Bookbinding « Brian Sawyer

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Brian Sawyer 12:34 pm on March 20, 2007 Permalink | Reply
Bookbinding Links Roundup
When I find great bookbinding resources online, I tag them in del.icio.us, but I thought it would be useful to others if I put the best ones in one place here, just this once, since I tagged most of them before setting up my automated blog posts from del.icio.us to this site. Here’s a roundup of the top 20 links I’ve collected so far (not including my own tutorial or photos, though some links may have shown up previously in my blog posts).
1. Making a Casebound Book
  
  The best, most detailed online bookbinding tutorial I’ve seen (including, of course, my own).
2. tobycraig: Book Assembly Photo-Journal
  
  A goofy little photo-journal of the book assembly of my stuff for the upcoming MoCCA show.
3. Do-It-Yourself Book Press
  
  An amazingly detailed bookbuilding resource (via Craftzine).
4. Book Binding Books
  
  Free online books about bookbinding.
5. Three-Layer Star Book : DIY Network
  
  Deb took a bookbinding class and ended up taking apart all her books at home to figure out how they were assembled. In this segment, Deb makes a three-layer star-shaped book.
6. Cafe-Kreativ: Bucher binden
  
  Great roundup of online bookbinding how-tos.
7. Coptic Bookbinding How-To
  
  DIY blank journals.
8. Fun and Easy How to Guide to Binding Your Own Paperback Books At Home … FAST
  
  I’ll show you a quick and dirty book binding technique you can use to turn your ebook into a real book with about 5 minutes worth of effort.
9. Lay-Flat Bookbinding
  
  It seems like you can either get a cool cover OR nice paper (suitable for use with a nice pen) OR a nice lay flat, durable binding. I finally realized that to get all three requirements, I would have to try my hand at making my own notebooks.
10. one shot tutorial – a photoset on Flickr
  
  Wanna make a neat, fun zine that only uses one sheet of paper? Of course you do.
11. Make Blank Books, Sketch Books or Repair Paperback Books with a Simple Japanese Bookbinding Technique — a Tutorial
  
  Make or repair books with this easy technique.
12. the0phrastus: Simple Book Binding
  
  I’ve been doing some simple binding for my own writing about a year now, and I think I have it down to an easy four step process, printing, drilling, sewing and wrap-up.
13. Douglas W. Jones on Bookbinding
  
  This tutorial introduction is aimed primarily at those who wish to preserve the content of old pulp paperbacks by photocopying them onto archival paper and then binding the results using an archival binding technique, the long-stitch.
14. Pennant Publishing
  
  I found a book in the local library which taught me the following method of producing a paperback from separate sheets of A4 or A5. I reckon it is suitable for volumes up to up to 2cm thick.
15. Bookmaking
  
  How to make a simple hardcover book.
16. Board Book
  
  How to make a children’s board book.
17. DIY: reconstructed book
  
  What an awesome & useful way to preserve the great cover art of those vintage, hardcover books, that we treasured as kids. I picked one of my favorites, Nancy Drew & turned it in to this fun, mini, journal/sketchbook.
18. The Bonefolder
  
  An e-journal for the bookbinder and book artist.
19. Handbound
  
  A bookbinding blog with some beautiful specimens.
20. Hand Bookbindings: Plain and Simple to Grand and Glorious
  
  Books as works of art, from the twelfth century to the twentieth.
Got any great online resources I’ve missed? Leave links in the comments!

UPDATE

As a bonus, here are some great finds from the comments and links followed from them:
- TJBookarts
  
  Welcome to my Book Arts site. Please feel free check out the information pages and tutorials.
- The Book Arts Forum
  
  This forum is dedicated to all forms of bookbinding and book arts.
- Magazine Binding for Leathercrafters
  
