Guides
Calgary and Saskatoon pressing in dry prairie air, a working checklist
Prairie binders fight 20 to 30 per cent indoor humidity. Condition board, cook paste thick, and dry every glued book under weight in still air.
What to take away
- Winter indoor air in Calgary and Saskatoon often sits near 20 to 30 per cent relative humidity, so board, paste and pressed text blocks lose moisture faster than they do in a coastal studio.
- Condition millboard and Davey board in the room where the finished book will live, for three to ten days, until the stack stops losing mass on a kitchen scale.
- Cook wheat starch paste to a firm base, cool it covered, and thin it a spoonful at a time at the bench. Thin paste grabs before you can square a board.
- Press in stages and dry under weight in still air. A fan or a radiator pulls moisture unevenly and cups the boards.
- Calgary and Saskatoon both have guild contacts, shared shops and suppliers that stock board, linen thread and starch.
Why dry prairie air changes pressing and drying
Calgary sits at roughly 1,045 metres. Saskatoon spreads flat beside the South Saskatchewan River. Both swing hard between seasons, and the swing matters more than the average.
Prairie indoor humidity range
20-30%
Calgary: ~1,045 m
Dried at 25%, stored at 55%: board warps
Seal the room, measure the air, stop the exchange
Saskatoon sits near 480 metres and runs colder than Calgary in winter. Heated Calgary rooms typically read 20 to 30 per cent relative humidity in January. Saskatoon rooms typically read 15 to 25 per cent in the same month. The building, the heating system and the air exchange rate decide where in that band your bench sits.
Paper and board are hygroscopic. They take on and give off moisture until they match the room. A text block pressed in a dry Calgary room and moved to a damp basement will swell and round its spine.
The answer is controlling the studio rather than fighting the climate. Natural Resources Canada publishes guidance on energy efficiency for buildings covering ventilation, humidity and envelope control, and the same logic applies to a bindery. Seal the room, measure the air, and stop the exchange you cannot manage.
Most failures in paper craft come from materials, not workmanship, as this guide to common bookbinding mistakes sets out. A perfectly sewn book still warps if it dries at 25 per cent and lives at 55.
Board conditioning before pressing
Board arrives dry. Suppliers ship it flat, and it acclimatizes to whatever the truck and warehouse held, which is usually drier than your bench.
Calgary board conditioning steps
- Unwrap board, stand sheets on edge, spaced apart
- Leave three to seven days at bench humidity
- Weigh stack daily until mass stops changing
- Flip stack, rotate outer sheets to the middle
- Cut to size only after conditioning
Conditioning means giving board time to reach equilibrium with your working room before it goes under weight. Do it in the room where the finished book will dry, never in a garage or a car.
Calgary vs Saskatoon conditioning
Calgary
- Climate
- Chinook belt, drier
- Conditioning time
- Three to seven days
- Main risk
- January indoor dryness
- Test
- Daily weighings
- Storage
- Flat, wrapped, same room
Saskatoon
- Climate
- River valley, damper spring
- Conditioning time
- Four to ten days
- Main risk
- Shoulder-season swings
- Test
- Glue two offcuts overnight
- Storage
- Flat, wrapped, same room
Steps for board conditioning
- Unwrap the board and stand the sheets on edge, spaced a finger apart, with air on both faces.
- Weigh the stack on a kitchen scale and re-weigh daily until the mass stops changing. Flip the stack and rotate the outer sheets to the middle as it dries.
- Read the forecast and your hygrometer together, and condition during a stable week, not across a weather change.
- In Saskatoon, test a scrapglue two offcuts together and let them dry overnight. If the pair cups, wait longer.
- Cut to size only after conditioning, then store the board flat, wrapped, in the same room as the press.
City timing. Calgary board usually settles in three to seven days at bench humidity. Saskatoon board takes four to ten days, because the river valley holds moisture differently than the chinook belt. Add a day or two in January in both cities, when indoor air is driest.
Keep a cheap hygrometer at the bench and record morning and afternoon readings for a week. You will learn your own room faster than any chart. A digital hygrometer is a hardware-store item, and Lee Valley Tools lists them in its Canadian mail-order catalogue.
In a shared or small room, plan the layout before you buy anything. A small bookbinding room still fits four zones: cutting, wet work, pressing and storage. The pressing zone needs the steadiest air.
Saskatchewan's starting or exiting a business page covers registration and permits. The province's taxes and investments material is where the current rates live when you cost board, paste and press time.
Paste consistency for low-humidity conditions
Wheat starch paste is the standard adhesive in bookbinding, and dry air punishes a thin mix. Water leaves a loose paste fast, the joint grabs before you can position the board, and the hinge dries starved and brittle.
