Cloth covers it….
Columbia Finishing Mills, Inc A short story……
Located in Cornwall Ontario since 1965 in its 28,000 square foot building, and a proud member of the LBI/HBI for more than 32 years
Started as a cloth coating mill Transformed cotton fabric to elegant cover materials Processes included dying, sizing, starch coating, pyroxylin coating,(colour and clear), calendering, and embossing Various finishes included natural uncoated surfaces, coated surfaces to imitate leather, and coated linen and vellum finishes Coated papers of various calipers with different embossing patterns
Changes A decline in the market requirements Computer technology gradually replaced the need for encyclopedias Printed covers which replaced the more expensive coated cloth and coated papers created a need to make changes at our Canadian operation. In 1992, under new management, Columbia Finishing Mills became a converting operation
Current services and equipment Emboss cloth and some paper products in three embossing patterns, levant, morocco, and skiver
Slitting and rerolling of master rolls.
Sheeting Albert Jalbert with 45 years of service
Cutting and squaring Gary Day an employee with 44 years of service
Rerolling and inspecting
Strengths Location Large inventory of a variety of cover materials and bindery supplies Plant employees are cross-trained to operate all machines Bilingual staff Current staff of 10 employees with an average of 18 years of service, which was a 24-year average 6 months ago
Book cloth in today’s market a brief history…. In the mid 19 th century, starch coated bookcloth became the main replacement to leather Eventually pyroxylin was used as a more resilient coating and later replaced by acrylic coatings for environmental reasons Buckram continues to be the primary material used by the Library Bookbinders B grade cloths C grade Imitation leathers Uncoated cloth (paper supported rayon fabrics, starch back coated cloth) 100% cotton, polyblend, rayon
Reasons to use cloth Added value Elegance Touch Strength Longevity
Ecology Traditionally cloth cover materials were either coated with starch or pyroxylin Very few products are pyroxylin coated, they are now acrylic coated making them environmentally friendly Cotton is an annually renewable resource Many cotton based products are biodegradable
End uses Archival material Art books Bibles CD cases Coffee table books Cosmetic boxes Diaries
End uses Hotel directories Menus and wine lists Passports Photo books Promotional tools
End uses Legal books Library binding Ring binders Sample cases Slipcases Trade books Yearbooks
Decorating methods Foil stamping Blind embossing Screen printing Offset printing Digital printing