  The method I developed and describe here, is completely my own and not traditional at all. It works best for binding magazines that consist of single (or multiple) signatures.
Thanks for reading and sharing, and keep ‘em coming!
richard norman, tulibri, Edward Champion’s Return of the Reluctant » Roundup and 10 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- leahpeah 9:43 pm on March 20, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  hey – this is great, brian! thanks! so many fun books to try.
- Sonja 1:25 am on March 21, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Oh, thanks for linking my website! I’ll link yours too soon
  Sonja from Germany
- Sanjoli 2:43 am on March 21, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Wow. Lovely books!
- Brian Sawyer 7:14 am on March 21, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Sonja: You already have.
- Jackie 10:18 am on March 21, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Brian,
  
  Thanks for this great list of links.
  Just wanted to let you know that I have an bunch of free downloadable bookbinding tutorials over on my site at http://www.tjbookarts.com. Please check them out.
  
  Jackie
- Brian Sawyer 10:23 am on March 21, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Jackie, thanks for stopping by and sharing your great links. Bookmarking your page now!
- em 10:35 am on March 21, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Hi Brian,
  
  Thank you for this great resource.
  
  Several years ago, I was speaking at B & N and they were willing to let me bring in my self-bound books. I had attended my local book-binding and calligraphy guild and would have loved to have my books self-crafted that way, but for this ‘commercial topic’, it was not appropriate or possible.
  
  So, I chose Abico’s very unique ‘clamp-style’ metal spiral bindings, got their machine and spent my creative-effort on the unique, enticing cover (and of course, the books contents, too).
  
  I was frustrated when I was seeing my books at the University Bookstores which carried them, as on the shelf, this binding does not provide a readable spine.
  
  There, I also saw a few other commercially-bound books which had a “new” form (then) where spiral bindings had the outer-diameter of the spiral wrapped-over and connected to front and back cover (there’s undoubtedly a business name for this binding … do you know it?). This provided a place for the title to be on the spine and seen when books were on the shelf, yet the book remained capable of being fully-flat when opened.
  
  Can you shed any light about how to make this binding or specific sites which might be helpful?
  
  I also hope that you will visit my blog, as its information is for everyone … either for treatment or for prevention!
  
  http://diabetesdietdialogue.wordpress.com
  
  Best to all,
  Em
- Arpi Shively 6:29 am on April 6, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  I just stumbled on your site – I’m an Armenian ex-Londoner living in a small mountain town in Andalucia, southern Spain (by way of Washington DC and the Chesapeake Bay), and I write for a paper here called The Olive Press. You have a beautiful site and a great skill. And now I know where Westford is – looks magical.
  
  I will send your site on to a friend here, a very fine jeweller whose father was a distinguished Scottish book illustrator and I think an amateur binder too. I wish you well with all your projects and plans.
  
  Kind regards,
  Arpi Shively
  
  You are cordially invited to visit my blog site, Andalucid, and at my partner’s gallery of Andalucia/Spain photography at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredshively
- mary 10:15 pm on August 5, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Hi Brian.
  I found this website http://www.periodfinebindings.com and thought you might like to check out what REAL bookbinding is all about.
  
  Kind regards
  
  Mary
- denis 6:33 am on August 13, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  hello, you could check this bookbindingforum.com .
  thanks
  keep on the good work
  denis
- flyleafbooks 2:26 pm on January 22, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Hey! Just browsing online for new websites on Book Arts. I’m kinda doing the same thing you are except I include Lesson Plans because I’m an art educator… I’ll be sure to link you on my Blogroll. If you see anything you like on my site, feel free to spread the word (and images) about it here on your website.
  
  K Hodges
- tulibri 5:06 am on July 12, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Hi Brian, another great source is http://www.outofbinding.com. Carmencho Arregui is one of the shining stars of contemporary bookbinding, and she presents several of her own binding creations, including tutorials. A gem of a website.
- richard norman 5:55 am on July 10, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  
  Hi
  
  I would like to put our own site up as reccomended viewing. It has 10 free bookbinding manuals, plus interesting content. We also sell a range of learn at home DVD tutorials plus very good deals on leather and traditional wooden equipment.
  
  edenworkshops.com
  
  Richard
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Brian Sawyer 3:48 pm on March 16, 2007 Permalink | Reply

A Tour of My Local Book Manufacturer

Last week, I was given a real treat. I got to tour the factory for the book manufacturer that prints many of the titles I edit for my day job. (For those of you chuckling, yes, I considered this a treat. What can I say?) It just so happens that I got to do this just down the road at Courier, in my very own town of Westford.