Mix a base at one part wheat starch to four or five parts water by volume. Cook it until it turns translucent, then cool it covered. A base that sets firm in the pot can be thinned at the bench with a few drops of water, one small spoon at a time.
Thin the working batch at roughly one part water to four parts base, and stop at the consistency of thick cream. A paste that runs off the brush is too thin for prairie air.
Keep a covered jar of base paste and a small dish of water. Take what you need, thin it, and use it inside the working window.
Is the paste right for dry air
Does the paste soak the board edge and darken the paper?
too thin, cook a thicker base
check the brush drag and surface sheen
Methylcellulose added to wheat starch slows drying and buys working time. A typical solution is 3 to 5 per cent methylcellulose in water, added at one part to four parts starch paste. Keep the proportion low, because too much leaves a slick surface that later paste will not grab. Mix small batches and label them.
| Stage | Prairie adjustment | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Board conditioning | Three to ten days in the working room | Mass stops changing |
| Paste mixing | Thicker base, thin at the bench | Dries matte, not glossy |
| Pressing | Stage the press, light to firm | No slide at the joint |
| Drying | Under weight, still air | No cupping after 24 hours |
| Storage | Same room as the press | Flat, wrapped, labelled |
Pressing checklist
- Board conditioned and weighed until stable
- Paste mixed thick, cooled covered, thinned at the bench
- Text block squared and spine glued in one pass
- Press tightened in stages, not all at once
- Blotter or release paper between book and press board
- Overnight press left closed twelve to eighteen hours
- Hygrometer reading noted on the job sheet
Drying checklist
- Book dried under weight, not in moving air
- No fan, no radiator, no direct sun
- Room kept at working humidity overnight
- Boards checked for cupping after 24 hours
- Second light press of six to twelve hours if the joint shows lift
- Finished book stored in the same room
Worked example
A Calgary binder glues a quarto case in February at 24 per cent relative humidity. The board conditioned for five days and the paste cooked thick. The press goes on in three stages over ten minutes, then stays closed for twelve to eighteen hours.
Next morning the joint is tight, the boards are flat, and the book goes to storage in the same room.
A Saskatoon binder glues the same quarto in January at a typical 18 to 25 per cent relative humidity. The board conditioned for eight days and passed the scrap test. The press closes for sixteen hours.
Next morning the joint holds but the upper board lifts a little at the fore edge. A second light press runs eight hours under blotter and board, with no fan in the room. The board sits flat after that.
Good work needs two separate benches, one for cutting and one for pressing. In dry air the pressing bench should sit away from the door, the window and the drying rack.
Anyone running a decorative paper line alongside books will find that drying decides the layout of the whole room. For independent paper makers working small, supply costs drive the budget, not the vat.
Local maker community and supplier contacts
The fastest way to learn a local routine is to ask someone binding in the same climate.
The Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild runs national programming with regional activity, and it is the standard starting point for conservation-minded binders in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The Canadian Conservation Institute publishes free notes on adhesives, board and environmental control that translate well to a prairie studio.
Statistics Canada maintains the Open Database of Cultural and Art Facilities, useful for mapping galleries, archives and cultural spaces that host workshops or buy handmade books.
Calgary contacts start with Alberta Printmakers, an artist-run centre with letterpress and print facilities that runs workshops and rents equipment time.
Fuse33 Makerspace in the southeast is the other shared-shop option, and Calgary Public Library branches run maker programming for cutting and small press work.
Swinton's Art Supplies and Kensington Art Supply both carry millboard, linen thread and PVA, though stock varies, so call before a long drive.
Saskatoon is led by Hues Art Supply, the city's long-standing art store, which stocks board, adhesives and papers. Paper Umbrella carries decorative and handmade paper for case decoration.
The Saskatchewan Craft Council runs a gallery and shop that juries and sells professional craft. Saskatoon Public Library's central branch has a maker space.
The university's book arts and archives staff are worth asking about local workshops.
Provincial parks, culture, heritage and sport programmes sit alongside that local activity.
Common questions
Why does my board cup after pressing in Calgary?
The board was drier than the room it dried in. Condition it longer, and dry the finished book in the same room where it will be stored.
How thick should paste be in Saskatoon winter?
Thick enough to hold a brush mark, roughly like heavy cream. Cook a firm base and thin small amounts at the bench as you work.
Can I speed drying with a fan?
No. Moving air pulls moisture unevenly and cockles boards. Dry under weight in still air, even if it takes an extra day.
Do I need to register a studio business?
If you sell work, yes. Saskatchewan's provincial business pages cover registration and tax, and Alberta has equivalent requirements through its own services. Confirm the current rules with the province or a licensed accountant.
