Bookbinding

Purpose and vision for bookbinding ¶

• to be able to bind all my notebooks and other materials I may need
• the resulting bound articles need to be usable and look presentable

Next steps for bookbinding ¶

• bind a new codex for 2025
  • try with a pocket on the back cover

Notes and thoughts around bookbinding ¶

It was common practice for the bookseller to offer the loose pages of a book in a package which the buyer would subsequently arrange to have bound in accordance with his or her taste and financial means.

Dr. Lorenza Smith, Aldo Manuzio (Aldus Manutius): inventor of the modern book

Binding an A5 Notebook ¶

• 72 sheets of paper
  • 9 signatures of 8 sheets each
  • 32 pages per signature, 288 pages in total
  • 70–90 $g/m^2$
  • natural white over pure white
• endpaper
  • 100–160 $g/m^2$
• cover material
  • buckram with paper backing
  • 2mm cardboard
• other materials
  • glue
  • needle and thread (I use nylon)
  • loosely woven fabric, for reinforcing the text block’s spine
• fold the sheets into signatures
• punch an even number of holes along the fold
  • e.g. 10 holes for an A4 over 21cm at ~2cm apart
    • note: try 6 the next time: |_•____•__•____•__•____•_|
  • try to be as exact as possible or you’ll end up having to cut the text block straight after sewing and gluing
• press the signatures before sewing
• sew the signatures together
  • tighten the signature once it’s been sewed to the previous ones, before a kettle stitch and moving onto the next one
  • don’t over tighten or you’ll risk tearing the paper or creating a bow in the spine, i.e. the open edges start to fan out
• when the text block is done, jog the block to the top and to the spine for alignment
• clamp down the text block leaving the spine exposed for gluing and glue the spine cloth to the spine
  • leave the overhangs free since the endpapers need to be placed between them and the first and the last page
• when the glue has dried, fold the endpapers and glue a centimeter wide band near the fold and attach it to the first page, then glue the spine cloth to the endpaper
  • repeat it for the other side
• cut covers and the spine board out of the cardboard
  • the text block will extend beyond the front and back covers towards the spine board when be book is closed
    • the cover would be approximately the size of the text block plus 4mm for a 2mm overhangs on the top and the bottom plus 5mm overhang on the fore edge
  • the spine board will be the same height as the covers and its width is the width of the text block with the width of the covers added to it
• for gluing the boards to the cover material, cut 6mm spacers to get a consistent distance between the spine and the cover boards
• leave about 2cm overhang when cutting the cover cloth to size and cut the corners at 45° 1.5 times the board thickness away from the board or at 3mm
  • I like to do these flaps to wrap around and fully cover the corners
• glue the head and tail cloth with the flaps before folding and gluing the fore edge over them
• press and leave to dry

• test the fit once the cover has dried
  • At this stage it may be warped due to the cover cloth and the glue pulling it that way. Gluing the endpapers makes them pull the cover back straight
• before gluing the case to the end papers, painters’ tape the case fore edges for alignment guide
• then glue one of the end papers, align with the tape, and glue to the case, then the other side
• press the book and leave to dry

Material desires related to bookbinding ¶

• curved needle
• a larger flat brush for gluing
• thin ribbon in at least two colors—black and red/blue for bookmarks
• black endpapers
• black cover cloth

Aevum Linea ¶

• 28E11 - bound the first notebook

Elsewhere: ideas-for-art, The Lighthouse of Tastes and Æsthetics, Notebook