I couldn’t possibly do justice to everything that goes on in the plant (and I’d probably end up boring most readers to tears if I did), but they produced 140 million books last year, which is impressive by just about any standard you use.

People who know me or follow this blog know that I dabble in hand bookbinding, so it’s always neat to see how the big guys mass produce them (this is the second printing factory I’ve toured). For example, here’s how I prepare a hard cover (left) and how they do it (right):

Here’s what my collected signatures look like (left) next to theirs (right):

How mine are sewn (left) and how theirs stack up (right):

All very humbling, of course, though my process is a little more loving and a whole lot quieter (and my output about 140 million times smaller).

Last year, Courier was named “Best Workplace in the Americas” by the Printing Industry of America (PIA), and all signs indicate that the are indeed a great place to work. It’s great to find such a great and interesting company in your own back yard, and even more interesting when it’s a company with direct involvement with your own business.
Brian Sawyer 11:13 am on June 4, 2006 Permalink | Reply

Don’t Care for a Book? Alter It!

Yesterday, I ventured into the craft of altered books with baby steps: a workshop at a local stamp and craft store.

A longtime bibliophile at heart, I knew it would be tough for me to begin defacing a book, even if it were in the name of art, so I decided to rip that band aid off quickly. I started with a book by one of my favorite authors, though the book itself ended up being more attractive than it was interesting (the first 100 pages or so were great, but after that the narrative dissipated and the story became tedious).

Without further ado, here was my “blank” canvas, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana by Umberto Eco:

The first alteration we made as a class was a simple pocket, formed by folding a page in upon itself and fastening it to the page below it with brads:

We then used distress ink on the all pages in the spread and stamped a couple shipping tags to stuff inside the pocket. I thought the Mona Lisa fit quite well with the Italian art and pop culture posters featured throughout Queen Loana (which, as I say, made the book quite visually interesting):

Before finishing that spread (which I get the impression might never really be done, but certainly not within a two-hour class), we then moved on to cutting a window through a page:

Again, this was just a beginning. Fleshing out the spread, both above and below the window, is my continuing homework.

The last couple alterations we had time for were a pop-up element and text masking. For the pop up, we used an illustration from the Dover archives. Here it is in the process of popping up:

And here it is fully popped up:

I chose the religious imagery on the page (there’s plenty of that to choose from in Queen Loana) to go with the embellishment, but the text I found to mask was purely a happy coincidence:

In all, the class was quite inspiring. Though I began a little skeptically, due to all my book-loving baggage, I now think I’m hooked. This is going to be yet another expensive and time-consuming hobby, I can tell.

UPDATE: A more detailed how-to, inspired by this post, appears in Craft: 02.

doro, bekaboo, Brian Sawyer and one other person are discussing. Toggle Comments
- Hanna 8:28 am on June 6, 2006 Permalink | Reply
  
  Is this your first try? Looks great. I’m working on pop-ups right now too, yours is great inspiration!
- Brian 8:32 am on June 6, 2006 Permalink | Reply
  
  Thanks, hanna. And yes, this is just the beginning of my first try.
  
  I owe the entire idea of the pop-up, from the choice of illustration to the execution of the mechanism, to the instructor of the workshop, whose work I agree is quite inspiring.
- Fadzilah 9:51 pm on June 6, 2006 Permalink | Reply
  
  Wow, that’s very nice. And you did it with a book by Umberto Eco which makes it even better
- Brian 7:25 am on June 7, 2006 Permalink | Reply
  
  Thanks, fadzilah. Is it better because you like Eco or because you have something against him?
- Fadzilah 9:58 am on June 7, 2006 Permalink | Reply
  
  I like his writings. But precisely because of that I don’t dare to create anything out of it, as I’m afraid of ruining it, so I’m living vicariously through what you did.
- Brian 10:02 am on June 7, 2006 Permalink | Reply
  
