For all such work a thumb index is generally required; each page takes one or more letters, or a specification is given, according to which the binder counts off the number of pages required for each letter-X and Y being here excluded. Nowadays, the indices are cut with index shears, which not only regulates the depth of the index but also avoids the acute angles which are so easily torn in.

Commence cutting from the back, that is, with the Z; this, being the last letter, is not cut out. Then count off W, cut with the shears, and cut off what remains below to the bottom edge with a sharp knife, to do which a narrow thin board is slipped underneath. The further you proceed towards A, the longer is the strip which has to be cut out with the knife.

When the excisions for the whole alphabet have been made, the letters are pasted on. These are sold ready printed, and nowadays are almost always in one piece or back and front.

The printed sheet with the alphabet is glued or gummed on the back, and, after drying, the alphabet is creased lengthwise and either cut so or punched out with a suitable tool. The single letters are damped and stuck in position.

One might also inspire a strip of zinc after the cutting in of the letters and cut the length at once.

Cheaper kinds of account books for temporary use are often made with fixed backs; the packing is simply omitted, but the head and tail are pasted a little to make the turnover hold better. No matter whether the cover is of leather or cloth, paste must be used, as this ensures the back adhering strongly to the book. Such a method of binding can be recommended for music.

Portfolios for drawings, &c., are often required; the boards are hinged together with paper as previously described for guard books, the inside of the back lined with cloth, and the outside covered with leather or cloth. The turn-in is pasted over the lined back.

If boos are to be made so that they can be fastened, slits must either be made with a chisel, through which the tape ends are drawn from the outside to the inside and there pasted down, or else small round eyelet holes are made, and then proceed as before.

Dust-proof flaps are hinged on to three sides of a thin board with strips of linen in the following style, and lined and covered separately. The body itself is likewise made of thin board. (See Fig. 122.) The whole arrangement is pasted on to the back board of the portfolio.

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