Of Perfect Bible Leathers and Corners

Well, things have changed again in the leather department.

Unfortunately, the beautiful colors of top-grain cowhide will now not be available, as the distributor has decided to discontinue them. We have only the in-stock colors of sky blue and mocha, until they run out. No one saw this coming, and these hides made great Bibles, but we must move on to other hunting grounds.

Leather supply for Bible rebinding is a moving target sometimes. There are very few places that supply leather for Bible binding anyway, and finding leather suitable for rebinding is an endless search. It has to do with having different needs than other industries, such as Bible publishing or upholstery, and a comparatively smaller market.

Most large Bible publishing houses with corner crimping machines need thin, flexible top grain leather or bonded leather in rolls, because that will fit in their machines and reduce waste. And bookbinders who mostly rebind hardcover books also like the thinner leathers; they fold easier.

But leather for Bible rebinding shouldn't be too thin. Our customers are already frustrated with bonded leather and the way it dissolves with use. And they mistakenly thought the genuine leather on their Bibles would last forever, only to find out it was the thin version (weight: 1 oz.) that would develop worn spots or even tears along the edges in just a few months. Some of our customers also have had problems with Bibles that were constructed with the edges of the corner crimping showing over the lining material. The sharp edges of the corners catch the pages of the Bible and tear them up. Here's a familiar picture of a factory-produced, crimped corner:

At Leonard's, we don't need to use the very thin top-grain pigskin because we don't use corner crimping machines. We also don't skive (pare) the leather down on a Bible so it can be folded. Instead, our corners are skillfully constructed so that they fold down gracefully over the corners without adding too much bulk. This keeps the corners durable but smooth, with nothing to catch on.

The furniture upholstery industry, by contrast, needs leather that is sturdy, but flexibility doesn't seem all that important. In fact, we see some thinner leathers made especially for the upholstery industry that have been backed with another material to add durability.

This is unacceptable to us -- the last thing we need is for extra added stiffness in a leather, just so it will last longer. Our customers want to be able to open their Bibles -- and to have them stay open.

So, our "perfect leather" would be in the range of 1.75 - 2.5 oz., but also good and flexible. Some of our leathers are somewhat less flexible but those make great covers for the very heavy study Bibles that need support for the weight. Perfect leather is not easy to find, but we will continue to seek it out. Our customers deserve it.

We still have plenty of really great burgundy sculptured Italian cowhide. The texture is primo! And for soft and flexible in a traditional black, we still love the glazed black pebble grain deerskin.

Blessings,
Eric

Leonard's Book Restoration Station
www.LeonardsBooks.com
Skilled bookbinding, restoration and repair services
P.O. Box 52***Burrows, IN 46916**U.S.A.
Phone: (574) 652-2151

What Do You Have in Burgundy?

From time to time, we're asked what we have in a certain color -- like ... Burgundy! :-)

Other times, a customer just says, "I want my Bible rebound in burgundy leather," but has no idea what the different leathers look like, and didn't know that we'd have more than one choice. (Kind of like asking for tomato sauce at one of those big super stores!)

Well, I understand! Being around Carroll County Indiana 4-H a lot has given me more than a passing familiarity with goats, sheep, hogs, cows, ... and even llamas, actually ... but until I began working with Eric in this business, I didn't know what their skins looked like under all that hair. (I still don't know what llama leather looks like.)

The fact is, we've now collected quite a few different options in burgundy, and I can tell you what they're like, but seeing the leathers and the grains may help a lot more. So let's do some comparisons. I'll show you some of these choices and you can decide for yourself what would be best for you.

First off, let me tell you we've just gotten in a shipment of very nice burgundy pigskin. Remember, "genuine leather" = pigskin on modern Bibles. So, if one or more of the following applies to you:

• If you want a good budget choice in genuine leather.
• If you just really don't want black or brown.
• If you believe burgundy is the new black in the realm of Bible covers
• If your original cover was a mission grain burgundy and you want it to look just like that
  

... then you'll like this leather. It has a semi-glossy mission grain texture and it's about the best we've seen. Yes, the linear texture is embossed into the leather, which hides irregularities and those visible pores unique to pigskin, that not everyone likes.

Here's a before picture of a burgundy Bible. It's nasty cardboard with an impressed grain.

Voilà! Here's an after picture of the same Bible, now covered in our nice burgundy pigskin. (It's a little hard to see the grain, but you can see how nice it looks.)

This leather is just the right size -- thicker than the "genuine leather" on many factory made Bibles, so it will last longer, but it's thinner than other pigskins and flexible so it won't be too stiff on your Bible. It's good for Bibles of all sizes.

Now, here's a pic so you can compare the grain on 4 burgundy hides. From the top left, clockwise, we have smooth grained lambskin, deep burgundy calfskin, mission grain pigskin, and sculptured Italian cowhide.

