All the pretty little clamshell boxes

Finally! Among all the not-quite-right clamshell boxes, a clamshell box that fits my pencil portfolio, How To Be In The World! Goldilocks would be proud. (Remember my first clamshell here?And that first failed box for this portfolio here?) The finished box is pictured here, housing the portfolio and resting on the ones that didn’t quite fit.

During this process, I ran out of bookbinding board (aka binder’s board). Given the state of my bookbinding board, I wasn’t absolutely sure about that. In my quest to finish the box immediately (hah!), I ended up organizing my motley collection of board. Which included a trip to the hardware store a digital caliper tool. So efficient, yes? Not. Now they’re organized by thickness and grain, and I was able to ascertain that yes, I had indeed run out of the particular book board I needed.

This organizing led to some research on what thickness of board I should be using. Turns out, the 0.074″/1.9mm board I was using was just right, while 0.06″/1.5mm board is good for smaller books, and the 0.12″/3mm board I have on hand would be good for very large books and boxes. I usually stick with Lineco board because it’s available locally. Davey Board (link is to Talas) is popular, but difficult to cut, I understand.

By the way, there is some great information about bookbinding board in Matt Roberts’ and Don Etherington’s dictionary of descriptive terminology on the website of CoOL (Conservation Online).

Well, now I’ve got the box-building bug. I’ve thought of so many things in my studio that need clamshell boxes, but I have some pressing deadlines right now. Look for posts later in the fall showing clamshell boxes for … my collection of artists books, especially, but so much more that begs for a box.