Journal

Tannins are a family of chemical compounds found in plants. Different plants (and different parts of the plant) have different concentrations of tannins. E.g., galls > outer bark > sapwood. When mixed with iron, tannins form new chemical compounds (mostly importantly, ferric-polygalloyl glucose complexes). The chemical compounds are black, bond with paper, and are (relatively) waterproof after a few days. By adding gum Arabic, we protect these chemical compounds from degrading while in solution. Tannins fall into two groups of chemicals: Hydrolysable tannins Bonded sugar and water. Breaks down readily in water. Yellow-brown without modifiers. Black when iron is added....

This week I printed the cover for our upcoming chapbook. From experience, I know that printing handmade paper with a deckle edge does not always result in printing on a straight line. To ensure the covers are free-from wobble, I printed the words onto a sheet of paper which will then be pasted to the front of the book. The title is printed onto Five Seasons paper, which is a recycled, British-made paper. Designed for use by Five Seasons Press, this paper is lovely and smooth. Hopefully this paper will be continued, but with the passing of Glenn Storhaug, it's...

At some point in the design of On the record, I decided to use ornaments between each of the sections. It was a lovely idea. I had the perfect ornament. Emphasis on The. Singular. It was all fine until I needed to print it twice on one page. As I'd already printed the first page (and put all the letters away to print the next page), I was in a bit of a pickle. Changing the decorative ornament would have meant re-setting and re-printing four pages. This would have been a time-expensive problem. With nothing to lose, I put a...

I've come to the hard realisation that, actually, I haven't got enough letters to set the whole of On the Record at once. Initially, I'd envisioned setting a full signature of eight pages. Putting the letters away (leaving the sheet time to dry), and then composing and printing the reverse side of the same eight-page signature. Sadly, I only have enough letters to set four pages at once. And even then it's a bit tight (there were only two "o"s left when I finished the most recent spread). From the plus column: this means there will be less to tidy...