This is just awesome. What a great job. Imagine using your hands to make stuff all day!
Category Archives: Bookbinding
Book Binding and Restoration Class
I ♥ Learning
I am 5 weeks into a Book Binding and Restoration class at Sydney Institute of TAFE. The instructor is Carolyn Kenney, a binder with a long history in the trade. She is the second instructor I have had, having first started with Rosemarie Jeffers-Palmer at Amazing Paper in Enmore. One of the wonderful things about learning from multiple people is seeing different ways of doing things. Already I have learnt a few different, more efficient methods for things such as a method of tipping end papers that work for many at a time.
We’ve started off pretty simply, and are getting into sewing soon with a Japanese-style stab-bound book (first introduced to me as an Oriental Side Stitch). If you want some inspiration with your Oriental Side Stitching (or stab binding), check this out on Becca Making Faces’ blog. It is amazing.
Last class, we finished rebinding a paperback, and continued to create a case for an adhesive-bound printout of the free e-book Bookbinding and the Care of Books by Douglas Cockerell. An ePub format—among others—e-book is available from Project Gutenberg. Project Gutenberg is an awesome resource, and if you want to bind something instead of blank paper, print an e-book from PG and bind that. You will probably find a PDF version set up for printing on commonly sized paper—for example, Pride and Prejudice is available as a PDF imposed 2-up on A4, so that you can just print it and fold it and there you have it!
I’m not sure what legal issues—if any—stand in the way of using the PG stuff in your own work. I think you are free to use any e-books as you like. Can anyone shed any light on this?
A Lovely Gift
One of my compatriots of the course gave me a surprise the other day when at the end of the lesson she presented me with a beautifully crocheted cardigan vest with a hood for my little boy. It is so cool. As I told her, I love handmade things, and the knowledge that she took time out to create something for my little son personally is really special. It’s a little big, so I can’t wait for him to grow into it. Thanks Eleni!
TeX, or Tech, or Whatever It’s Called
A little while ago, I hit on this excellent page, outlining the process of printing a text and binding it. This was my introduction to the arcane and mysterious world of TeX. TeX is a system that allows the user to typeset a document into a high quality book. It is a cross-platform, free, and open source bundle of software. It is not as easy as plugging a Pages publication (or something from the other word processor) into it and, ‘Hey, presto!’, you have a book. It is pretty much a programming language all in itself, so there is a pretty steep learning curve: only the most intrepid computer savvy nerd will want to go there. I generally use it for imposing pages for creating booklets where that option is not available on the printer itself.
I started on converting Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice into a TeX document a little while ago, with the idea of binding and giving it as a gift for my Mum, but never actually got to the printing and binding stage. If you want, you can email me and I’ll send you a copy. You’ll need a working install of TeX, and a bit of knowhow and a certain amount of bull-at-a-gate-ishness.
Anyhow, I got bogged down with technical TeX stuff, in particular: getting a nice typeface to use (in this case Minion) which was not at all easy, and the way the pages were imposed, and how laser printers’ duplexing units (that allow printing on both sides of a sheet of paper) often are hopelessly inaccurate at getting both sides of the page to line up correctly (the registration). If anyone know how to improve this, please let me know!
I really want to give this a better go, because I can think of so many gifts I could make by printing classic novels. Imagine a set of hand-bound Charles Dickens or Jane Austen novels! The mind boggles.
A Random Post
So this was a not-so-directed post; or, a little bit random. I’ve been wanting to post about TAFE for a while, so I’m glad I finally got to do it. The impetus for that of course was the excellent cardy Eleni crocheted. Next time I post about TAFE I will wax lyrical about the wonderful experience of using an electric guillotine.
Pamphlet Stitching For People Who Want To Try It
OMG My 2nd Tutorial
OK so this is my second tutorial, and it comes straight after my last post which was also a tutorial. Freaky. I like sharing my knowledge, so expect to see more. And, please comment and help me improve in any way—if it needs it. I love getting comments anyway so comment away!