  Heh. I hear you, fadzilah. That was a tough hurdle for me to get over. Of course, there’s no way in hell I’d do this with any of my copies of The Name of the Rose!
- Brian Sawyer 12:24 pm on January 12, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  UPDATE: A more detailed how-to, inspired by this post, appears in Craft: 02.
- bekaboo 1:12 am on February 19, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Loving it! I have exactly one altered book (done by me and a group of friends), and I treasure it. That said, I have 1000′s of other books. It was soooo difficult to make the first cut (I made a niche), but the book had a gorgeous cover, but was pure dreck (not to mention acidic and deteriorating fast) on the inside, so I actually think I improved it.
- doro 12:58 am on April 22, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  I like seeing someone else in the beginning stages of a new endeavor. I think that altered books are like anything else
  that we do in any of the crafts, they require support in the
  form of purchases of this and that and often some of the
  best things that I have found to use in my book was a simple
  item I had used many times before- the matchbook.
  
  I used the shape and design to hide notes in and to assist in making the page interactive…the cost: a few pieces of paper and pen…almost nothing…
  
  I will admit other pages require special paper and so on..
  
  I will watch to see if more of your work shows up on this site.
  I like what I have seen so far…’ain’t it fun?’
Brian Sawyer 9:12 am on May 25, 2006 Permalink | Reply
Finish Up
Your book should now look like a book. The last remaining step is to cover the unsightly interior of the front and back cover. In addition to finishing off the book and making it look more attractive, pasting endsheets also increases the strength of your book, because it acts as a final reinforcement to draw the cover to the spine. If you were making a blank book, using the first and last pages of the book as your endsheets (and perhaps then covering them with a nice decorative paper to finish them off) would add the most additional strength, since those pages are actually stitched and glued to the spine.

But since your first and last pages actually contain content (including the important TOC on the first page), you’ll want to use paper specific to this task. I decided to use MAKE‘s original wraparound cover as my endsheet for the front cover board. Its thick stock works well for extra support and looks quite nice. I simply trimmed it to fit (leaving a the same distance to the each edge of the book and pasted the back of the wraparound cover to the front cover board. Allow glue to run into the spine of the wraparound cover, because you’ll want to use that area to cover the point where the cover meets the spine and extend into the front page by about 1/4″. This grips the endsheet to the book block to add reinforcement to the spine.

You’ll need to cover the back cover board in the same way. Since I’d already stripped the cover from MAKE: Volume 2 (my next bookbinding project), I went ahead and used that for my back cover (guess I’ll need to be more creative with picking my endsheets when I bind Volume 2), trimming off the unwanted back cover ad, but leaving enough room to allow the 1/4″ spine area to cover the gutter and connect the endsheet to the final page.

Put fresh pieces of wax paper between the covers and the book block, and set under heavy weights to dry overnight. You’ll wake up to a copy of MAKE that will last forever, as well as look unique and serve you well.

As you can see, as promised, the finished book lies flat, perfect for following an article’s instructions while working on a project like this one.

Now, on to Volume 2 …

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Anonymous, Kristen, bloggityblogs and 6 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- wendy 1:24 pm on November 29, 2006 Permalink | Reply
  
  this is very helpful, thank you
- jenny 9:59 pm on February 22, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  I’m graduating from college soon, and there’s a book at the library that I love. It’s out of print, though. I found a copy online but it was really expensive, so I photocopied every single page in the book and bound it together for less than half of the cost. Maybe I’ll buy a real copy eventually, but this one will certainly suffice.
  
  In other words, thank you for helping me steal a book.
- Brian Sawyer 9:07 am on February 23, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Nice work, Jenny. I won’t tell anyone if you won’t. It’s hard to find fault when you put so much care and attention into your “free” book.
- sheralyn 2:25 pm on October 25, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  I also have to thank you very much. I love to scrapbook and went to a party that sold a site who allowed you to build your pages online and then order them as a book, very expensive. I was hoping to learn how to do this myself so that my pages would last longer then the traditional style of hole punch binders and sheet protectors. I can’t wait to get started!
- Kristin 10:37 am on January 31, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Dear Brian,
  Thank you so much for your tutorial! I’ve been wanting to learn how to bind books for a while, but courses are quite expensive.
  I’m not quite sure where to get the materials yet – I live in rural Scotland and there aren’t many craftshops – but I’m sure I can find it online.
  
