DAS Bookbinding

In this video I'll go through most of the #tools that I believe someone starting out on their #bookbinding journey could use. This list is similar to what is shown in most bookbinding books, except I avoid some of the more bookbinding specific tools. However, it is my list and I'm sure other experienced bookbinders would produce a different list. The main limitation of this list is that it does not contain the tools needed to back a book. I'll cover specific bookbinding tools, such as backing boards, hammer and appropriate press, in another video.

This video demonstrates how to back ordinary fabric with paper so it can be used as a book covering material - #bookcloth. Two methods are demonstrated, the first using heat-set adhesive and the other using wet adhesive.

This video demonstrates how to turn fabric into #bookcloth by filling with various media. Three types of media will be demonstrated, starch paste, methyl cellulose, and a mix of paste and acrylic medium. I forgot to say something about the cloth I was making at the start of the video. This piece of cloth was a cyanotype I made using an x-ray of my hand. It was done on thin white cotton. The cotton is not completely opaque so I wanted a white backing on it. It was also very light so I figured backing it with paper had two benefits. But I also wanted a protective coating on the surface, so I then coated it in a 50/50 mix of paste and acrylic medium.

This video demonstrates one way to convert a paperback novel into a hardcover book using the original covers on the new book. I recommend this is only done to modern machines bound books of no monetary or historical value. The book I use has a fundamentally sound Perfect (heat activated adhesive) binding. I do not muck with this. If you have a book that is falling apart then the book needs to be completely pulled to single sheets, the spine edges cleaned, and the text block rebound using the double-fan (aka Lumbeck) method.

This video demonstrates one way to convert a paperback novel into a hardcover book using the original covers on the new book. I recommend this is only done to modern machines bound books of no monetary or historical value. The book I use has a fundamentally sound Perfect (heat activated adhesive) binding. I do not muck with this. If you have a book that is falling apart then the book needs to be completely pulled to single sheets, the spine edges cleaned, and the text block rebound using the double-fan (aka Lumbeck) method.

This video demonstrates how to cover boards using a technique known as #drumming on that will reduce the chances of boards warping. Drumming on is where the cover material is only adhered at the periphery of the material. In this case for the outside board paper only the turn-in is adhered, while the paste down has a narrow strip of adhesive applied at the inside edges.

In this video I'll follow the #edge #gilding technique described by John Mitchell in his GoBW Standards of Excellence video from 1995. The main points are that he burnishes the edge before apply gold, uses starch size, uses brush/hair tips to handle the gold, and uses both a dog tooth and flat burnisher for final burnish.

In this video I discuss and demonstrate how materials such as paper, card, board, cloth and leather interact with each other when laminated with wet adhesive. Understanding how materials behave is essential to moving from copying what you have been taught to being able to design your own books. This topic is particularly important for obtaining flat stable boards.

This video demonstrates how to repair a modern soft cover binding where the text has fallen out of the cover and the original adhesive was heat activated glue. The book must otherwise be in good condition. This is a simple repair using a clothes iron to provide the heat to reactivate the original adhesive. The main problem is if the cover has a plastic film on the outside, in which case care must be taken to not melt this coating.

Swell is the additional thickness at the spine of a book due to the sewing thread inside the sections. Some books require little or no swell, while some book structures require a specific amount of #swell. This video demonstrates what determines the amount of swell and how to design a book to change the resulting swell.

This video demonstrates three variations of paper covered #pamphlet bindings. Pamphlet binding has been around for hundreds of years. It's a simple and fast way to quickly bind a limited number of sheets in an aesthetically pleasing way. It is also the perfect first project for someone starting bookbinding.

This video demonstrates a paper covered #pamphlet binding with a pocket wrapper. Pamphlet binding has been around for hundreds of years. It's a simple and fast way to quickly bind a limited number of sheets in an aesthetically pleasing way. It is also the perfect first project for someone starting bookbinding.

This video is part 1 in a series demonstrating how to make a flexible binding with a tight-back in full #leather, which was common in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. This first video will cover folding the paper, marking up for sewing, punching sewing holes, making made endpapers, and preparing cover boards. The next video will cover sewing on raised cords.

This video is part 2 in a series demonstrating how to make a flexible binding with a tight-back in full #leather, which was common in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. This first video will cover flexible sewing also known as sewing on raised cords.

This video is part 3 in a series demonstrating how to make a flexible binding with a tight-back in full #leather, which was common in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. This video will cover glueing the spine, rounding and backing, and edge trimming. The next video will cover board preparation prior to attachment.

This video is part 4 in a series demonstrating how to make a flexible binding with a tight-back in full #leather, which was common in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. This video will cover preparing the boards prior to attachment. It took up more video time than expected. The next video will cover board attachment and some preparation for covering in leather.

This video is part 5 in a series demonstrating how to make a flexible binding with a tight-back in full #leather, which was common in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. This video will cover attaching the boards prior to preparing the leather for covering.

This video is part 6 in a series demonstrating how to make a flexible binding with a tight-back in full #leather, which was common in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. This video will cover dying and paring the leather in preparation for coving the book.

This video is part 7 in a series demonstrating how to make a flexible binding with a tight-back in full #leather, which was common in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. In this video I will cover the book in full leather.

This video is part 8 in a series demonstrating how to make a flexible binding with a tight-back in full #leather, which was common in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. In this video I will finish the book by correcting board warping, filling-in between turn-ins and putting down the endpaper (the pastedown). I will give a brief overview of the Cambridge panel style finishing, but will cover this in detail in a stand-alone video.

This video is part 9 in a series demonstrating how to make a flexible binding with a tight-back in full #leather, which was common in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. In this video I will describe how I did the #Cambridge #panel style cover decoration in sufficient detail for the process to be replicated.

