Cloth-Covered Clamshell Box

Treatment Criteria:
This box is used to house books of some special significance, such as artist books or those which
may be of interest and/or value as artifacts.

Tools Needed:

 MEASUREpHASE
 Board Shear
 Utility Knife
 Scissors
 Ruler or Straight Edge
 Angle (45 degrees)
 Bone Folder
 Glue Brushes
 Weights
 Materials Needed:

 Binder's Board
 PVA
 PVA Mixture
 Book Cloth

Our example is a volume from 1678. The

only repair needed is the re-attachment
of one leaf at the front hinge, as seen in
the image (the hinge itself is fine).
Rather than tip the leaf back in with PVA
mixture, we will reinforce the very edge
of the leaf with Japanese tissue and will
use only wheat starch paste as the
adhesive, in order to ensure
reversibility. Once this repair is finished,
we will make a cloth-covered clamshell
box for the book.

The box consists of three parts, all made

of binder's board, and given in order of
their construction. The two color-coded
illustrations show the three parts as they
appear when the enclosure is opened
and closed:

A tray (blue tinting): As can be seen in

this illustration of the open enclosure,
the A tray is a box in which the book fits
snugly.

B tray (purple tinting): This is a box into

which the A tray fits snugly. It closes
over the A tray, which contains the
book. It is identical to the A tray in every
respect except its dimensions (see
terminology, orientation for A tray).

C tray or "case" (green tinting): This is a

flat piece the A and B trays are affixed
to. Its function is similar to that of the
case of a book. It is made in three
sections, which compare to the front
and back boards and spine of a hard
spine book. The C tray isn't really a tray;
it is flat, so it may be referred to as
either the "C tray" or the "case" of the
box.

This illustration shows that both the

book and the A tray are totally
protected and hidden from view when
the enclosure is closed.

The A tray has three sides and a bottom.

It is open on top and at its spine edge.
Here are the terms that will be used to
refer to its parts:

The bottom will be referred to as the

floor.

The box is enclosed at its fore edge by

the piece that will be referred to as the
front side.

The short sides of the box are enclosed

by pieces that will be referred to as the
ends.
This illustration shows the orientation of
grain direction of the board for the A
and B trays.

This illustration shows the dimensional

terms used for the A and B trays.

This illustration shows the orientation of

grain direction for the C tray.
This illustration shows the dimensional
terms used for the C tray.

Work begins by measuring the book to

be housed. This is done in the
MEASUREpHASE. First the length is
measured,

then the width,

and then the depth or thickness.

Because the walls of the box sit on the

floor, as opposed to outside the floor
(see inset), adjustments must be made
to the measurements of the box's floor,
in order to arrive at the inside
dimensions which will properly
accommodate the book. These
adjustments are made easy by the use
of templates. Three templates are used
in the construction of this enclosure,
and with all of the three it is only the
thickness measurement that we use.
The other measurements of all three
templates are arbitrary.

Specifically, the length and width

templates add predetermined
measurements to the length and width
of the floor piece of the box. As to how
much each adds:

* The length template adds 2

thicknesses of board and 4 thicknesses
of cloth.

* The width template adds 1 thickness

of board and 3 thicknesses of cloth. (The
term "board", as used here, refers to
binders board of the same gauge as that
from which the box is being built.)

The hinge template is simply a spacer for

easily and consistently determining the
distance between the three sections of
the C Tray or case. It is composed from
two thicknesses of board for a single-
wall box like the one being built in these
instructions, and three thicknesses of
board for a double-wall box. (This will be
pointed out again later, in the C tray
instructions.)

All templates are illustrated in action, as

they are called for.

We now move to the board shear. The

pieces of the A tray are made first,
beginning with the floor piece. It is first
cut to length, so right off the bat we
need the length template. This
illustration shows how the length
template is used. It is placed against the
fence of the board shear in order to add
the thickness of the template to the
length measurement of the box's floor
piece. The fence is set so that the right-
hand side of the template is at the
length dimension of the book on the
ruler, and the piece is cut.

It should be noted that the ruler of the

board shear reads right-to-left.

We now have a piece of board whose

shorter dimension equals the length of
the A tray's floor piece. Ideally, the
piece's longer dimension is sufficient to
yield:

* the width of the floor piece, plus

* the depth of the front wall piece, plus
* the depth of the two end wall pieces.

