seasoned broadcast personality, but much more like a reluctant volunteer, with a touch of reticence, tempered by a strong dose of humility.

And that is when the incredible completely unexpected magic happened.

OMG I married a budding broadcast star!!

Happiness is... simple?

Life is one constant evolution... I know... I know.

This year is not what last year was, and it’s not what the previous year was either.

On a personal level, things are good. I just need to deduct politics from the equation. I have succeeded, to a degree, and I am happier for it.

I happen to be writing this post sitting in a municipal library while Susan sees our physiotherapist. We are hoping he will do for her, what he has already done for me.

This library has an interesting name. It’s the Wychwood branch of the Toronto Public Library, and it has a beautifully done interior, in a restored older building. It is so nice that it has prompted me to write this post.

Susan and I are blessed. We recently returned from just over two weeks in Amsterdam and Copenhagen, and we are already booked on a spring cruise to Japan. This next trip may be one I am most looking forward to.

Lately I am more focused on the artistic aspects of my life than at any time in the past. For instance, there is quite an artistic sensibility at work in this library. The dark finishes offset by the ample lighting as well as light from an abundance of large windows, the contrast between modern and traditional, the large open spaces, and of course, people focused on work and study, and the resulting quiet… so soothing.

In my case, artistic expression is, in some measure, after my wife and family, a source of my happiness, and it is primarily expressed in writing. To a much lesser extent I find it through photography. Ultimately, interior design and architecture are subjects that interest me. 

I would love to live in a minimalist, modern, Japanese-style home, with a garden in the same style.

Unless I buy a lottery ticket and win a ridiculous amount of money, that won’t happen. Maybe… but only if I actually bothered to buy lottery tickets once in a while. So, no.

From the beginning Susan and I have purchased furnishings with good design.  Some we have ended up seeing in museums in New York and Copenhagen.  We have really nice modern couches in our den and living room. We like clean simple lines. We appreciate well-planned lighting. We both love art.

All these aspects of our home are ingredients in my happiness recipe.

I am sharing this with you in case it helps you in your quest for happiness, for joie de vivre.

I’ll admit that my recipe for happiness is a complicated one with a lot of moving parts, yet ultimately, and quite ironically, simplicity is definitely one of its key driving forces.

I advocate simplicity whenever I get involved in a planning discussion with clients, friends, or family.

The problem with simplicity is that making something that achieves its purpose in the most simple and efficient way, is usually more complicated and time-consuming, and requires a lot more thought than alternative approaches. I find that if a premium is placed on time, the plan will emerge quickly, but it often comes burdened with unanticipated complexity.

Less is more.

Since I had the good fortune to stumble on it earlier this year, I recommend to anyone who seems to me to have artistic aspects in their life to read Rick Rubin's The Creative Act - A way of being. 

On the topic of simplicity, Rick Rubin, speaking of the thing being created, cites Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, at page 242:

"Refine it to the point where it is stripped bare, in its least decorative form yet still intact. With nothing extra. Sometimes the ornamentation can be of use, often not. Less is generally more. 

"Perfection is finally obtained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there’s no longer anything to take away." [Antoine de Saint Exupéry, Terre des Hommes, ch. III, L’avion, Éditions Gallimard, p. 199 "Il semble que la perfection soit atteinte non quand il n’y a plus rien à ajouter, mais quand il n’y a plus rien à retrancher."]