Pamphlet Stitching is Easy
As you may know, this stitch is intended for thin, single-section pamphlets, and can be used in a few simple binding structures. I have used it in the past for other things as well, like birthday cards for my wife and our wedding invitations, both of which consisted of a heavy (200gsm+) cover and a lighter sheet of paper as the single section. It is very easy to learn and adapt to your own needs.
All Pamphlet Stitched Up
Above is an illustration I created to enable the visual among us (like me) to see what to do instead of interpreting a confusing list of in-this-hole, out-that-hole instructions. I started to type out a list of instructions, but it started to get long-winded and probably not very easy to follow. However, if you want me to I’ll include them.
On thing I didn’t include in the diagram is the final knot. You should use a reef or square knot. My colleague gave me this little ditty to remember how to tie it: right over left and under, left over right and under. Right and left in this case refer to the right an left ends of the twine or thread. Make sure that you start the knot with the thread ends on either side of the long stitch so that the knot ends up holding onto it.
To do a 3-hole stitch, simply cut out the last loop to the left and right in the above diagram; to do more holes, just add more in-and-out loops. It is possible to sew an even number of holes—you’ll just end up with an uneven number of stitches either side of the knot. In either case, don’t try starting sewing at the last hole.
What You Need for a Very Simple Book or Card
You will need the following tools and materials:
- Text paper—1 if you’re making a card, more if you are making a book.
- Cover-weight card. For the cover. About 200–300gsm is good.
- Thread, twine, or string—about 3 or 4 times the length of your spine.
- Bookbinding needle (you don’t even have to use a needle, just make the holes bigger each time you pass thread through).
- Bodkin or Awl, or something else spiky. The sharper the better.
- Scissors or knife.
You do not have to have shiny new expensive bookbinding tools—use whatever you have that will get the job done. In the past, I have used bamboo skewers to pierce the holes for little pamphlets, and some plasticky type of string instead of linen thread or whatever. Also, you do not have to be too exact with your sewing-hole placement—random can be quite cool.
With the paper and cover stock, make sure that your grain is in the right direction. I mostly cut A4 in half parallel to the short edge to give me 2 A5 sheets, which I fold in half again to give me an A6 notebook. Because A4 office paper is usually long-grain, this means that I end up with short-grain A5 sheets which are perfect in the grain direction department.
Steps to Success
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Gather your tools and materials
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Fold your text pages and cover in half
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Pierce your holes (freehand it or measure-and-mark it)
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Sew the pages together using the instructions above
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Et Voila! You now have a little notebook, created in four (4) steps.
The End
I hope you liked this little tutorial. It actually turned out to be a two-in-one: how to do a pamphlet stitch, and one idea about using it.
I’m trying to keep the posts up, in an effort to keep my readers interested. More to come soon, including a proper look at what I gave a sneak peek of a little while ago. I am also planning a bookbinding phrasebook section of my website. Stay tuned.
Little Sacks of Weight
Weighing in at 750g…
I made these heavy little guys soon after I started bookbinding. My first bookbinding teacher Rosemarie inspired me to create them one lesson. They are great for holding things down (duh), especially when I am sewing sections together. I also use them when something has to dry under weight. I prefer them to a heavy block of metal or a brick because they are soft and supple, they feel nice, and because the make a cool sound when I toss them from hand to hand; they also double as stress balls. They will not dent your boards or whatever when you drop them either. They are dead easy to make; one just has to find a gun shop that will sell one some lead shot. I forget the size I got. Make sure when you do get some that you put them into a strong container—or several—because man it is heavy for its size.
How to Make a Heavy Leather Bag of Lead Shot
This is pretty easy so I won’t even explain each step, you’ll be able to figure it out.
- Get some lead shot and put about 750g into a separate container.
- Cut yourself a template from some breakfast-cereal-box card according to your desired size. Remember to allow for your seam.
- If you’re using leather and hand sewing, I recommend pre-punching holes. I marked the holes’ positions on the template so I’d get an evenly spaced blanket stitch.
- Cut two pieces of leather, old jeans, or some other heavy fabric according to your template.
