Oh. My. God. Becky. Look at that book. It's just so... BIG!
August 7, 2009 10:56 PM   Subscribe

DIY bookbinding question - I need help figuring out: what supplies I will need for this particular project; if I will need a different sewing method than the one in the tutorial I'm using; how much more difficult it would be to bind it in leather, etc.

I am following this bookbinding tutorial, but given the length of the book I wish to bind -- essentially a novel -- I have had to deviate from it in one important way:

The tutorial uses octavo imposition on normal letter-sized paper. This is far too narrow to comfortably read a novel on, and more than that, this work is particularly long so the book would be ridiculously thick.

Instead I've formatted it into folio imposition on normal letter-sized paper -- the individual pages are 5.5 inches by 8.5 inches -- which is much more reasonable for readability and thickness of the book. However, it will still be a thick book: 174 leafs, or 348 pages -- perhaps a bit over 400 pages if I add in this other thing that I'm considering binding separately.

The conflict here is that the tutorial is centered around rather small books, so I have some questions about what will work and what I will need to change. I've never bound a book before and I expect to make some mistakes, but of course I'd like to minimize them.

1. I'm currently using plain white printer paper for the few test leafs I've printed. For a book this size, should I use something else for the final product? Something thinner? Something sturdier? I am leaning toward something not such a bright white color regardless, but any input here is appreciated.

2. The author of the tutorial notes on the page about sewing that "for much larger books, there are more complex sewing patterns that increase the stability signatures so they won't sag when the book is shelved." Is the book I'm binding too large for the sewing method he uses? If so, what pattern should I use?

3. Should I buy a sewing frame for a book this size? The one I found online is over $100 but I'm willing to shell out the money if it's worth it.

4. Is there any particular kind of thread or needle I should get for this? The tutorial isn't very specific, but the bookbinding supply sites list a lot of options.

5. How much more difficult is it to bind the book in leather? (I would be using imitation leather, if it matters.) Do I just use leather instead of cover material in this step, or is there more to it?

I'm going to order materials soon but I want to have this sorted out first. Thanks for any help or input or suggestions, even if it's about something I haven't considered yet.
posted by Nattie to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (8 answers total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
Response by poster: Correction: I said folio, but I think I meant quarto imposition. In other words, on a normal sheet of letter paper, there are two pages on the front and two pages on the back, and it's folded once.
posted by Nattie at 11:40 PM on August 7, 2009


I've been doing book conservation and preservation at my job for roughly a year, so I've seen the "guts" of alot of books. That being said, I haven't done too much actual binding, but I think some of my knowledge applies anyway.

1. Generally the more pages you have in a book, the thinner the paper should be. Lighter and thinner paper means less stress on the sewing and endpapers. If you do end up getting a lighter paper, make sure it is compatible with your printing process. Home and office computer printers tend to like a specific poundage of paper. If you are using a mechanical printing press, you will need a paper that is strong enough to avoid tearing.

2. A Google search for "bookbinding stitches" came up with a few results you might want to look into.

3. Sewing frames seem like they would be really easy to build yourself, if you are up to it. These people have tried it.

4. As far as needle and thread goes, it is entirely up to you. Generally you want to use something stronger than your average sewing thread. Something like embroidery thread would work well, I think.

5. Shouldn't be that much more difficult, although some glues tends to stain the surface of leather. You can generally avoid this my avoiding excess glue. You may want to do a stain test on a scrap of the material before you decide to use it. Also, adhesives work better or worse depending on the two materials you are trying to stick together. Regular Elmer's or PVA may not work as well with imitation leather. Again, you might want to test with scraps.

Hope this helps!
posted by arcolz at 5:25 AM on August 8, 2009


Standard printer paper isn't archival (acid-free) which means it will eventually fall apart. (Think old yellowed paperback novels- "pulp" if you will- printed on non-archival stock which eventually crumbles.) If you're going to the effort of making something this involved invest in something a little more substantial. I really love Arches Hot Press Watercolor paper- it has a nice solid feel, it's not ridiculously expensive, and it's held up well (ten years and counting) in binding projects. It comes in big sheets you can tear into smaller pieces, or you can sometimes find sketchbooks in the right size.

