Strong Arm Bindery

Back at the Ranch

It's Patriots Day---which doesn't mean much to me, except my cousin ran the Boston Marathon a year ago  It also meant it was a very quiet day at the shop and I got a chance to look around, regroup and focus on what needs doing.

Nice to finally see some good hustle going on under the grow lights.

I was not so much inclined to do battle with gilt edges, so I leaned into a set of 10 clamshell boxes for the Pictorial Webster's Dictionary -- an amazing print and binding project coming out of Quercus Press.

Then I saw this:
Perched at the edge of the roof, across the alley and three stories up was Handsome Pete (not his real name) totally checking out Dirty Girl, who was sunning herself on the deck outside the shop.  I have no idea how he got there, but he stayed put for about an hour, beaming at DG, then disappeared.  It was all very Cheshire Cat.

More Plastic Sheeting = More Joy

Did the Fortress of Solitude just get me stupid for the stuff?  Yes it did. 

We've got some really bitchin decks on the roof outside the shop, built by Rich three years ago.  They get full sun in the summer, and are thoroughly protected by the building and cat walk.  We've had  a pretty good run with a little container garden out there the last few years, and this Spring I just want to go ape on it.  And going ape sometimes requires a little preparation; in this case the installation of grow lights under a bench in the shop.

Reuben (of 43rd Parallel Press) stopped by today and wound up doing the lion's share of this little nursery set-up.  I'd bought the ballasts and bulbs cheap down at the Depot, and they came with minimal schematics.  We did some wiring research (thanks Rich, thanks Reuben's dad) and drilled the assembled lights under the bench.

And just so you know, that flocked black light poster of Jesus is the fine work of 43rd Parallel Press.  Working a little overtime from the holiday season.

The peat pots are soaking overnight;  I'm popping the seeds in there tomorrow.  There'll be a huge push on the pepper front this year, and tomatillos, as well as cornishon cukes (those are actually heading up to the community garden plot I share with my sister).  Much pickling will ensue. Many thanks, Reuben.

Fortress of Solitude

I've been dreaming of this set-up for quite a while, and I'm so happy it's finally here.  Rich helped me put it together today.  It's not a desperate attempt to keep the bums from touching my stuff---although that might be a fortunate side effect. And actually, once they see it, it's more likely they'll want to take over the Fortress.

This was put up in preparation for a large quantity of edge gilding that's about start in earnest.  There's usually more than one of us in the studio and there needs to be some degree of control over drafts, temperature and humidity while while working with gold leaf and sizing.

It's kind of shocking how a little plastic sheeting can make me this happy, and I'm already feeling very productive.

I can promise this much:  inside the Fortress, while it lasts, there will always be:

Some flowers

Snacks + water

A positive mental attitude

And a pleasant odor.

Glacier of Damocles?

This thing is huge and is hanging about 3 feet over the edge of the roof, 3 stories above the alley with a very sharp front edge.

We're all walking under it and there's at least 20 feet of more massive snow and ice behind it.

In addition to the very real possibility of decapitation, the shop got sprayed by a skunk over the weekend.  I think it happened between Friday night and Saturday morning.  I can't imagine it got inside;  Dirty Girl didn't get hit, nor did she seem out of sorts.  Some exterior wall must have been sprayed.  That's what I keep telling myself.

Skunk bait?

I'll get back to book stuff this week.

Snow Day

We got a big dump of snow last night.
And it was unusually quiet at the shop today.

I got a lot done.

There's a couple big projects that have come in.  One's a larger-than-usual order for over-sized dropspine boxes.  There'll be more on that in the coming days---plus a special guest star boxmaker.

But today I  covered
the trays for
6 regular-sized
dropsine boxes.

Another big project underway is an edition
of 12 fine bindings.  There's been some
stopping and starting as equipment and materials
are assembled.  But today I could at least get started
on the leather prep.

I cut down the leather --goatskin--
for the 12 volumes.

A little like Unknown Pleasures.

And then I got cracking on
a plaquette of the same
leather to practice my gold
tooling. 

I'll be revisiting this project quite a bit over the next month or so.