Inlay

Instruction on how to cut an inlay design from two pieces of book cloth for cover decoration.

For a while now I've been cutting inlays into my books as an elegant solution to printing on a cover or simply leaving the cover blank. I've also been using them in the cameras that I make with book arts material. For instance, here's a recent camera that I've made. I use the inlay technique to label the f-stop on the camera so that I can always tell just how long to leave the shutter open. That'll give me a good clue. Today we're going to be making an inlay for this link stitch book. The inlay that I've chosen is very graphic: just a 20 and then on the other side, 20. So this is my 2020 link stitch and otherwise pretty boring cover. One of the things I like about an inlay is that the surface is the same; there's nothing sticking up above the surface of the cloth. You're going to need an X-acto knife that has a stencil blade, which is different from the X-acto knife that most people are used to, which has the longer and steeper blade. You're gonna need a roll of blue tape; a self-healing mat later on. After we have cut the stencil, you're gonna need your PVA glue and a glue brush. Let's get started.

Start by laying out your book board onto your book cloth, paper side up.

Trace around the book board with a sharp pencil.

Tape the book cloth down, paper side up, to the cutting mat. Register the design and hinge it down.

Since we're working from the backside everything is mirrored, so if you want your design to be right reading and on the lower-left corner, make sure your design is backward and that you register it on the lower-right corner. Slip a piece of scrap book cloth, paper side up between the design and the larger cover material. Tape everything down. Using a sharp X-acto blade, cut first the longer, sweeping lines. If you're cutting a negative space out as I am with this zero, do it before cutting the positive shape out.

It's okay to take your time and cut carefully. Make sure the blade is angled at 90 degrees to the surface. Also, keep your fingers behind rather than in front of or in the path of the blade. I will often cut continuous lines as segments rather than as one non-stop cut. Remove the design cut followed by the two pieces of book cloth and carefully set them aside.

If an element won't come out easily, carefully re-cut the stubborn parts before attempting to remove again.

On tight curves or corners, i often stitch the cut, cutting small segments at a time. Cut the small links last.

After cutting, carefully remove the tape pulling horizontally rather than vertically.

Flip the cloth over and reassemble the inlay elements cloth side up.

Perform a visual inspection as well as a tactile inspection to determine that the elements of the inlay are nested properly.

Employ pieces of the used tape to hold the elements together. New tape can abrade the cloth and be difficult to remove later. Flip the cloth back over.

Apply glue to the backside of the book board and carefully register it down to the paper ensuring that the edges of the board line up with the graphite lines drawn earlier.

Flip the board over and press the cloth down to the board.

Using a bone folder to burnish the cloth will help to remove buckles and air bubbles.

Gently lift the tape being careful to avoid pulling the inlay off with the tape the flat of the blade can help to keep the inlay pressed down as you lift the tape.

Press the inlay elements down to make sure they are fully adhered.

Видео Inlay канала Neal Cox