It is, however, significantly thicker than printer paper, so you will need to reinforce the spine. Actually- with something that long you'd probably need to reinforce it whatever you do. If you're near a library, I highly recommend checking out Kevin Smith's books. You probably don't need to invest in them, but they are kind of the golden standard for book binding, and I loooove them. If I remember correctly, Volume II has a good description of binding reinforcement options. The three basic options are glue the spine to something, sew the spine to something, or sew the spine to itself in some way that keeps it from sagging. (Here is a tutorial for a very simple sew-the-spine-to-something-else reinforced spine.)

For the sewing itself: I've always used linen thread, run through a block of wax. Any kind of super sturdy thread should be fine. I think the keyword you are looking for is "coat weight." The wax is very, very important, as it prevents tangles and snarls and somehow magically makes life more manageable.
Curved sewing needles are much, much easier to deal with, especially on the edges.
Also: speaking of equipment, if you do not own a bone folder, buy one. I honestly don't know how I bound books without one.

I don't like using a sewing frame, I've always found it to be an extra hassle. Some people swear by it though, so I'd give it a shot without, and if you've got too many pieces to handle, buy one lalter.

I've never worked in leather, so I can not answer that question. Buy a little extra and play around with it. (My suspicion is that you will need different glue, but I'm not sure.)

Actually, and I know this isn't what you want to hear- you might consider making a full size mock-up (Though I would totally use printer paper for this, no need to go totally crazy.) Especially if this is your first bookbinding project, you will learn so much by the end, you'll be kicking yourself early mistakes.

Whatever you end up doing, have fun! And feel free to ask if you have any more questions, I'll do my best to answer.
posted by aint broke at 5:57 AM on August 8, 2009


Response by poster: Thank you for all the information so far! I'd like to stick with paper that's available in letter size for ease of printing, but I'm having a lot of trouble finding acid-free paper that isn't watermarked... Is it even going to be possible to find such a thing?
posted by Nattie at 6:29 AM on August 8, 2009


Books on bookbinding here and here.

Ironically, both are perfect bound.
posted by notyou at 7:53 AM on August 8, 2009


The big problem with regular printer paper isn't so much the acid content (most office paper doesn't have much if any) but grain. You want the grain of the paper to run parallel to the spine so if you're folding it the way I think you are, your book could end up warping in a way that will make it never able to lie closed. This is a big pain in the ass because the typical office paper would make a nice book size folded in half, but this means the grain is perpendicular to the spine. A quick way to test which way the grain runs is to begin to fold a piece in half (but don't actually fold it!) and press your hand down to feel the resistance of the paper. Do this along both orientations. When you're beginning a fold that goes against the grain, there is more resistance. Alternatively, you can hang a piece of paper over the edge of a table and you'll see it droop more when the grain is parallel to the table edge.

There isn't really a good solution to this, because if you use a bigger sized piece of paper and more folds, then you're going to end up needing a guillotine to trim the edges, unless you're satisfied with a "deckle" (i.e. uneven) edge on your book block.
posted by tractorfeed at 8:41 AM on August 8, 2009


Some very good answers here, especially tractorfeed's note on paper grain. It makes more of a difference then one might think. I'll secnd aint broke's opinion on sewing frames. I've used one twice ever, once when sewing a bunch of text blocks up all at once (you just keep stacking them up!) and once when doing a really odd stitch that required a bit more control.

As to the leather question, I would make sure your imitation leather is very thin. In order to look good and not be a nightmare to cover a book with, leather needs to be pared down so that it's very, very thin. If the stuff your working with is already really thin, then you'll probably be fine. Follow arcolz's advice about testing how adhesive works with it though. PVA will probably be fine for it, but you never know.

If you might want to do more of this in the future, check out Philobiblon for a good resource on most book related things.
posted by clockbound at 1:39 PM on August 8, 2009


Response by poster: I wish I could mark everything best answer, this is really helpful so far. I have a lot to think about! I'm pretty excited to get into it, though, so I can get my errors out of the way.

I will probably take aint broke's suggestion and do a mock-up with crappy materials first; I did a practice print of the smaller addition I was thinking of binding separately anyway, so I might as well use those pages to experiment on.

You guys are awesome!
posted by Nattie at 4:26 PM on August 8, 2009


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