I’m actually not sure if I’m going to keep the content up on this site forever, because I like the finished ebook so much, but I also want people to use it, even if they don’t want to pay for it. I’m going to put off that decision indefinitely, but in the meantime, the same content lives here on my blog. If you want a more professional-looking version, something to print and bind yourself, or just a way to show me how much you’ve enjoyed it, you can drop five bucks in the tip jar and download away.

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!

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.

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.

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 …

Navigation:

1. Introduction
2. Strip the Existing Cover
3. Create Signatures
4. Prepare Signatures for Stitching
5. Stitch the Signatures
6. Glue the Spine
7. Build Cover Boards
8. Attach the Cover Boards
9. Cover the Cover
10. Finish Up

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.

Navigation:

1. Introduction
2. Strip the Existing Cover
3. Create Signatures
4. Prepare Signatures for Stitching
5. Stitch the Signatures
6. Glue the Spine
7. Build Cover Boards
8. Attach the Cover Boards
9. Cover the Cover
10. Finish Up

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.

Navigation:

1. Introduction
2. Strip the Existing Cover
3. Create Signatures
4. Prepare Signatures for Stitching
5. Stitch the Signatures
6. Glue the Spine
7. Build Cover Boards
8. Attach the Cover Boards
9. Cover the Cover
10. Finish Up

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.

Navigation:

1. Introduction
2. Strip the Existing Cover
3. Create Signatures
4. Prepare Signatures for Stitching
5. Stitch the Signatures
6. Glue the Spine
7. Build Cover Boards
8. Attach the Cover Boards
9. Cover the Cover
10. Finish Up

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.

Navigation:

1. Introduction
2. Strip the Existing Cover
3. Create Signatures
4. Prepare Signatures for Stitching
5. Stitch the Signatures
6. Glue the Spine
7. Build Cover Boards
8. Attach the Cover Boards
9. Cover the Cover
10. Finish Up

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.

Navigation:

1. Introduction
2. Strip the Existing Cover
3. Create Signatures
4. Prepare Signatures for Stitching
5. Stitch the Signatures
6. Glue the Spine
7. Build Cover Boards
8. Attach the Cover Boards
9. Cover the Cover
10. Finish Up