To keep practicing I decided to make a parcel register book for work. Normally the Lodge purchases cheap Red & Black A5 books that fall apart in three to four months and is completely used up in six months time. Again I just want to see how well my books hold up and at the cost of each of these books for me to make I will probably only do the one.
First thing I did was design the pages and print them off on 80gsm short grained A4 paper. Then I folded them into sections of four (In bookbinding, a section, gathering, or signature refers to a group of sheets, folded in the middle, and bound into the binding together). 208 pages enough for 5,768 entries. Just a recap most printer paper is Long Grain, meaning the fibers are flowing from the bottom to the top of the page. This allows the paper to bend nicely from the sides. If you fold A4 in half then the grain direction is going from left to right not top to bottom. Therefore I needed to find Short Grain A4 paper so when folded in half for the A5 book the grain would run parallel with the spine.
The hidden cloth endpapers are sewn and tipped in to the first section, and I tipped on the first section to the second section. I could have done a better job as you can see they jut out slightly. Something I will be more aware of when I try this again.
Testing the fit of the book block in the case.
Now to put in the elastic band for keeping the book closed. I used a 6mm chisel, which is the same width of my elastic. I put the entry point 20mm from the head and tail and 30mm in from the foredge.
After making the entry points I measured the elastic with a bit of snugness.
I cut channels into the case to allow the back to be a bit more flush. In truth I could have probably made them slightly deeper.
I used these clamps as they went directly over the elastic and wouldn't mar the book cloth
Crest firmly debossed into the case.
Like the last book I made for the Lodge I am placing an overlay.
As this is good quality Library Buckram I have to remove the finish off of the cloth so I can glue the onlay
Now before casing it in I need to sand a bit of the coating off so the end papers glue properly to the buckram.
First thing I did was design the pages and print them off on 80gsm short grained A4 paper. Then I folded them into sections of four (In bookbinding, a section, gathering, or signature refers to a group of sheets, folded in the middle, and bound into the binding together). 208 pages enough for 5,768 entries. Just a recap most printer paper is Long Grain, meaning the fibers are flowing from the bottom to the top of the page. This allows the paper to bend nicely from the sides. If you fold A4 in half then the grain direction is going from left to right not top to bottom. Therefore I needed to find Short Grain A4 paper so when folded in half for the A5 book the grain would run parallel with the spine.
I cut the boards out and the spine to the width of the spine plus one board. I started a discussion about the spine piece on the Facebook group "I am a Bookbinder" where I asked
Arthur W. Johnson in his book says the width of the spine (pf 95)
Aldren A. Watson suggests width of the book block plus both boards (pg. 47)
It was suggested by one of the instructors I've had in the past to be the width of the spine plus 1.5x the thickness of one board.
The replies were interesting with someone saying a different version was their prefered method. The main consensus was the width of the spine plus one board thickness. However many good points were made that the material you use might require one of the other two measurements
The hidden cloth endpapers are sewn and tipped in to the first section, and I tipped on the first section to the second section. I could have done a better job as you can see they jut out slightly. Something I will be more aware of when I try this again.
Placed an extra layer of mull on to help enforce the spine. The normal parcel register gets abused so I wanted to make sure it would hold together over the next six months.
Testing the fit of the book block in the case.
Now to put in the elastic band for keeping the book closed. I used a 6mm chisel, which is the same width of my elastic. I put the entry point 20mm from the head and tail and 30mm in from the foredge.
After making the entry points I measured the elastic with a bit of snugness.
I cut channels into the case to allow the back to be a bit more flush. In truth I could have probably made them slightly deeper.
I used these clamps as they went directly over the elastic and wouldn't mar the book cloth
Crest firmly debossed into the case.
Like the last book I made for the Lodge I am placing an overlay.
As this is good quality Library Buckram I have to remove the finish off of the cloth so I can glue the onlay
And just like last time I wasn't 100% on target. I think it shifted when I pressed it the second time. I thought I was holding it steady while lowering the press but obviously I wasn't.
Now before casing it in I need to sand a bit of the coating off so the end papers glue properly to the buckram.
And done. I'm marginally pleased with the book. My casing in came along much better, for which I'm happy about. In retrospect I could have gotten away with the elastic being 20mm in from the fore edge instead of 30mm. The book can open flat
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