Tying up Pages
After the page is made up, it has to be secured or tied up with twine, in order that it may be transferred to the stone. A specially strong and thin kind of cord, called page-cord, is made for tying up pages, and this should be used in preference to other kinds of string.
Tying up is an operation requiring skill and experience. It is absolutely necessary that it should be done properly, for otherwise much trouble may be caused.
The main points in view should be (1) to have the cord brought round the matter four or five times; (2) to let it be as nearly as possible about the middle of the type --- that position giving the greatest strength and security; (3) that the page should, after being tied up be nearly ad tight and secure as if locked up, allowing of being lifted without types or quads dropping out.
Having opened the ball of twine, hold the end firmly in the left hand. Then with the right hand bring as much as may be necessary of the cord along the upper side of the matter (Fig. 99). Draw the cord down by the side of the headline, tightening a little before turning the corner. Bring the cord to the left, then upward below the bottom line of the page. Here tighten again, and, as before, bring the cord to the right. The second turn should overlap the first end of the cord, so as to hold it securely, as shewn in Fig. 100, which refers, it is important to notice, to the top of the left-hand corner of the page, as shewn in Fig. 99.
The tying should again be proceeded with by passing the card four or five times around the page evenly, one lap under the other.
In order to fasten the string, the second end of the cord should, by the aid of a setting rule, as shewn in Figs. 100 and 102, be pushed under the turns.
The end of the cord is then returned again from under the cords, as shewn in Fig. 103, thus forming a loop, allowing the end to project. The type should now be perfectly tight and yet the cord be so disposed that when the end is pulled it will completely disengage itself.
Care and neatness are necessary for doing the operation properly. The first overlapping should be done somewhat lightly, and more pressure put on to each succeeding ply. The left hand should be kept on the left-hand side of the page, so that the matter may remain perfectly square and level, and the successive folds of cord quite tight. If the cord is pulled too tight, it will either break or cause the page to rise—that is, to bow itself in the middle. On the other hand, the cord may, if not kept about the middle of the type, cause it to rise up. If it has not been tied up in this way from the beginning, push down the cord to the centre of the type after fastening it up. Be sure that the type is kept properly on its feet throughout this tying-up process. The appearance of a page after being tied up is shewn in Fig. 104.
Extract from Modern Printing, A Treatise on the Principles and Practice of Typography and the Auxiliary Arts by John Southward. Raithby, Lawrence & Company, Ltd (1900).