I recently completed a Kickstarter campaign for a book I wrote and produced (it’s available through the “shop” link on this site).
As part of the promotion, I hand-set and printed bookmarks to be included with the book, and in developing the graphics, I got to make another circular form.
What you see below is the video I made while printing the bookmarks. If you’re still interested after watching it, the “how to do it” of making a sigil follows.
Let’s walk through the process, and look at some of the iterations that went into the development of the final version of the bookmark.
I started with an antique brass circle blank like this one (only a bit larger). They used to be available from type houses for just this sort of thing.
This is currently my favorite tool – it’s an antique type rule bender, or “curving machine.” This made fabricating rule circles so much easier – previously I had to fabricate them by hand, and it took a lot longer, often without success.
Note the patent date of May 19, 1881. I believe this manufacturer made them for different distributors. Mine was sold as a “Liberty” bender, and I bought it from the grandson (?) of an elderly printer in Germany. It’s designed to curve metal strip material, in type metal or brass. Jewelers still use a similar tool for bending sheet stock.
There is another type of bender on the market, made by Golding, but it’s more complicated to use, and has to be offered in two different sizes, due to limitations of its design.
Watch the video below for a demonstration of how easy this makes curving leads and rules.
So I tested several different weights of circular rules and circular space material. Cutting strip material to exact lengths is critical here.
Another early proof of concept development, but it’s still lacking something
Of course, there needs to be type in the circle, and this is my improvised jig for aligning the sorts and spacing before applying blue tape to hold the words together. I had to set and re-set the type to get the spacing right.
I tested several versions – this is an early concept, with a carbon paper proof.
Adding a dirigible cut, and some custom nylon wedges for fit.
Special thanks to my good friend Don Hildred, who turned the wedges on a lathe and then cut them to shape.
Carbon paper proof of the completed Sigil.
The final printing form, with the press name at the bottom, set in an antique style of banner type from Skyline Type Foundry. As you can see, a lot of work went into making a simple bookmark.