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The Finishing Room

Signature III of IV

Paper, Board and Adhesive

Grain direction, weight and caliper, board and cloth for cases, endpapers, and the adhesives that hold a case together.

A bindery bench under a north-facing window, a 300 gsm watercolour sheet lying face down on a sheet of Melinex, a pot of wheat starch paste and a wide brush beside it, blotters stacked at the edge of the frame.
A watercolour sheet under weight, still drying on the pasting board. Plate MA-002 · Paper, Board and Adhesive · bound on 17/09/2026 · The plates stand beside the folios they belong to.

signature III · leaf 3 of 3

Sizing, Grain and the Paste Pot

How internal and surface sizing, grain direction and pressing decide whether a 300 gsm watercolour sheet lies flat in a case or cockles at the fore edge.

bound on · 3 sources

  • A bindery bench in daylight, a strip of kozo paper lying on a western book board, a pot of wheat starch paste and a pasting brush beside it, the spine of a half-bound book in the foreground.
    MA-001 III

    Washi in a Western Case: Which Sheets Take Paste

    Kozo, gampi and mitsumata in western binding: fibre length, sheet weight, and how each behaves pasted as endpaper, spine lining or hinge.

    bound on · 1 source

  • Two folds of the same sheet side by side on a bindery bench, one fold clean and one slightly cracked at the fold line, a bone folder and a steel rule beside them, daylight from a window.
    MA-003 III

    The Fold Test: Finding the Grain of a Sheet

    How to find the grain direction of an unmarked sheet in ten minutes, what the test shows on coated and laid paper, and why the spine follows the grain.

    bound on · 2 sources

signature III · 3 leaves