Hand-Binding 'A Christmas Carol' - Part 3 of 3 - Leather Cover & Genuine Gold Tooling
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- Опубликовано: 22 дек 2023
- Hello once again everyone! It has been a marathon of bookbinding and video editing these past few weeks, but the book is finished, and the video too, both just in time for Christmas.
In this final installment I not only cover the book in leather (which some of you may have seen me do with other books in the past), but I take on the additional challenge to do some genuine 24 karat gold tooling as well. I’m not sure what possessed me to attempt this for the first time on a gift book and on a deadline to boot, but it’s something I’ve always aspired to, so I went for it. To give myself any chance of success, I chose to keep the tooling design fairly simple, which frankly was very typical for the period. Any success I achieved is credited to Trevor Lloyd @auriflex, whose video tutorial was invaluable; anyone interested should check out his channel and website.
All in all I’m very pleased with how this book has finished up, and I’m delighted to have been able to share it with you. Wishing you and your loved ones all the very best of the holiday season, and a Happy New Year as well! I’ll be back in 2024 with more content!
Cheers!
Dennis
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My Wheat Flour Paste Recipe
2 tbsp (18 g) white flour (strong flour or bread flour preferred)
1 cup (250 ml) water
Combine the flour and water in a double boiler or bain-marie and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, whisking constantly until thick and smooth. Transfer to a clean jar and cool completely. When cooled the paste should be solid, with a jelly-like consistency. Force the cooled paste through a sieve 2-3 times until smooth. Add a bit of water to thin to the desired consistency if necessary. Store in the refrigerator and use within 2-3 days.
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Deck the Halls by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/ 
Хобби
The book turned out beautiful, and the video is a joy to watch. Everything about this series of videos, from the pacing, the editing, the soft Christmas music, to the craftmanship displayed, has been perfect. Thanks for making them!
Beautifully put, I couldn't agree more. 🥰
This was literally like watching Santa in his workshop!!!!❤❤❤❤❤❤
It is comforting to know this kind of craftsmanship is still around and a joy to see the work from start to finish. Thank you. 😊
This is just amazing. I'm sitting here watching you create what will probably be a treasured heirloom of someone's family. Sir, you are a true artist.
Imagine being gifted this for Christmas. I would cry on the spot
Watching these video's has made me appreciate all the times this process could potentially go wrong and how easy you make it look, even though it's not. Thanks for your efforts, I'm looking forward to more of your beautiful work in 2024. In the meantime, I wish you a very merry Christmas and peaceful New Year!🍧🍾🥂🍻🗝🗝🗝🗝🎄🎄🎊
Good to see some of us are still at it Denis. I’m a 3rd generation Hand Bookbinder in Australia & although my day to day varies from restoration to new corporate binding, I still love doing it the old time consuming way, which I was taught. I loved the series, thanx. Bob E. Collins Hand Bookbinder. Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
Thank you Bob! Being self-taught, it means a great deal to me to get positive feedback from someone with your experience. All best from Canada!
It’s hard to believe you’re’ ‘self-taught’ with the knowledge & expertise you possess. I note that some of your work methods are different to what I was taught in Australia, but still very excellent.
Bob E.
That’s very kind of you to say so. I’ve picked up what I can from books and videos, with an eye to using traditional techniques. There’s plenty more I don’t know, but I’m always trying to learn!
@@FourKeysBookArts I'm also Canadian and starting out my bookbinding journey, self-taught as well. I don't have some of the necessary tools yet, (trimming by hand with an exacto isn't fun) but I'm getting there. It's inspiring to see this art having a resurgence in the face of mass-produced, poor quality books
This was a joy to watch from start to finish -- thanks so much for this series! You've made a family heirloom!
so beautiful. Currently, the mass bookbinding is terrible, most books become unusable after a short period of time. I hope this kind of bookbinding becomes more popular in the future.
Your skills go to show just how much we revere thoughts, ideas and words when in written form. The digital age may have brought the art of dissemination to a whole new level but the power of knowledge is truly, only evident in the way we chose to archive the written word. Cheers Dennis, you stand on the shoulders of some illustrious giants.
Magnificent! The gold leaf gave you some trouble, but you persisted and got there. So very well done!
This was a lovely Christmas gift for your wife as well as all of us. Thank you so much, your videos are beautiful as well as educational. I can't wait to see what you do next. I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
That’s not a book, it’s a work of art.
Those three videos were the most lovely gentle run up to Christmas and encapsulating the true spirit of the season. Thank you..
I cannot count all the times I just burst out in laughter watching these 3 videos. This Is just the most beautiful and inspiring thing I have seen on you tube. I swear to god.
Absolutely sublime! Dennis, you are an artist of the highest caliber. Thank you so much for this series.
Just gorgeous! I absolutely love the way you decorated the edges of the papers. Just lovely. Really enjoyed all three videos.
Thank you so much for sharing this with us Dennis - it turned out absolutely lovely. I particularly liked the labels, the different colour leather really sets it off.
Wishing you, yours and all your viewers a happy holiday season and hoping for a prosperous and peacefull 2024 from Scotland.