  I can’t wait to try it out – self-bound books make excellent Christmas / birthday presents. And I need to rescue my poor old paperbacks before they fall apart alltogether!
- Ubiratan 8:02 pm on July 23, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Perrrrrrrrrrrrrrrfect article! I just bound a book myself the my first time. Gracias Chacramento Tói Porco Dio!!!
- bloggityblogs 12:05 am on August 23, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  it’s very informative, thanks. I appreciate the pictures. I am a visual learner, I learned a lot of techniques in the last ten minutes of scanning through the steps than reading blocks and blocks of words from some archaic looking websites (I imagine some frail seasoned fella slowly clicking the keys with one finger at a dark basement corner of an old library).
  
  *yawn
  
  hope you don’t mind my adding you to my blogroll
- Kristen 3:46 pm on September 27, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Thank you for this tutorial. My mother has had a hard time, and my sister and I are trying to make a poem/art book for her. We could not find a way to bind a book that would be relatively cheap. I went online and lo and behold I found this!
  
  So thank you so much for sharing your knowledge it certainly helps more than you’ll probably ever know.
  
  So thanks again, and I do hope life brings you happiness for what you have done for others.
- Anonymous 4:59 pm on April 7, 2010 Permalink | Reply
  
  If I’d like a paperback, instead of the hardback, what do you suggest for the cover?
  
  Great tutorial
  
  Sorry for the bad English
Brian Sawyer 9:11 am on May 25, 2006 Permalink | Reply
Cover the Cover
To cover the unsightly skeleton you’ve created so far, you’ll now cover the exterior of the boards with a single piece of decorative paper, which will wrap around the front cover, back cover, and spine. To accommodate this wrap, use your utility knife slit the mull by 1/2″ where the covers meet the spine at both the head and foot edges; doing so creates room to slide the paper’s turnovers over the edges of both the covers and the boards.

Now, you’re ready for your paper. Pick a piece of decorative paper or cloth that suits your project. It should be thin enough to fold easily (I’ve learned the hard way how hard leather and thick cloth are to work with) but strong enough to hold up to glue and wear. The piece you use should be large enough to more than cover your front cover, back cover, and spine.

Lay your cover paper face down and use your carpenter’s square and pencil to measure and mark the placement of your boards. Allow a 1/2″ (or the thickness of four boards) turnover (the area of paper that extends beyond the edge of the board, which you will turn over to finish the edge) for all edges and 1/4″ (or the thickness of two boards for each hinge (the area between the spine and cover).

Attach the spine to the cover paper where marked by brushing the paper with glue, positioning the spine board, and pressing firmly. Turn the paper over and rub the paper with your bone folder to secure the spine to the paper and gently mold the paper over the edges of the board.

Next, attach the front cover board. Brush the area you’ve marked with glue, working from the center outward to just over the line and slightly into the turnovers and hinge. Position the board precisely between your marks and press down firmly. Turn the book over and rub down the exterior of the cover with your bone folder, pressing from the inside out to remove any air bubbles or wrinkles.

Now, it’s time to attach the backboard. Apply the glue in the same way you brushed it on for the front cover. To position the board without creating any creases or wrinkles, hold the back cover board with one hand and lay its fore edge down on the paper, lining it up to meet your mark for that edge. With your other hand, pinch the paper to the board on that edge, and slowly work your hand along the back of the book, pressing the paper to the board as you go.

Turn the book over and rub down the back cover with the bone folder, just as you did with the front cover, working the folder into the hinge to seal the paper to your book block around the spine. Turn the book over again and work the folder into the hinge of the front cover.

Wrap the book in wax paper and press for a half hour in your press, vice, or under heavy weights.