It is efficient to cut these pieces from

the same piece of board, provided it is
long enough. If not, it is wise to cut
another piece of board to the length
measurement of the floor now, before
the fence is moved. But we will assume
that our board is long enough for both
pieces.

The piece of board is turned 90 degrees

from its orientation in the previous step,
then:

1. The front wall and end walls will be

cut to depth, 2. The floor will be cut to
width, and 3. The end walls will be cut to
length.

The depth of the front and end walls is

4.0 cm in our example. Cutting pieces
this narrow using our board shear
presents problems if one attempts to
use the fences. The fence ruler only goes
down to about 8 cm. One could use the
outside fence, but the one on our shear
is cumbersome and not all that accurate,
for which reason we scarcely use it.
Fortunately, there is a way to cut narrow
pieces easily and accurately.

First, the board is situated so that it just

overhangs the cutting edge of the shear
on the right. The fence is nudged up to
the board on the left and locked at the
nearest measurement on the fence ruler
that will make it easy to subtract the
depth measurement, and the board is
cut.

In our example, the depth measurement

is 4.0 cm, which will be easy to subtract
from any number because it ends with
".0". But of course this is not always the
case.

If, for instance, the depth measurement

was 4.6 cm, we would stop the fence at
the largest measurement that (a.) ends
with ".6" and (b.) leaves a bit of board
overhanging the cutting edge. Let's say
that measurement was 58.6 cm. The
board would be cut, the fence would be
moved to 54.0 (58.6 minus 4.6), and the
board would be cut again, yielding a
piece 4.6 cm in width.

In our example, the fence is stopped at

61.5 cm, and the board is cut.

The first setting being 61.5 cm and the

depth of the front wall being 4.0 cm, we
now move the fence to a setting of 57.5
cm (61.5 cm minus 4.0 cm.) The board is
cut, yielding a piece 4.0 cm in width and
the same length as the floor, which are
the dimensions the front wall piece
needs to be.

Leaving the fence locked, the 4.0 cm

front wall piece we just cut is placed
between the fence and the piece of
board we just cut it from. The board is
cut, yielding a second piece (an end
wall) 4.0 cm in width. This piece is
likewise placed between the board and
the fence, i.e., in addition to the first
one, and a third 4.0 cm piece (the other
end wall) is cut.

The other (longer) dimension of the end

wall pieces will be a bit excessive, which
is fine. We will set them aside for a
moment and cut the floor piece to
width.
Here we see the width template in
action, and we see that it is used in
exactly the same manner as was the
length template. The floor piece is cut to
width and is finished.

Do not move the fence.

The two end wall pieces are now cut to

length. The walls sit on the top surface
of the floor, and the front wall runs the
full length of the floor. This means that
the end walls can not run the full front-
to-back width of the floor. Rather, they
must fit inside the front wall and butt up
to it. So, a downward adjustment
equaling one thickness of board must be
made. The length measurement of the
end pieces thus equals:

* the width of the floor minus one board

thickness

So far, we have used templates to add

to measurements. We will now use a
template (in this case, simply a piece of
board) to subtract from a
measurement.

As of the previous step, the fence is

already set to the width of the floor. A
piece of board is placed on edge
between the end wall pieces and the
fence, as shown. This will yield pieces
whose length is [the fence setting]
minus one board thickness. In our case,
this is [the width of the floor] minus one
board thickness. As you can see above,
this is correct.

The end pieces are cut to length.

Review: using templates

Make sure you understand how

templates work to add to and subtract
from measurements. In both cases, the
template is placed against the right hand
edge of the board shear's fence.

* If you are adding to a measurement,

the appropriate template is placed on
the ruler of the shear. The effect is that
this moves the fence (and thus any
pieces you are cutting) to the left, or
away from the cutting edge, making
them longer.

* If you are subtracting from a

measurement, the appropriate template
is placed on the table of the shear. This
moves the fence/pieces to the right, or
nearer to the cutting edge, making them
shorter.

The orientation terms "left" and "right"

are of course in accord with the view
given in the illustrations.