- If you’re using leather, use your awl if you have one to pierce holes for sewing. Remember to protect your work surface.
- Start sewing around the outside of the paper weight with some strong thread. In the picture above, the red and the white stitching is linen bookbinding thread, while the blue is a couple of strands of embroidery floss.
- Once you have only about 2–3cm remaining, make a funnel from some heavyish paper (roll it into a cone, then cut a hole at the bottom, and cut the top down so it’s manageable), and pour your shot in. If it all won’t fit, or you need more, that’s cool, just play it by ear.
- Complete the sewing
- Et voila! You have a heavy bag of lead. Use it for peaceful purposes only.
If you want to make it more secure, you can either use a sewing machine, or make an inner bag out of some thin strong fabric—preferably sewn using a machine—and cover that in the leather or your covering material of choice. Also, I wrote this with blanket-stitching in mind. If you wanted to use another stitch you’ll have to mark and pierce holes according to whatever stitch you’re using.
My First Tutorial
That was just it. Please let me know if it needs editing or a bit of clarification. Just let me know.
PS: I wonder how many Higg’s Bosons a little ball of lead-shot has…
Jessie’s Sketchbook Slash Notebook Slash Journal
Have You Met My Sister, Jess?
Well, she recently turned 30. You can read about it on her blog here. I was there: it was a fun party. It was yet another occasion when I made something for someone’s birthday—in this case, it was a very nice sketchbook/notebook/journal (if I do say it myself). She’s blogged about it here. How kind. She said some really nice things about me. I love my sister.
When I created this book, I wanted to try to express something of Jess’ personality and her style. We are similar on both counts, so I was pretty sure she would like it. You can see that the book is fairly plain and simple, with blocks of bold colours on the outside, and a little bit more funky on the inside. I guess that is what my sister is like—simple on the outside, but a little bit funky-funk on the inside.
Bookbinding Nerd Details
The book is a fairly simple flat-back case binding, with 6 sections of 12 leaves each (made up of 6 sheets folded in half and gathered together) sewn onto two 10mm tapes. I used some nice 110gsm cartridge paper for the text block and some simple Kraft and Chelsea bookcloth for the covers. This is the first book I’ve put a bookmark into, and I really like the result. The endpapers were called Mumbai paper in the shop I bought them from. It’s a heavyish kind of paper that looks a little bit hand-made, though I don’t think it was quite expensive enough to actually be made by hand, and it’s screen-printed. The beautiful yellow headbands were labelled ‘Pre ’50s Headbands’ in the shop I bought them. The are your standard machine-made headbands, but sewn onto a calico strip. I trimmed the boo to size using my trusty finishing-press-and-wood-chisel setup. Nice.
Notes to Self
When casing the book in, don’t use too much paste otherwise it will seep through the paper and possible stain the other side, especially if it is screen-printed Mumbai paper.
I am really pleased with how this book turned out. It was nicely done, and looks awesome.
Giles’ Photo Album
My First Foray into Fine Binding*
I made my little godson Giles this photo album during a course in Bookbinding I did at Amazing Paper a few years ago. I had opportunity to create a leather-bound book, and I thought that I might as well create a photo album for my new nephew and godson.
To be different and get away from one of the standard paper sizes, I decided to create the album from 25 black A3 sheets (420 × 297mm) cut lengthways (420 × 148.5mm). The sheets were actually 25mm wider than standard A3 to allow a fold-over and still get a full A3 width. After scoring and folding each of the 50 pages, I placed each one inside the other to create 25 sections, which I then lovingly pierced and sewed with lovely red linen thread. Next I glued tracing paper, cut to give a 3mm square, into each section. After gluing, I rounded and backed, and created the hollow-back, and dressed the spine.
Because of the unusual size of the book, and because I was doing a leather binding, I laced the covers in with the tapes I had sewn on to. I then proceeded to cut the embossing for the front and back covers. The rest of the process was pretty standard, and I won’t go into too much detail.
Needless to say, Giles’ parents loved the photo album.
