This is the kitchen-table-sized, solid, cast-iron, floor-standing Schimanek guillotine machine in the @national_library_of_australia conservation studio. It’s surrounded by clever, deft, patient people preserving photos, coddling costumes, and using teensy brushes to paint on flour solutions to mend rips on fragile pieces of paper. (Swipe to see the giant handle.) When you lean down on the handle and the blade cuts a perfectly straight, long slice off a length of cardboard or paper, it makes the most satisfying, sharp, snickery sound. It looks and feels like Serious Engineering and is a delightful shade of creamy olive green. Had they let me, I might still be there slicing thousands of sheets of paper into ribbons, just listening. #snick #snick #snickery #snick #schimanek #guillotine #timeless #machinery #wheel #equipment #savingpublicpapers #buildingarchiveboxes #protecting #publictreasures #engineering #specialcollections #custodians #preservation #conservation