All of the pieces of board for our A tray

are now complete, as shown in this
illustration.
The pieces are now assembled. The
adhesive used is straight PVA. First,
adhesive is applied to one long edge of
the front side piece and it is glued to the
floor, with which it is made flush at the
ends and all along the front edge. Then
adhesive is applied to one long edge and
one short edge of each of the end
pieces. The long edge joins the floor, the
short edge joins the front side. They
should be flush with the floor at its ends
and back edge. The structural work of
the A tray is now complete.

The A tray is now inverted and placed

under weights. PVA sets far more quickly
than mixture. In the case of this
particular structure, covering can begin
in as little as 5 or 10 minutes with only
minimal care in regard to handling. And
it seems that full bond strength is
attained within somewhat less than an
hour's time under normal drying
conditions.

The material having been chosen, we

are now ready to begin covering. We will
be using canapetta. The first piece of
cloth will cover the ends and the front
side of the tray. This will require a long,
narrow piece of cloth, and the grain of
the cloth will run the short way of the
piece, or grain short.

The long dimension of the piece of cloth

needs to be at least equal to:

* two times the width of the tray, plus

the length of the tray, plus 5 cm., or:

Long dimension = (2W + L + 5 cm)

This piece will cover the three walled
sides of the tray (the front side and the
ends), with a 2.5 cm turn-in at both
ends. Again, this is the minimum;
excessive is fine. Quite often, the
beginning long measurement of this
piece of cloth is the width of the bolt
(roll) it is cut from (minus the selvage).

The short dimension of the cloth is

figured by a formula:

The depth measurement of the front

side/ends, times 2, plus 5.5 cm, or:

Short dimension = 2D + 5.5 cm

The 5.5 cm allowance provides for a 2.5

cm turn-in on the top and bottom sides
of the floor, plus it accounts for the
thickness of the front side/ends and the
thickness of the floor. We know the
depth measurement to be 4.0 cm., so
the short measurement of the cloth
would be (4.0 cm x 2) + 5.5 cm = 13.5
cm.

Here is a drawing that may prove helpful

in visualizing what these measurements
mean, before we see the actual process
of covering. The cloth is represented by
the red lines. The blue arrows point out
the two thicknesses of board the cloth
must cross, which account for the .5 cm
beyond the 5cm for the two turn-ins
It is helpful to mark the cloth with two
guidelines, both 2.5 cm in from the edge
of the cloth. These marks will allow for a
2.5 cm turn-in at each of the edges. One
will be at the end where covering will
begin, the other at what will be the
bottom of the tray. Though this latter
mark is at what appears to be the top in
the photo, the orientation will hopefully
make sense beginning with the next
image.

One end of the tray is covered with PVA

mixture, and the tray is aligned with
both the marks on the cloth. It is
important that the edge of the cloth
with the lengthwise mark be at the
bottom of the tray, not at the top. As
you can see, the excess at the top is far
greater than 2.5 cm, and we will need all
of it. (Remember, the short
measurement of the cloth is at its final
dimension.)

Now the front side of the tray is covered

with mixture, and the tray is "rolled on
around," maintaining alignment with the
lengthwise mark. If necessary, the cloth
should be worked snugly in the direction
of the end yet to be covered, in order to
avoid wrinkling due to excess at the
corner that has just been covered.
The last end is covered by the same
method given above.

Using a razor knife and ruler or straight

edge (here a ruler that is 2.5 cm or 1"
wide), the excess length of the cloth is
trimmed ...
… leaving a 2.5 cm turn-in.

Next, the turn-ins on the bottom of the

tray are dealt with. The cloth is gathered
at the two corners as shown …
… and the excess is trimmed off as
closely as possible with scissors.

The result should look something like

this.
The turn-ins are now glued down,
beginning with the one at the front
edge.

The turn-ins at the ends follow and

slightly overlap the one at the front
edge. All are smoothed down with a
bone folder.
The top view of the tray should now
look like this.

Some of the cuts we will be making in

the next few steps are recessed cuts.
This illustration serves to help define
this term as it will be specifically used.
What it means is that the cloth is not cut
right on the board edge line, but rather
just off of it, in the direction that will
yield a tiny bit of excess in the corner
when it is folded into place. There is no
established measurement for the
amount of recess, but it lies somewhere
around .5 mm.
This will be our first recessed cut. Here
we are positioning the brass angle (of
the type we call the "brass Nevada").
The angle serves as both a square and a
straight edge. This is the same corner
shown in the last image (the close-up).
So, the direction of the recess for this
cut would be just to the right of
alignment with the vertical board's inner
edge.