* Insofar as any binding with leather is considered fine
Christmas Break Creativity
Christmas Gifts
I know Christmas was a while ago, but I am just getting around to writing a post on some little notebooks that I made for Chrissy presents for my sister-in-law and two of my nieces. They are similar in construction to Ana’s Book—they are hard-covered, 5-hole pamphlet-stitched, single-section notebooks with the name of the recipient embossed on the front cover, and the word ‘book’ embossed on the back.
These books are so easy to make, and are so satisfying. I can think of nothing better than when giving someone a gift, giving them one that is hand-made. My wife and I got a little handmade felt bird for a wedding gift, and it made the most impression on me out of all the gifts we got. There is something special in the knowledge that someone was thinking about you and valued your friendship enough to spend some time making something. In a world where everything you could possibly want is mass-produced on machines and is available on demand at any time of the day, what I think of as the ‘lost arts’ are so important to preserve. It takes a few days to produce a few books, what with the drying time and everything. If I wanted a journal, I’d much rather make myself one—and get something cheaper and infinitely better-produced—than go to the shops and buy an off-the-shelf one.
Sharon’s Sketchbook
My wife, Sharon, is a wonderful artist. She makes pottery, she paints, and she draws. Her drawings are mainly done with technical-style-pens: 0.005mm diameter and up. She loves her pens. She also loves nice bleed-proof paper. She had a little store-bought sketchbook that she filled up a little before Christmas. I, being the nice guy I am, thought I would surprise her by making her a new sketchbook. I tried to get it done before Christmas, but because I was trying to make some orange book cloth for the spine, and because I kept stuffing it up, I only managed to get it done just recently.
The first drawing she did is shown above. If you can’t guess, we are expecting a baby—that is the meaning behind the beautiful drawing above.
Bookbinding Nerd Details
The book is a simple case binding, 10 sections of 4 sheets were sewn onto tapes, then the spine was glued, endpapers attached (I made the endpapers from two sheets of Yuzen paper each: I tipped them together), and the block trimmed with my finishing press and plough. The last step in preparing the book block was to line the spine, and glue on headbands.
I then went through many experiments with making some book cloth. I bought some nice orange cotton, and some mulberry paper. After many failures in which the fabric was seemingly glued successfully only to have it come away from the mulberry paper when I tried to glue it to the boards, I gave up and bought some nice orange buckram and used that instead.
After cutting the boards and spine-piece to size and sanding them, I glued on the buckram. I then cut out the design for the cover and glued that to the front board. Some blue momigami was then pasted to both the front and back boards.
After leaving this to dry over night, the next morning, I cased the book in, pressed it with my pressing boards, weighted it, and left it to dry for the rest of the day.
The result is an awesome, personalised sketchbook that should give my wife many hours of enjoyment.
Sneak Peek
This is a sneak peak on a little personal design/bookbinding project I am working on. It will be the first time I’ve bound a book and created the material that will go in it.
A Simpler Nipping Press
Keeping it Simple
I have been wanting to make one of these babies for a while. Probably what held me back was an overly complex first design, complete with dovetail joints and everything. Also the timber I planned to use was not too square or true—I was planning on planing it by hand to square it up. Instead, I am planning on using some timber I bought a while ago which is square: some lovely Blackbutt.
The Joints, or, Simple but Strong
I am going to join the 3 base pieces by edge-gluing them together, then clamping, after cutting out the tenons on my table saw. Then I will, after cutting the mortices by hand, drill a hole in the tenons, and after assembly, wedge wooden pins in said holes. This will keep the joints together, and allow for a bit of flexibility in that I will be able to knock the pins out and take the thing apart for flat-packing (thanks IKEA).
I originally wanted to use dovetails (as can be seen in the image above left) for the joints, for their strength and beauty. But I think that wedged mortice-and-tenons will work just as well, and will be much easier to make.
The Platen and Screw
The platen for my simple press will be simple: probably made from MDF with some Blackbutt strengtheners. I didn’t put it into the new SketchUp because I was lazy. I bought one of these shoulder vises from Carbatec, and I am going to use that for the press. I am thinking of repainting the cast bits in black.
Jacob Degeling 