Before folding the turnovers, you’ll need to miter the corners, removing the excess paper at the tip of the corner to prevent an unsightly (and potentially damaging, over time) bulge where the head (or foot) and fore edge fold over each other. Use your ruler and pencil to make a mark 1/4″ out from the corner of the board. Draw a line at a 45-degree and cut away the excess to create your miter. Miter the remaining three corners in the same way.

You’re almost done. It’s time to fold over the turnovers. Lay the book open and brush a sparing amount of glue across the length of the head turnover. Folding this turnover can be a bit tricky. Stand the book up on its foot edge and use your fingers to gently roll the edges of the head turnover over the top of the board, working from the spine out toward the fore edges. You might need to use your bone folder to work the paper into the spine, since this area might be a little tight, even though you’ve slit the mull to accommodate the paper (without doing so would have made this step impossible). Do the same for the foot edge.

Before pasting the turnovers on the fore edges, apply a small amount of glue in the crease at the corners and fold over a small portion of paper to create a neat hem. Doing so keeps the paper seam away from the edge of the book and covered by the endsheets.

Brush the first fore edge with glue, fold the turnover, press it firmly, and smooth out any wrinkles or air bubbles.

Use your bone folder to tap each of the corners to make them a little blunt. Removing the sharp edges will help protect the book from wear of sliding it on and off shelves.

Lay sheets of scrap paper between the cover boards and your book block of signatures, and press under heavy weights overnight.

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Brian Sawyer 9:11 am on May 25, 2006 Permalink | Reply
Attach the Cover Boards
With your book block of signatures lying face up, place a piece of scrap paper (wax paper actually works better, if you have it) between the mull and the tapes and another piece of scrap paper beneath the tapes. Brush the mull with glue.

Remove the top piece of scrap paper. Press the front cover board against the mull, making sure 1/8″ of the board extends over the head, foot, and fore edges.

Open the front cover and rest it against a board (or another book) roughly the same thickness as your book along the spine for support. Rub down the mull with a clean, dry cloth or paper until the glue works into the board and becomes almost dry.

Now, apply glue to the tapes and glue the tapes to the mull and cover board, making sure the tapes are perpendicular with the spine. Discard the second piece of scrap paper, and place a clean piece of scrap paper between the cover board and the first signature. Making sure the board is still straight, place the book under weights to dry for a half hour.

To make a more uniform surface (because any variance might show through the endsheets), draw a line on the inside of the cover 1″ from the spine and use your utility knife to trim the mull and tapes only along the line (don’t cut into the board).

Place a fresh piece of scrap paper between the cover and the first signature, and turn the book over. Repeat the process for the back cover. Your project should start to look like something resembling a book at this point.

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madeline, and Brian Sawyer are discussing. Toggle Comments
- madeline 1:43 am on October 21, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  do you subtract the extra 1/4″ from the back board as well as the front? you said it is for the hinge and it actually ends up being 1/8″ less once you add the 1/8″ and subtract the 1/4″. does that apply to the back cover as well? thanks so much. your guide has been *so* helpful.
- Brian Sawyer 7:12 am on October 21, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  @madeline: Yes, the front and back boards should be the same size and placed the same distance from the spine. Glad this has been helpful to you. I’d love to see your results!
- madeline 9:54 am on October 21, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  thank you! i really appreciate you getting back to my question. i will definitely link you up to a flickr set with i’m finished.
- madeline 1:02 am on November 4, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  check it out! thanks again for your guide. http://www.flickr.com/photos/loveintokyo/sets/72157608639089161/
Brian Sawyer 9:10 am on May 25, 2006 Permalink | Reply
Build Cover Boards
You’ll need to cut three boards for your hardback case: the front cover, the back cover, and the spine. Your local craft store should stock binder’s board (a durable, yet flexible board, about 1/8″ thick) for this specific purpose, but in a pinch, chipboard or illustration board should also work.

