Look at those blade-sharpening skills! Binder and conservator Sophia Kramer led a group of dedicated binders last week at Book Arts Lounge as we learned about possible ways to customize our own tools for maximum comfort and effectiveness. Folks brought their questions, and one person brought her own handcrafted tool: a most impressive bookbinding hammer which she had wrought in an iron shop. Incredible!

We all made pocket strops to keep our knives keen, especially useful for saving money on replacement scalpel blades in these tough times. What's a strop? Those of you who haven't been to an old-timey barber shop in a while might not be familiar with these blade-sharpeners. You can see several strops in this photo: it's essentially a piece of leather used to hone blades and reduce the need for serious sharpening on a stone. Sophia demonstrated on her full-sized strop how to sprinkle carborundum powder (used as a pumice), mix it with vaseline, and deftly sharpen all manner of tools. Our strops were mini; basically a sheet of leather (suede side-up) and a sheet of fine-grit sandpaper mounted on 2 sides of a 3-part case (bound in fabulously-colored buckram) that folded up neatly enough to fit in any toolkit. I think everyone left feeling eager to put their sharpening skills into practice.

Click here to see more pictures from last week's Lounge.

Next month, we'll be rolling up our sleeves in the printshop with poet-printer Jeremy James Thompson, former Stein Scholar and creator extraordinaire of exciting printed materials at the Center for Book Arts. The theme, AGITPROP!, will have us converted into members of the New York Department of Agitation & Propaganda, where we'll print a selection of handbills and small posters relevant to the economic situation affecting all of us, and discuss some techniques for distributing the message. Join the movement! Apolitical printers welcome!