I started bookbinding in the summer of 2018 as I wanted to turn some of my game books from pdf to actual books. I followed some youtube videos and since I had no equipment doing a Perfect Bind was the best solution for me. Perfect Bind is when the spine is held together by a thermal glue. The youtube video said PVA would be good enough and it was, for a couple of months and the book fell apart.
bookcloth
Book-covering material made from woven cotton.
buckram
Strong and expensive book-covering material, made from woven linen or a mixture of linen and cotton.
case
An economical form of binding. The front and back boards, together with the covering material to which they are stuck, form a cover for the sewn sections (often associated with edition bindings).
backing
Fanning out and hammering the back of the book to form joints or shoulders to accommodate the cover boards. See also joint.
backing boards
Wedge-shaped boards, usually of beech. They are angled at the wide ends to assist in making the joint on the spine when backing.
rounding
Shaping the backbone of the book into a convex shape in preparation for backing.
I kept researching bookbinding and watching many tutorials on youtube. Sea Lemon is a great place to start for the beginners that can not find a bookbinding class or local instructor. I am fortunate that there is a class in the town that I live in and although it isn't cheap it is very good value for money when I look back at all I have learned.
So October 2018 I started a class that taught once a week in the evenings for 12 weeks. There I learned how to make a single section notebook. You can find a pdf instruction from Shepherds of London. I buy some of my bookbinding supplies from them.
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| L: Single Section, R: Multi Section A6 Notebook |
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| L: Single Section, R: Multi Section A6 Notebook |
After learning how to check materials, use of equipment, fold paper, sew sections, make a case with bookcloth or buckram, case in a book block we started to learn how to tear down a book and repair them.
St. Edmund Hall, where I work, gave me two withdrawn books. "Democracy in America" Pages were ripped, torn, the book cover (case) was coming off. It was easy to see why it had been withdrawn. So I striped the book down to its individual sections, then separate them, repaired the pages with Filmoplast "R" which is a heat activated repair tape.
This was a very long and drawn out process as I had to resew the books once I repaired everything. Then I had to round the spine with a backing hammer. To this day I suck at rounding and backing. I need a lot more practice!
After making a new case I placed on the previous spine and Oxford University embossment. Job Done! As was my first set of classes. I then applied for and got into the second set of classes.
Session 2 was spent mostly doing spine repairs rather than making books. I repaired both of my 1920's science journals, two Punch Journals, and finished casing a book in from someone that left the course.
So this is going to be my "Misadventures in Bookbinding" as I make a lot of mistakes. To be honest it is not a cheap hobby. The equipment and supplies are pretty expensive. However I guess no hobby is ever cheap.
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