First of all, I love watching your videos. Second, I had always assumed the two colored bands on the spine of the cover was just for decoration, as I had seen it mostly on fabric book covers, but I had a huge “aha” moment watching today. Such a little thing brought my nerdy fact loving heart joy.
Gosh I hope whoever becomes the owner of this watches this series to appreciate what an absolute piece of art this is. Love it. Thanks for posting
Beautiful work and I love the silence throughout xx
I really enjoyed seeing the completion of this project. The book turned out wonderfully, the simple design did seem very fitting. I am sure your wife will get many hour of pleasure from it. Thanks so much for sharing.
Merry Christmas to you both.
This is my favourite Christmas Movie!!
This was so cozy and warm that my anxiety was cured for at least fifteen minutes. Thank you for making such a beautiful book and video.
Wonderful video. A museum quality edition for certain! Thank you for sharing your work.
Thank you too!
Masterfully done! Thank you for this journey through the bookmaking process.
The amount of care and attention to detail always amazes me. Thanks.
🤩Extraordinary 🏆thank you very much for sharing 📚💖📖🎄✨
I'm impressed and appalled at the amount of gold leaf you went through to make this. This must cost you a fortune! Stunning result though!
I have really enjoyed this series. Especially the quiet attention to perfection. Thank you.
The Christmas book has also turned out beautifully.
It takes a lot of effort to finish such a handmade book.
The spine alone requires so many steps.
It's almost madness.
If you've never seen work like this before and then hold a book like this in your hand, you wouldn't believe that so much work went into it.
The leather cover is also very good.
You can see from all your work steps that you have been doing this for a very long time.
Are you a bookbinder by profession or is it a hobby?
Very good, excellent work indeed.
Thank you very much for showing it to me.
Amazing Masterpiece and Epic work of LOVE!! I even hold my breath during the gold pressing part...a stressful moment for me...😂 Wishing you and your family a Wonderful Christmas.
Thank you so much!
И всего лишь 30 человек сумели дойти до конца. И увидеть всё волшебство и таинство рождения чуда. Невероятные приключения, при свече и золотых руках Мастера. С Рождеством!!
Да ладно, я потом ещё три раза пересматривал. Снято классно, смотреть приятно.
it turned out super pretty! I can't believe how warped the book boards were and how they were completely fixed
I wanna make my own book like this someday
A wonderful heirloom addition to the season! Thank you for sharing! Merry Christmas!
I just LOVE the way you work with the gold foil! I've been wanting to use it in basically all my hobbies, but I can't stand something that's so messy. Your technique looks way more manageable than the ones I've seen where people just brush it away and leave a huge mess.
Yes it’s delicate stuff, and expensive too! The gold rubber is the key; it not only removes the excess gold, but traps it as well. In time it will accumulate enough gold to actually recover for $$$.
@@FourKeysBookArts That's amazing! It looks similar to a regular kneadable eraser too. I'm actually going to look around for some gold foil and try it out. Thank you so much!
@@FourKeysBookArts make a video on glue . We need to know the best one for bookbinding. Also can made in home.
@@FourKeysBookArts I know close to nothing about gilding, but I've never seen anyone use Vaseline after the glair - and I've also never seen as much trouble with the gold sticking. What is the purpose of the Vaseline?
It holds the gold in place just enough to do the hot tooling.
Lovely book sir. Great skill and craftsmanship.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Dennis. Hope it's a good one.
I enjoyed the videos making this book! It’s a beautiful gift ❤
What a beautiful book! The love and care put into creating this is very evident. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Dennis, that was absolutely beautiful and the finished book is a masterpiece. Whoever is receiving this for Christmas is very lucky. Thank you for sharing your skill and mastery of the bookbinder’s craft. Happy Christmas!
Thank you for the Christmas present - this beautiful video. The book is amazing. In this world of mass production it is good to be reminded of the patience and artistry that goes into the making of one very special object. I found just watching you tool the leather to be nerve-wracking - one tiny slip and so much work would be lost. 😳 And thank you for including the part that didn’t go right the first time - that’s the reality of craftsmanship. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. ❤️
I can't wait to see you do more of this to more books you love!
I love your videos, man. I don't go for those ASMR videos, but I've come to the conclusion that I think yours are both interesting and educational to me as well as possibly slightly ASMR-ish...if that's even a thing. I'm completely fascinated by your work and tools.
Great job! The patience ! The patience! And it could go wrong at anytime! I feel humbling awe of all the anonymous bookbinders through the ages! Thank you! ❤
This turned out beautifully, thank you! Keep up the good work!
wow so beautiful xx i really found this captivating
Oh what a perfect video ❤️🌲
Amazingly well done by a true craftsman.
Beautiful ❤
Honestly wonderful serie of videos.
Merry Christmas.
Wow! What a craftsman you are!
I love it!!!!! Thank you for posting.
It looks amazing beautiful work you are a genius ❤❤❤❤
So enjoyable to watch as I sit by my Christmas Tree and drink a Christmas cocktail
A work of art! Every second of the process made me appreciate just what goes into this craft. Extremely pleasant to watch. Knowing someone had made this book just for them, a wonderful gem of a gift, to be read and appreciated by generations.