Here is a close-up of all the cuts we will

be making at this corner. The two short
cuts are at approximately 45 degrees.
The other long cut will also be a
recessed cut. As shown in this image,
the direction of its recess would be
down. In fact, it will be about in line with
the top surface of the brass angle.
One side is cut.

And now the other side is cut, yielding a

scrap roughly the shape of the
Washington Monument (as once noted
by former student conservation
technician Rachel Lapkin).

Now we move to the corner at the top

of the tray. We begin by making two
recessed cuts. As a point of bearings, the
direction of the recess of the cut that is
open to a V shape would be to the left
of the board edge. Incidentally, this cut
appears V-shaped because the flap of
cloth on the right has been shifted over
slightly for the sake of illustration, not
because a V-shaped cut was made.
The view of the same corner after
turning the tray clockwise 90 degrees.
Again, the cut in the foreground has
been opened to the V shape, again for
the sake of illustration. The direction of
the recess of this cut would be to the
right of the board edge.

The center tab of cloth is now trimmed

at approximately 45 degrees and about
2.5 cm from the corner of the board.
Here is the tray with all the corners cut.

Now we begin to glue down the cloth. In

the case of all the flaps we will be gluing
down, the adhesive is PVA mixture,
applied to the flaps of cloth, not to the
board. We begin with the turn-in at the
bottom of the tray's back edge. It will be
glued to the floor and worked down
with a bone folder. The excess created
by the recessed cut will be in the corner
formed by the junction of the floor and
the end.
Next comes the triangular piece at the
top of the tray's back edge. It is centered
so that equal amounts of cloth lap over
onto each of the end piece's edges.

Then the cloth at the back end of the

end piece is affixed.
The front edge of the turn-in is trimmed
to a 45 degree angle using a razor knife
guided by a brass Nevada. The scrap is
removed and discarded.

All flaps of the tray's other end having

been treated as above, we are ready to
glue down the final flap, the one at the
front edge.

The front flap is glued down and also

trimmed to a 45 degree angle by the
same method shown above.
Measurements are now made for the
piece of cloth that will cover the floor.
The inside length measurement of the
tray is taken, and 1 mm subtracted from
it. This will be one measurement of the
cloth. The other measurement will be
the width of the tray plus 2.7 cm, this
extra being to allow for the thickness of
the floor plus a 2.5 cm turn-in on the
bottom of the tray. Grain direction of
the cloth is as shown.

The cloth is glued up and put into place.

Again, the adhesive is applied to the
cloth, not the floor of the tray. The cloth
is situated into place and worked down
with a bone folder. The A tray is now
finished.

Everything we have done so far to bring

the A tray to completion is now
repeated for the B tray. But the B tray
must contain the A tray, so naturally it
must be larger. So instead of measuring
the book, we simply measure the A tray,
beginning with its length,
then its width,

and its depth.

All the steps for constructing the A tray

are repeated, using the larger
measurements, and the B tray is now
finished.
Here we see the top view of the two
trays, showing their proportionate sizes.

And here we see the two as they nest

together.

Next, the pieces of board for the C tray

or case are cut. The measurements of
the two larger pieces (the "boards") are:

* the length of the B tray plus 6 mm, by

* the width of the B tray plus 3 mm

The measurements of the spine piece

are:

* the length of the B tray plus 6 mm, by

* the depth of the B tray

It is best to make this latter (depth)

measurement with the A tray in position
inside the B tray (as seen in the previous
slide). If the bottom (floor) side of the A
tray protrudes at all above the ends of
the B tray, the measurement will be too
small if the B tray alone is measured. If
this happens, the box will not fully close
and the C tray will have to be made
over. This measurement is best made in
the MEASUREpHASE.

The cloth that will cover the case is now

cut. Its dimensions are:

* the length of the case's length

measurement plus 5 cm, by

* at least the combined width of the

three case pieces plus 7 cm. (This is the
minimum; excessive is fine.)

