The three latter saw kerfs should be deeper than the kettle stitches, say, about tin. It is a good plan to have at hand the ball of cord upon which the volume is to be sewn, and to lay the cord in the kerf. The form of the latter should not be a simple "cut," as for the kettle-stitches; but the kerf should

be wider at the bottom. This is affected by slanting the saw first to one side and then to the other as the sawing goes on, as at Fig. 38. By this means the bottom of the kerf is enlarged; it must not be too big, however. The size of the cord used for the bands depends upon that of the book; generally the warehouseman where you deal will sell you the usual size. The number of bands and saw-cuts depends upon the number of leaves to the section, as a rule.

After the book is sawed, and before sewing, it should be "collated," in order to verify that the sections are still in proper order. This is effected by holding the volume in the left hand by the angle of the back and head, the tail of the book being upwards; the whole of the sections held by the right hand are permitted to escape from the restraint of the right thumb, one by one, and to fall upon the left hand, the eye attending to the signature of each section as it falls over and seeing that the sections follow in order, as "Title, B, c, D,"&C.

In order to get a nice round back to the book, when backing, there must be a certain amount of thread in the back, so as to spread it out sufficiently. On the other hand, if you get too much thread in the back, the book becomes unmanageable. As a general rule, small books (18mo and 12mo), with twelve or more leaves to the section, are sawed for two bands, and sewed all the length of each section with fine thread.

Octavo, of whatever sized sheets, may be sawed for three cords, and sewed two sheets on, as follows:

The first section (title - page) is laid on the bed of the sewing-press (which was illustrated at page 16, Fig. 9), with its back to the cords; the saw-marks are brought to the cords, and the cords are moved to the proper place, so that the latter enter them; the press is screwed up, s() that the cords are tight. The needle (threaded) is now introduced in the tail kettle-stitch saw-cut, and brought out at the saw-cut D (Fig. 37); there it passes around the band (cord), and re-enters the section again at D, but on the other side of' the band. It then passes along, inside the section, to kerf 0 (Fig. 37), where it emerges, and is re-inserted in the same saw-kerf, after having gone round the band; and so on, passing round each cord, until the needle finally emerges at the head kettle-stitch kerf, A (Fig. 37). The next section is then laid on, and the needle passed into the head kettle-stitch, A, and the same process of sewing round the cords repeated, only in reverse order, viz., from head to tail, instead of from tail to head. When the thread comes out at the tail kettle-stitch of' the second section, it is tied to the end of the needleful which is still projecting from the tail kettle-stitch kerf of the first. section sewed.

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