This video is another variation of the paper covered pamphlet. The feature of this one is a turn-in which gives the book a neat finished look. It is based on instructions from Kathy Abbott's book.

In this video I'll demonstrate how I cut board in a way that results in boards the size I intended and that have square corners.

This video gives some historical background to phased conservation and the development of a book wrapper known as a phase box (#phase-box). It then demonstrates one design in common use. There are many designs for phase boxes for different conservation tasks and other construction and usage requirements. The size of the starting piece of card stock is 3xW+2xT-10mm X 3xH+2xT-10mm H Height W Width T Thickness 10mm is about 3/8 inch Because the card stock is thin (about 0.3mm) I don't worry about adjusting the individual side heights of the box. If I was using a thicker materials, especially flutted board, then this would need to be considered.

Another enclosure used by conservators is the book shoe (#book-shoe). This provides some protection to books on display on shelves without hiding the spine. The size of the starting piece of card stock is 2xW + T by H + T H Height W Width T Thickness I'm using 20pt card stock about 0.6mm thick

In this video I'll clean and sharpen the blade on a Junior Plough made by Dryad probably in the 1960s. Along the way I'll talk about the Dryad company and demonstrate the use of this plough.

In this video I show off some marbled paper I bought from Merrindal Marbling by making and covering a tray for protecting gold leaf while it is not in use on a gold cushion.

In the last video I made a shallow cover for protecting gold leaf on a gold cushion. The same design can be used for a lid of a box. In this 2 part series I'll make a box with a lid.

In the last video I made the box for a box with a lid. In this video I'll line the box with felt, make the lid, and attach a base to visually balance the lid.

This is list of 12 books I would recommend for someone starting out in bookbinding. The idea is you could buy one book a month for a year. If you are interested in more modern artist book type structures you might buy The Art of the Fold early, maybe straight after Kathy Abbott's book.

The Drum Leaf binding was developed by Tim Ely. It's an adhesive only structure (no sewing) that opens flat and can either make the spine fold an interesting feature or disappear, depending on what you want to happen. There is no sewing visible. Once the book block is made it is very similar to the sewn board binding and can be covered in many different ways. I'll use the break-away spine method for this video. I've been asked about drumming on the cover and pastedown. In the sewn-board binding Frost drums on materials wherever possible. This has some historical precedent and also produces a softer feeling board to the book. It has some aesthetic appeal. It does have cons. Imagine a heavy use library book made this way. The paper would wear on the edges of the boards and eventually split and the whole cover would peel off. Laminated materials are much stronger and stiffer, and this approach doesn't have that.

In this video I demonstrating how to mix #aniline powdered leather #dye for use, apply it to leather, fix and dress it. As a rough approximation, 1/4 of 60ml of a the dye powder will make 500ml (1 pint) of liquid dye. Once completely dry, an application of Dye-Fix will fasten the dye. Teaspoon 5ml 60/4 = 15ml makes 500ml dye 5ml makes 170ml 1 teaspoon 170ml 1 ¼ teaspoon about 210ml ¼ teaspoon about 40ml

This video described the two bookbinding processes of #rounding and #backing.

This video described an approach to #edge #gilding used by Peter Geraty in his 2004 SoB Standards of Excellence video. As I explain in the video, Peter's methods have evolved since 2004, but this approach still uses techniques that should be tried if you are interested in this subject. It may be that some of them are what works best for you. Features include the use of PVA size, gilders' frames for handling gold, and regular brush burnishing during the edge preparation process.

In this video I'll make a homemade bookbinding nipping press. The earliest reference I have seen for this design is from the cover of a pamphlet called "Bookbinding as a School Subject" by Douglas Cockerell.

In Jen Lindsay’s book Fine Bookbinding she says the following in regard to endbands, “you only need to know how to make one or two for the purposes of fine binding. That which follows may actually be all that you need”. This is how to make the only #endband you might need to learn.

This is a series of videos demonstrating an appropriate method for binding a thesis or dissertation. It is not the same as how a thesis is bound in a commercial bindery, as the equipment used in commercial binderies, even if advertised as "handbound", is seldom found outside one of these binderies and the results are difficult to replicate in a home bindery. The approach used in these videos will also produce a far superior binding than what is produced in a commercial bindery.

In part 2, of a 3 part series, I'll round and back the book and make and attach the boards. This is a series of videos demonstrating an appropriate method for binding a thesis or dissertation. It is not the same as how a thesis is bound in a commercial bindery, as the equipment used in commercial binderies, even if advertised as "handbound", is seldom found outside one of these binderies and the results are difficult to replicate in a home bindery. The approach used in these videos will also produce a far superior binding than what is produced in a commercial bindery. Inner board is 20pt of 0.6mm thick card stock Outer board is 2.4mm generic grey binders’ board

In part 3, of a 3 part series, I'll finish the book by preparing the boards for covering, cover in full buckram and do some other minor jobs such as add a label. This is a series of videos demonstrating an appropriate method for binding a thesis or dissertation. It is not the same as how a thesis is bound in a commercial bindery, as the equipment used in commercial binderies, even if advertised as "handbound", is seldom found outside one of these binderies and the results are difficult to replicate in a home bindery. The approach used in these videos will also produce a far superior binding than what is produced in a commercial bindery.

Introduction to Bookbinding Adhesives

In this video I'll go through a scenario explaining the thought process behind the adhesive choices. The second part of the video will be answering questions from Patreons and comments from the last adhesives video.

Based on the feedback from the bookbinding adhesives overview video, I had to try Elmer's white school glue out and make a more informed recommendation about whether to use it for bookbinding.

In this video I demonstrate the simple technique of padding, which is the making of paper pads by applying adhesive along one edge of a stack of single sheets of paper.