Marks are made 2.5 cm from two

adjacent edges of the cloth and
assembly begins by gluing up one of the
wider pieces and aligning it with these
marks. The adhesive, PVA mixture, is
applied to the board, not the cloth.
Grain direction of the cloth is as shown.

The spine piece is glued up, and the

hinge template is now called into action.
Again, it is two boards thick. As the
illustration shows, it is simply a spacer
for easily and consistently determining
the size of the space between the pieces
of the case.

Note: I realized that this illustration

could be confusing, since on first glance
it looks a little like the top edge of the
template has been glued with PVA. In
reality, the white areas are just gloss
from the clear plastic tape in which the
template has been wrapped to increase
its resistance to adhesion, as well as its
lifespan.
The bottom edges of the two pieces of
board are aligned against a straight
edge.

The third and final piece of board is

glued up and positioned as per the
methods given above.

The excess cloth at the end is trimmed

down to a 2.5 cm turn-in.
The four corners of the cloth are cut at
roughly a 45 degree angle across. Again,
a simple spacer-type template is used.
The template is composed of two
thicknesses of board, so the four cuts
are spaced two board thicknesses
outward from each outer corner of the
board. The C tray hinge template can
serve as the spacer.

Next comes gluing down the turn-ins.

The top and bottom are first, followed
by the ends. The cloth is deliberately
gathered slightly inward as it is laid
down. This creates a bit of excess in the
center, which is put to good use in going
around all the steps created by the
board edges. The cloth is worked into
these recesses with a bone folder. The
adhesive used is PVA mixture and as
with all turn-ins the adhesive is applied
to the cloth, not to the board.

Here the process of forming the cloth

around the boards has begun.
Now the cloth at the corners is simply
worked down over the board edge and
flattened onto the workbench, again
using a bone folder.

The turn-ins at the ends will be glued

down next. They get no special
treatment at the corners; they only need
to be folded over and smoothed down
with the bone folder.

The exterior covering of the case is now

completed, and the view from the
interior looks like this.
The piece of cloth that will cover the
interior of the spine is now cut. First, its
width. This measurement is not critical;
it just needs to lap about 2.5 cm over
onto the "boards" of the case as shown.
After making all the corners at the
hinges, a bit less will actually end up
lapping over onto the boards, and that is
fine.

The length measurement of this piece of

cloth is that of the case minus 1 mm.

The cloth is glued up and put into place.

The cloth is worked rigorously into the
hinge recesses using a bone folder. The
case is now finished and we are ready
for final assembly.
This illustration shows how our
components will go together to make a
clamshell box. With the C tray or case
laid out flat, we see the A tray nested
inside the B tray. Both will be affixed to
the case.

The bottom of the B tray is glued up and

it is positioned on one of the boards of
the case so that it is bordered on three
sides by equal amounts (about 3 mm) of
square. The case is then closed over the
B tray.

If the book is from a collection that uses

security strips, it is at this point (before
gluing up the B tray) that the strip can
be affixed to the enclosure. The
illustration shows a likely location which
will leave the strip fully concealed.

The bottom of the A tray is now glued

up and then placed into position inside
the B tray. The case is closed over both.
The case now needs to be opened back
up and laid out flat, in order to place the
box under weights in the open position.
However, there is a risk of the A tray
shifting out of position if the box is
merely opened back up from its current
position. If the A tray shifts and this isn't
noticed, the A and B trays obviously
won't fit together. And if the glue sets
with the A tray out of alignment, the box
is usually ruined. Sometimes it can be
disassembled and done over, but the
results are never as good as those
yielded by getting it right the first time.

A trick for making the opening of the

case less worrisome is shown in the two
images at the top. Simply flip the entire
box upside-down. As can be seen in the
image at the bottom, this puts the
freshly glued A tray on the bottom,
rather than hanging from the case by
wet glue, and this naturally reduces the
chances of misalignment. The B tray is
considerably less likely than the A tray to
shift out of position, as by now its
adhesive will have bonded and begun to
set.

The box is now opened out flat and

placed under weights to dry, usually
overnight. The only thing remaining to
be done is to attach any labeling, such as
a title label for the spine, barcode, call
number label, etc.
 Here is the completed box in open
position,

and here it is shown closed.

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