NDR - "Do you think you can carve this for us?"

MLBob Furia

MLBob Furia

Well-known member
A few years back, I was approached by a friend who owns a calligraphy studio. She had been commissioned to collaborate on a book project with another artisan who specialized in papermaking and bookbinding.......This person did that work (paper & binding) using centuries old, restored Old World bookbinding equipment, methods, & tools. Anyway, they asked if I thought I could do hand-carved panels to be inletted into the front and back covers and spine of the book they had been asked to create for their client. The designs I used in carving the cover were based on photographs I was provided of designs in the woodwork and stained glass windows in the client's building.

As I recall, the leather used for the cover was some sort of exotic, dyed, African antelope skin. Fascinating project, especially seeing how the bookbinder worked with all the old methods and tools - even hand stiching the binding & pages together.

I came across this picture of the finished book on my friends website recently:

View attachment cover.gif

Tried to enlarge the pic a bit, but it distorts when I do:

View attachment cover (426 x 254).jpg

Had a heck of a time getting the blank for the spine curved to fit the arc of the binding. Lots of fine chisel work & hand sanding to get it uniform. Neat thing was that in addition to my fee, they purchased all the knives & chisels I needed to get the job done
 
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