Here's another pic. These are three different colors of goatskin, none of them called "burgundy." From left to right, we have maroon and crimson Harmatan wild-grain goatskin, and deep red premium soft tanned goatskin.


And here are some more Bible pics:

Burgundy lamb. The picture's a little too bright, but this is good leather for a smaller, thinner Bible.



Deep burgundy calf. Better for average to large sized Bibles.



Itallian sculptured cowhide. (Also a little too bright, but you can see a good representation of the color on the previous pic.) This is better on medium to large Bibles -- soft, thick, and flexible.

Here's a crimson Harmatan goatskin Bible. The maroon is much darker. Harmatan goat is good for larger Bibles.

And here's the deep red soft-tanned premium goatskin. It's good for all sizes of Bibles and is very soft and flexible. (See our recent posts for information on this goatskin.)


Here's another choice in red (not technically burgundy, but close):

Red calfskin. See how flexible it is?


We also have an imitation leather (cloth with a leatherlike finish) in an antique burgundy. (Sorry, I don't have a pic of that.)

And one more idea -- hand-dyed leather. Here's a hand-dyed, antiqued deerskin Bible. Blind-stamping and tooling is a favorite technique on this kind of leather.



We can also hand-dye natural grain pigskin; rustic goatskin (as on our Poor Man's Geneva Bible style), rustic calfskin (American West style), or kangaroo (Outback style). This is what it burgundy looks like on calfskin:

And here it is on kangaroo:


There you have it! We can encase your Bible in burgundy in many different ways. What looks good to you? If you have any questions, I'd be glad to help you with your selection. Click here for a free price quote,

Or go straight here for detailed ordering information.

Grace and Peace,

Margie L. Haley, Administrative Assistant
Leonard's Book Restoration Station
(574) 652-2151
http://www.leonardsbooks.com/

The Best Leather / Book Restorers' Prices

Question:
What do you believe is the best quality leather out there?

Answer:
I can't answer that question easily except to say that the best leather out there is the leather that's right for you. But I know, that was not the question. The best quality leather is leather that comes from a healthy animal, and has been tanned and processed properly.

Let me just mention some of the good/bad things I have found in each of the leathers we have used in binding softcover Bibles.

Pigskin:

• Good: Great durability; readily available in lighter weights; comes in natural or pressed grains; does not easily scuff.
• Bad: The natural grain has pores which bother some people; tends to be a little stiff with a pressed grain; natural, unfinished hides usually have a lot of scars. (Pigs are kind of rough on their bodies.)

Calfskin:

• Good: Good durability; tools well; finishes nicely; especially suited for antique finish; large hides are the norm.
• Bad: Hard to find in lighter weights; hard to find in a grain and temper suitable for bookbinding since most calf is processed for upholstery use.

Deerskin:

• Good: Great durability; good natural grain; soft to the touch.
• Bad: Somewhat elastic; a little on the heavy side for bookbinding and harder to skive or pare edges.

Goatskin:

• Good: Good durability; natural wild grain or grained are both available; naturally lightweight.
• Bad: Expensive, small hides; mostly tanned outside of the U.S.

Sheepskin:

• Good: Good durability in the right weight with quality hides; naturally lightweight; very soft; available in some pressed patterns and natural rustic look.
• Bad: Somewhat elastic; occasional poor layer adhesion requires extra caution when selecting hides; a little spongy and does not take foil imprinting well; scuffs and soils easily, though not a problem a dark skin with rustic look.

Lambskin:

• Good: Good durability with the right weight; naturally light weight; imprints well.
• Bad: Somewhat elastic.

Kangaroo:

• Good: Great durability; finishes beautifully using antiqued finishes; naturally lightweight; tools great; imprints great.
• Bad: Tends to scuff and dent easily. (Don't use it as a surface for writing a check.)

Ostrich:

• Good: Great durability, naturally lightweight, soft (except for the bumps).
• Bad: Expensive; not readily available; often confused with common ostrich grained pig or calfskins (no real comparison); natural pimples make imprinting difficult if not impossible.

Buffalo:

• Good: Good durability; good grain; imprints well.
• Bad: Usually not available in light weight; a little stiff.

Question:
Why is there such a difference in the prices bookbinders and book restorers charge for their services?

Answer:
Easily answered -- regional economy, personal economy, experience in the field, name recognition, services offered, and other factors that affect a free market system. These apply to every trade and product.

My own question:
How do you know when someone's work is overpriced?

Answer:
When they don't have any customers. :-)

~Eric

Leonard's Book Restoration Station
www.LeonardsBooks.com
Skilled bookbinding, restoration and repair services
P.O. Box 52***Burrows, IN 46916**U.S.A.
Phone: (574) 652-2151