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  • Brian Sawyer 9:38 pm on July 15, 2011 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment  

    Bind This Ebook 

    The biggest source of traffic (by far) to my humble blog has been the expanded version of my DIY Bookbinding article, which originally appeared in Make magazine, Volume 5. If you’ve seen it here before, I hope you’ve found it useful. Given its popularity, I decided it was time to finish what I’d always had in mind for it: to make it look nice in InDesign and distribute it as an ebook. My employer thought it was a good idea too, and now my baby is all growed up. It is finally available at a reasonable price as a pretty 32-page PDF, an intentionally convenient length (32 pages is an even signature) suitable for printing and binding on your own.

    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.

     

  • Brian Sawyer 5:01 pm on November 29, 2010 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment  

    How to Make a Candy Cane (the Old-Fashioned Way) 

    Over Thanksgiving, my family made a little getaway to Stowe in Vermont. I expected the Ben & Jerry’s factory tour (and samples) to be a highlight, but I didn’t count on the fabulous candy-cane-making demo at Laughing Moon Chocolates. What follows is by no means a how-to (in fact, it’s quite dangerous, so please don’t try this at home), but it should serve as interesting documentation. Here’s how they did it.

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  • Brian Sawyer 10:19 am on September 27, 2010 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment  

    World Maker Faire, New York City 

    If you weren’t able to make it to Maker Faire this past weekend in New York, you missed something very special. I don’t mean to rub it in if you missed it, but I’m compelled to share my thoughts on such a fun, inspirational, and amazing event. I also want to thank my employer for both creating such a memorable experience and for making it possible for me to attend.

    Perhaps I would have experienced the faire differently if I’d attended by myself, but I was thrilled to be guided by my impatient almost-six-year-old son, who couldn’t wait to move on to the next thing. A sure sign of a memorable weekend, after a packed Saturday, he was ready to go again as soon as the gates opened on Sunday. And you should have heard him on the phone with his mother (who is traveling outside the country) this morning. Here are just a few video highlights (i.e., what he told his mom about), in no particular order:

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  • Brian Sawyer 6:04 pm on October 6, 2009 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment  

    My Turn as the Crafts Editor at a Smut Publisher 

    In a recent email exchange with a prospective author and an editorial colleague, I mentioned how I’d spent some time away from my current employer before returning as the prodigal editor for the series I’m working on now. When the author asked where I’d been and why, I just said that it was kind of a long story but that I’d be happy to tell it if he was interested. When my fellow editor added, “It is a very cool story, and if I recall correctly, there’s at least one kinky book involved,” it struck me that it was indeed a pretty good yarn, one which more than just this particular author might get a kick out of.

    Whether out of embarrassment, hesitation to speak ill (or say things that might be interpreted that way, just because of the content) of a previous employer, or just because of a need to put the experience behind me, I’ve been publicly silent on the topic of my brief hiatus, but enough time has gone by that I think I can safely tell the tale to a wider audience. Still, because I generally intend this blog to be appropriate for all audiences, I think I’ll use the “Continue Reading” link for the first time ever on this particular post.

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    • Elisabeth 12:24 pm on October 7, 2009 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Great story Brian. Glad you decided to share. Definitely made my morning :-)

  • Brian Sawyer 12:34 pm on March 20, 2007 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment  

    Bookbinding Links Roundup 

    Glued TurnoverWhen 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!

     

    • leahpeah 9:43 pm on March 20, 2007 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      hey – this is great, brian! thanks! so many fun books to try.

    • Sonja 1:25 am on March 21, 2007 Permalink | Log in to 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 | Log in to Reply

      Wow. Lovely books!

    • Brian Sawyer 7:14 am on March 21, 2007 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Sonja: You already have. :-)

    • Jackie 10:18 am on March 21, 2007 Permalink | Log in to 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 | Log in to Reply

      Jackie, thanks for stopping by and sharing your great links. Bookmarking your page now!

    • em 10:35 am on March 21, 2007 Permalink | Log in to 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 | Log in to 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 | Log in to 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 | Log in to Reply

      hello, you could check this bookbindingforum.com .
      thanks
      keep on the good work
      denis

    • flyleafbooks 2:26 pm on January 22, 2008 Permalink | Log in to 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 | Log in to 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 | Log in to 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

    • richard norman 12:54 pm on October 6, 2010 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Pop over and have a visit, and you will see we are in the mood for bookbinding.

      Richard

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