Book Conservation Services

29/07/2026

That's it for the masterclasses for 2026 at the Wattle Street studio of BCS. Thank you to the final cloth workshop participants Amelia, Fei and Shanthi for their enthusiasm and curiosity for the conservation of cloth bindings. In this photo they are carefully blending and sealing their joint repairs with pigmentented SC7400.

Thank you to all 13 participants who attended this years book conservation masterclasses.

This is the final workshop at the present studio. Watch this space for our new studio location later in the year.

09/07/2026

Looking forward to Bind27.

19 NOVEMBER 2027 - 21 NOVEMBER 2027 Bind27 continues the proud tradition of Australasian bookbinding conferences held since 2011 in Canberra, Sydney, Auckland and Brisbane. To be held in Sydney in November 2027, the conference brings together binders, conservators, librarians, artists, and students....

27/06/2026

One final place has become available for the workshop. This is a workshop for an emerging conservator or more experienced conservator. Our tutor, Karen Vidler, is an excellent teacher.

Masterclass: Conservation of Cloth Bindings will be repeated in July. This popular workshop is back one more time for 2026. Go to Eventbrite to buy your ticket. This is a small group workshop so spaces are limited.
Or tap here https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/masterclass-conservation-of-cloth-bindings-tickets-1989381781461?aff=oddtdtcreator

26/06/2026

Week three of three of my leather bookbinding repair training with BCS.

I've learnt so much in my time here, and am really keen to continue practicing and applying the skills I've gained.

Image 1 - Finishing the cord extensions on this board reattachment. 40/3 toned thread twirled into a single cord and set with Evacon-R. This is fed into prepared board slits coated with a 50/50 Evacon-R and Lascaux 498HV mix and pressed.

A Reemay barrier is in place to protect the bookblock and binding from excess adhesive during the procedure. A weight is placed on the board to keep everything firm and the joint at the optimal distance for the board to close correctly.

Image 2 - In the middle of a small corner repair. This technique using toned 21gsm Sekishu repair paper for a less invasive repair. The damaged corners leather is gently lifted from the board to create a gap between the binding and board to lock in the repair.

A tracing of the damage site is recorded on a mylar sheet to create a tracing template. This is transferred to the toned repair paper and shaped. This is placed in-situ between board and leather, and further shaped before a final placement involving adhering the repair paper over the board corner.

This results in a strong repair that is concealed further as the lifted leather is once more adhered back down.

Image 3 - Apply a third application of Roda conservation dye to a fair calf leather piece. This will be blocked using a high gold content foil for a spine repair.

This brown dye will stain your hands for weeks - fingernails even longer - a lovely tinge of brown. Gloves advised.

Image 4 - Sparingly applying tinted SC7400 to bookbinding leather. This is an acrylic and wax blend used in leather conservation. I am using the smallest brush I could find.

This process is for infilling grain loss and to slow down the exchange of water into the air, along with providing a barrier for the leather against air pollution.

The purpose here is not to cover the book, but to increase its longevity through careful application only where needed.

Thank you Karen and Brendan for having me, its been a pleasure

Ethan

19/06/2026

Back in the bindery with week 2 out of 3 of my conservation training with Karen at Book Conservation Services.

More skill development, attention to detail and carefully progressing through the textblock portion of these projects.

Image 1 - manuscript leaves that were removed due to multiple corrosive iron pins locking them in place. They have been sewn into place using 40/3 toned threads for a more natural appearance without increasing risk of damage.

Image 2 - locking in the repair with a slipknot that has been tucked into the perforation to be as minimally impactful to the manuscript leaves as possible.

Image 3 - board reattachment using cord extentions with multiple 40/3 toned threads passing through 3 sections at the head and tail recessed cords, piercing through the 15gsm Usomino barrier support paper - which is in place to both protect the book and assist with reallignment of the spine.

These threads are then twisted into cords while applying a layer of Evacon-R and held under tension to set. You can see the tail cord under tension while the head cord is still to be twisted. The extensions will be locked into the board to complete the reattachment.

Image 4 - paper paring practice. My hands will never forget this experience. I managed to create some satisfying twirls on various papers in practice for a one-on, one-off hollow.

Image 5 - the above mentioned one-on, one-off hollow being applied to the spine of this book. Using a 10% wheat starch paste adhesive layer, followed by another light layer of Evacon-R to allow a bit of wiggle time in setting the hollow correctly to the spine.