Using your carpenter’s square and utility knife, measure and cut the cover boards. Each cover should be 1/8″ longer on the head, foot, and fore edges. Every board has a grain, which usually runs the length of the board. Make sure to cut every board with the grain; otherwise, if any stretching or warping occurs, the error will be much more obvious when two boards stretch in different directions.

The edge on the spine side of the front cover should be reduced by the thickness of two boards (in my case, 1/4″), to accommodate the hinge. Altogether, then, the front cover should be cut to 1/4″ taller than the height of the book (1/8″ added to the head and foot) and 1/8″ narrower than the width of the book (after adding 1/8″ and subtracting 1/4″).

Cut the spine board to the same height as the covers. Normally, the width of the spine board should be the width of the book block, plus the thickness of the front and back cover boards. But since our book is significantly thicker at its spine than at just 1/4″ further in, cutting the spine board to the same thickness as the width of the spine edge of the signatures is more appropriate and will slightly reduce the unwanted effect of a thicker spine than fore edge.

You now have your rough boards. Before attaching them to your book block, use a medium-grit sand paper to smooth out the rough edges. Otherwise, over time, these edges might catch on shelf edges and wear through the cover paper.

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Dave, dusky, adam k. and 3 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- jenny 9:52 pm on February 22, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  You can save some money by buying a used book at the Salvation Army and ripping the cover boards off of it.
- Brian Sawyer 9:06 am on February 23, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Great tip, Jenny!
- mildred wogbash 4:41 pm on October 1, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  Horrible tip Jenny, have you no respect for books?
- adam k. 3:58 am on October 22, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  haha.
  
  thanks Brian! i’m gonna make a portfolio book.i’ll post it soon as i’m done
- adam k. 1:54 pm on July 6, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  http://adamkitingan.blogspot.com/2008/06/grungy-sketch-book.html
  
  it’s not perfect but its a book! thanks again Brian
- dusky 12:40 am on November 29, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Yeah Jenny, kind of lame, disrespectful and defeats the purpose of making your own book…
- Dave 8:41 am on February 8, 2009 Permalink | Reply
  
  I’ve bought many a book at goodwill and stripped it for parts. You’re kidding yourself if you think that every book that ends up in a thrift store goes on some collector’s shelf, most end up going to a landfill if they don’t sell eventually….
Brian Sawyer 9:10 am on May 25, 2006 Permalink | Reply
Glue the Spine
We now need to attach the mull (a strip of cloth) to the spine and tapes. Connecting cover boards to the mull, rather than directly to the signatures themselves, allows for a strong but flexible backbone (hint: this is the key to creating our lay-flat binding), reinforcing the spine and giving you something to connect the front and back covers to. The best cloth to use for mull is white linen fabric with a weave that’s loose enough to allow sufficient paste penetration but tight enough to remain strong under pressure. Your knowledgeable craft store clerk should direct you to the perfect cloth specific to this task.

Making sure to keep the work even on all sides and the spine straight, tighten your work in a press and tub. If you don’t have one of these lying around (and if this is your first bookbinding project, chances are, you don’t), no worries: a vice should work just as well. Just make sure to protect the work from any harsh edges of the vice.

Cut a piece of mull tall enough to cover your kettlestitches and three inches wider than the width of the spine.

Brush a generous amount of glue from the head kettlestitches to the foot kettlestitches and the full width of the spine, including the portions of the tapes that rest over the spine (don’t paste the free ends of the tapes).

Measure 1 1/2″ in from either side of the mull to mark the area where it will attach to the spine. Then, generously brush the spine area with glue.

Attach the mull to the spine, covering the head and foot kettlestitches, and work the cloth into the spine with your fingers and a clean, dry rag until the glue is set (brush on a little more glue, if necessary). Leave in the press to dry overnight. Your basic book block is now (finally!) ready to bind.

