I’m finishing up some projects before Christmas, but I had the chance to use the stamping machine for a gold title. Books with gold titles use a gold colored foil or gold leaf. We’re set up to stamp on both cloth and leather.

We have raised type made of brass, allowing us to heat it for use. Lead type can be used, but it can soften the type with the heat.

We start by making a small jig to correctly place the type on the board. Here I’ve stamped the text onto a scrap of binders board, then measured to add the stops.

Next I put the cover into the Kwik-Print, the hot stamping tool we have in the shop. A quick stamp to compress the cloth. and to confirm it’s all looking good.

The foil is added on top of the area to be stamped, then fire away. We practice with the materials we use to use the best temperature and time of the stamp.

Our finished cover, now glued to the text block, and ready to go out for use.