Whichever kind of trindle is used, a piece of string is next wound several times around the leaves of the book, and secured by the end being pushed under, as in Fig. 82. This is to keep the leaves in their places. The

back is then struck once or twice more on the press, with the title-page to the right hand, the cut-against placed on the left hand side, level along the mark made with the bodkin, and the runner similarly placed on the right-hand side, but below the line by as much as it is desired to remove. The book is now firmly grasped by the fore edge, and these boards (without shifting them) elevated above the open press, the millboards (which hang pendent) guided into it with the right hand, the trindles carefully snatched out, and the book and boards lowered. The runner should now be level with the top of the right-hand cheek of the press, and the cut-against elevated above the left cheek by just as much as the runnel' is below the bodkin mark; in other words, by the quantity which is to be cut off. Great care must be taken about this and the whole operation. All being right, the press must be screwed up tightly, and the fore edge cut precisely in the same way

as the head and tail have been (Fig. 83). The cutting of the fore edge is shown in section at Fig. 83, where .A is the book half cut through, B the cut against, and C the runner; D, D being the cheeks of the laying-press. When the book is removed from the press, the string is taken off, and the leaves are struck smartly against the cheek of the press, when they will separate, the back spring again to its convex: form and the fore edge assume a similar concavity.

The boards are now put back to the proper place, when the squares (that is to say, the portion of the millboard projecting beyond the edges of the book) should be of equal size and level all round. If they are not, the edge which is not cut sufficiently should have a little more removed.
The foregoing method of cutting is termed "cutting in boards."

Beveled boards are very popular just now both for morocco and cloth books. The operation can be executed by laying the board on the cheek of the laying-press, and filing off the proper quantity with a rough file or a carpenter's rasp. The amateur can easily make a guide apparatus, sufficient for his purpose, by screwing a couple of pieces of hard wood,

such as beech, together, leaving an opening between them for the board to pass through (Fig. 84). The edges can be brought to the right bevel, which is that of 45deg, or half a right angle, which may be obtained by drawing line diagonally from one corner of a square to the opposite corner, as shown at Fig. 85.

< Cutting and Beveling Book Boards Part 1