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Brian Sawyer, and agreatguy6 are discussing. Toggle Comments
- agreatguy6 8:36 pm on April 17, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  You mention a press and tub, and I’m poor so I can’t buy one…
  do you happen to know how I could make one? (Lot’s of wood in my backyard, so that’s not a problem)
- Brian Sawyer 7:04 am on April 18, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  @agreatguy6: Check out Hand Bookbinding: A Manual of Instruction by Aldren Watson. It has detailed instructions for the press and tub used in this tutorial. My father-in-law made mine.
- agreatguy6 6:29 pm on April 19, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  would a sewing frame do the same thing?
- Brian Sawyer 8:25 am on April 20, 2007 Permalink | Reply
  
  A sewing frame would be appropriate for stitching, but I don’t know any that serve the function of a press.
Brian Sawyer 9:09 am on May 25, 2006 Permalink | Reply
Stitch the Signatures
Using a binder’s needle (or similarly heavy needle, such as a tapestry needle) draw about 30″ of binder’s thread (a thick, durable, acid-free linen) through the kettlestitch at the foot of the last signature.

Exit the spine at the next hole and then enter the spine again, stitching around the first tape.

Keep stitching in this way until you exit the spine at the head kettlestitch. Place the next signature over the one you’ve just stitched and enter the spine at its head kettlestich. Stitch this signature around the tapes just as you did the previous signature. When you exit the foot kettlestitch, before entering the foot kettlestitch of another signature, loop the thread around the foot kettlestitch of the first signature, making a knot.

You’ll do this at the foot and head kettlestiches for the remaining signatures, to prevent gaps between these otherwise unstitched contact points between adjoining signatures.

When you run out of thread, knot a new 30″ length to the existing thread. The best place to add new thread is just before re-entering the spine around a tape.

Keep stitching till all the signatures are connected, and tie a knot at the last kettlestich.

Your signatures are now all sewn up and are just about ready to join to a cover and spine.

Remove the work from the stitching post. At this point, it’s a good idea to apply a bit of glue (about 1⁄4″) to the inside of the first and last signatures (use a piece of scrap paper to protect the portion of the page you don’t intend to glue) and put the work under heavy weights (I find The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary works quite well) overnight. Even after the tightest stitching job, you’ll likely find the signatures are a little loose on these outside edges, and this does a good job of firming up the book block as a solid unit.

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Introduction to Olde-School Bookbinding « Brian Sawyer is discussing. Toggle Comments
Brian Sawyer 9:08 am on May 25, 2006 Permalink | Reply
Prepare Signatures for Stitching
Before actually binding your F&Gs, you now must sew them all together around strong, 1/4″-width linen tapes (ask for bookbinding tape at your local craft store) at the spine. This process creates the added durability offered by a hand-bound book.

Using three tapes, running perpendicular with the folds of the signatures, provides for the strongest spine. With your ruler and pencil, make eight marks along the fold of the first signature. Make your first mark 1/2″ from the head of the signature, and make another 1/2″ from the foot; these marks will hold the kettlestiches (the points where one signature is sewn to the next).

The other six marks represent the points where you’ll sew around the tapes (two marks–an in point and an out point–for each tape). Keeping these marks in pairs just a fraction wider than 1/4″ (to prevent puckering around the tape when you sew around it), space the three pairs evenly between the two kettlestitches. Stack the remaining signatures to make the same marks, at the same measurements.

Use a medium-duty awl to pierce through the marks you’ve made in each signature. The holes should be just wide enough to allow a needle to work its way through, keeping the thread as snug as possible against the hole; don’t create a huge opening.

Now, you’re just about ready to sew. Though using a stitching post is not absolutely necessary (as long as you keep a steady hand, make sure the tapes remain taut, and ensure that the signatures stay even while you sew), it does keep the work organized and easier to manipulate with the only two hands you have. If you have one available, set it up with the tapes stretched tight and spaced to match your holes.

If you’re stitching freehand, simply line up the tapes as you stitch; keeping in mind the way they look when attached to the stitching post should help visualize the goal you’re looking for.

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David Wigfield is discussing. Toggle Comments
- David Wigfield 6:20 am on December 31, 2006 Permalink | Reply
  
  See:
  http://www.cappella.demon.co.uk/tinypdfs/03bind.pdf/
  
  for a DIY sewing punch and sewing method using draughtsman’s clamps.