You can see a diagonal line where the two components overlap - these areas were pared down to provide a seemlessly smooth and stronger join for the hollow.

These techniques have been really enjoyable to learn and apply, all this hands on work is brilliant and I'm still thrilled to be here.

Many after hours work has been ongoing for my own *little* project that I'll be sharing soon too.

Until next week
Ethan

12/06/2026

My first week in the bindery of BCS has involved many exciting chances to learn new skills, grow my knowledge, and develop better habits with the guidance of Karen, Brendan, Peggy and Frank.

I'm thankful to have this oppurtunity, and am excited to share some of the following processes underway which are performed across three seperate projects.

Image 1 - mechanical cleaning of a textblock to remove dirt using smoke sponge

Image 2 - developing a damage map of a binding, for upcoming consolidation and identyfing overall loss

Image 3 - removing silk and coarse linen thread ribbons as they were causing acidification of the folio they were inserted in

Image 4 - removed pins holding the ribbons, 2 iron pins that were heavily corroded, and a bent steel pin, with one free floating ribbon that was wrapped around the red silk

Image 5 - identifying the type of leather used in the bindings using a 30x magnification loupe and much fiddling

Image 6 - UV Fluorencing of detached leaves, they were held into a textblock via another iron pin, causing corrosion and loss of size, denoted by the black line seen here

Image 7 - a plate in a children's book with 'Murderer's Discovered' under UV Fluorencing, displaying the various loses in size throughout

Image 8 - my consolidation of leather set up, using 2% Klucel G in a Isopropanol solvent solution

Image 9 - mid consolidation of some board edges, mask and ventilation required.

I've also lugged another project with me all the way from rural NSW, which will be shared as another project soon!

Keen to share more soon
Ethan

17/05/2026

Masterclass: Conservation of Cloth Bindings will be repeated in July. This popular workshop is back one more time for 2026. Go to Eventbrite to buy your ticket. This is a small group workshop so spaces are limited.
Or tap here https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/masterclass-conservation-of-cloth-bindings-tickets-1989381781461?aff=oddtdtcreator

11/05/2026

Highlights from Masterclass: Conservation of Cloth Bindings at the Wattle Street studio of BCS. The workshop Tutor, Karen Vidler, would like to thank participants Ellie, Dan, Shannon, Grace, Helena and Michelle for their enthusiasm, skill and good humour during the masterclasses.
Image 1: Identifying book cloth fibre colouring - dyed and/or pigmented fibres.
Image 2: Spot test for starch on cotton fibres.
Image 3: Identifying cotton and linen fibres in book cloth.
Image 4: Resizing washed unbleached cotton and linen for conservation repairs.
Image 5: Consolidating and infilling endcap tears to a cloth case binding.

21/04/2026

This month Principal Conservator from BCS, Karen Vidler, returned to deliver another 4 day workshop at the NSW Guild of Craft Bookbinders. This years topic was Repair of Cloth Bindings ( with basic paper repairs).

Karen wants to thank all 10 participants for their enthusiasm, skilled bench work and courage in trying new treatments and repair techniques for cloth-case bookbindings. The repairs produced in this group was very impressive.

Image 1: The group treating weak areas of covering cloth with 2% solution of Klucel G in Isopropanol - observing good PPE practices.

Image 2: Some of the participants resizing washed unbleached cotton with 2% solution of Methyl Cellulose in deionised water, ready for toning with high permanence acrylic paints.

06/04/2026

A final post about our first intern for 2026 William Johnson. A selection of highlights from his training under the supervision of Principal Conservator Karen Vidler.
About the images
Image 1: Partly attaching an inner hinge repair before the board reattachment using textile sutures.
Image 2: Testing ink inscriptions for the presence of free iron ions.
Image 3: Pared and dyed repair calf for endcap and corner repairs.
Image 4: Shaping infills for missing areas of marbled siding papers.
Image 5: Attaching a tricky endcap repair in calf leather.
Image 6: Shaping and attaching infills to damaged title and volume spine labels.
Image 7: The completed conservation project. Culmination of weeks of examination, testing, consolidation, facing, board reattachment, tricky infills in paper and leather, learning new skills, taking much needed micro-breaks...
Thank you William!