Silver and Vellum Book Clasps

As a binder I have been asked many times to fit clasps to books. The design for these clasps is a development of a very old idea and method. The fittings are made from 2mm sterling silver plated copper wire, you could be tempted to use brass as a substitute, but the verdigris produced as brass corrodes is acidic. I always used plaited vellum for these clasps for strength and durability, leather stretches and will not last nearly as long. Also I find the appearance of vellum and silver is rather attractive. The actual cost of the materials is very low, about £3.00/$6.20

You can buy new book fittings, but they are expensive and they do not have the "craftsman made" appearance of these clasps.

These clasps are perfect for larger books such as Bibles but you can also use them on much smaller books, as long as the board has a minimum thickness of 3mm.

You need no special tools to make these fittings, just the normal small hand tools any craft person might use plus a soldering iron is all that is required. Included is an up to date online supplier of Sterling Silver plated drawn wire in various diameters. Also included, a contact who is prepared to sell vellum off cuts.

This tutorial runs out to over 80 pages, that is mainly because I have illustrated every single step of the process in order to make it as fail proof as possible. Below are some pictures taken from the tutorial.

You are welcome to download this manual by clicking the picture below. Please note this file is 4.52mb in size so it will take a while to download.