My small dream is to create my own book. Your video is such a great lesson and hope to me.
Its so beautiful, but I was really hoping you would cover it with dark green leather, it would look amazing with the red edging on the pages and the red labels
Beautiful job. Very elegant.
Gorgeous! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2024!!!
Beautiful book . Thank you for sharing.
Three mins into the video and I can already feel stress melting out of me.. thank you for being on RUclips ❤
What a gorgeous book. I'm sure your wife will love it. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your loved ones :)
So beautiful! Great job, and your video production quality was amazing, too! You're a man of many talents! Merry Christmas!
Thank you very much!
Dennis, with your handmade tools, and your remarkable skills, I am convinced that you are Santa Claus because only he could make A Christmas Carol this beautifully bound. I’ll be looking forward to seeing whatever gorgeously hand bound book you bring me for Christmas!
How beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
I loved everything about this. Making someone a present is just so thoughtful and special, and the videos themselves were so soothing and comforting, perfect Christmas watch with a hot chocolate. It is truly special when all platforms want creators to make 30 seconds long videos full of cuts and music and cringe AI voice, that 3 videos of a full half hour with barely any music or sound and nobody talking is just what people want to watch ❤
Beautiful work! A merry Christmas to you.
Epic Work!
Beautifully and masterfully done sir. This edition is my favorite of this old classic. Have a better New Year and thank you for sharing.
Why was it necessary to trim the turn-ins? Also I enjoyed watching this entire process immensely. Thank you for the wonderful Christmas present 🎄⛄❄️
I wanted to have enough surface area for the infill paper to apply enough pull to correct the warping. Otherwise I was pretty happy with how evenly they turned out, but I was worried if the infills were too small they wouldn’t be able to pull the boards back. Thanks for the question!
It's worth me leaving a second comment to say that you have incredible patience and skill to deal with that much gold leaf. I'd have been cursing and flailing about with gold leaf everywhere except where I wanted it to be.
I did have a few mishaps but I edited those out. Maybe I’ll put together an outtake video someday!🤣
Awesome !!!
Pure RUclips gold
A beautiful job and dedication ❤
Καλά Χριστούγεννα ! ! !
Beautifully illustrated, thank you. "God bless us, everyone."
i am concerned for the lettering fading and the gold leaf wearing away, but it's an amazing book! I'm sure your family will treasure it as an heirloom for years to come.
Bravo…just…BRAVO!!!
I love watching every minute! You are a master of your craft. I'm curious how many hours it took from start to finish. I could honestly watch every single minute.
What a perfect way to end my Christmas Day. Thank you 🇬🇧
Amazing!!!
Beautiful. Dickens would be proud.
Disfruté el proceso de cada video de éste hermoso libro artesanal. Simplemente maravilloso. Excelente. ❤ Lo amé❤
THX!
absolutely beautiful!
Oh my, this was such a treasure. Thank you for this wonderful gift!
Oh my God! I am so happy after having watched this series! Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful work❤
Immersive ASMR!!!!!! ❤
Really enjoyed the videos, we take for granted just being able to buy books now, never really thinking about how they are made. All mass produced, had no idea so much work and time went into the process. Thank you.
Great work! I did something like that with an Internet uploaded 1994 book, but with goldish foil :)
Beautiful! Merry Christmas Dennis. Best wishes from Turin, Italy.
Excellent craftsmanship! I prefer the voice over that you do in previous videos to explain what you are doing.
Votre travail m'emerveille, ❤apaisant votre travail est superbe bravo
Oh this stunning
]Merry Christmas Dennis and wishing you a healthy and prosperous New Year.
As much as I'm impressed with your skills I'm also in awe of your collection of tools. It's obvious that many of them are antiques, but I'm wondering where you find them and if any of the wooden tools are possibly hand made by you?
I’ve been collecting tools for years from wherever I can find them, but I did make my two wooden presses. They were among my first pieces of bookbinding equipment.
Such a beautiful book! ✨❤️
Bookbinding is a craft I am hoping to add to my growing list of hobbies and crafts, and all of these videos are an inspiration (though I would need a lot of practice to ever get this good).
I love the gold, but that gold foil looks like a nightmare to work with. I would have to be well fed, hydrated, slept a good 9 hours last night and being as zen as I could possibly be to handle that thing 😅
Oh! And I'm curious if you just melt down the gold rubber once it becomes sort of saturated?
My friends dad is a gold smith and he said that in the past, gold smiths would have a thick carpeted floor in their workshop. And when they retired, they'd just take out the carpet and burn it - taking all those precious metals for their retirement fund.
He might have been pulling my leg though 😌
gorgeous!!🎉🎉❤❤
Finally got to watch all three of these in a row! What a ride it was. Absolutely beautiful. I figured out how Dennis is great at art, creation, and documenting his journey after catching a glimpse of him in this series -- he's Santa in disguise!!
Seriously though, with this amount of time, material, and craftsmanship, were these hand-made books out of reach for most people at the time? I would think these types of books would be closely held in personal libraries and passed down multiple times.