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This is the final part in my series on how I make my own hand sewn notebooks. This part will show you how I assembled the individual components into the beauty you see above. To see more examples of the notebooks I have made [topic="66138"]click here.[/topic]

I've shown most of the materials we'll need to assemble the book below. A couple of items I forgot to include are a spreader for applying the PVA glue - I use a leather key fob because it's nice and soft and can work the glue into all the creases. I also have a wad of damp kitchen towel to hand to wipe off any excess glue. You'll need a few A4 pages of clean scrap paper and 2 sheets of plastic film/acetate slightly larger than the notebook size.

You'll see that I've stuck two pieces of folded ribbon as decorative end stops to the bookblock spine - not necessary but it does give a nice finishing touch to the final item.
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The first thing to do is offer the bookblock up to the cover and bend the cover into position to check that everything lines up and fits. This also places creases into the cover spine making it easier to locate and glue the bookblock later. You may have to "massage" the cover to get it to fit exactly as you want. When you offer the 2 together, make sure you push the bookblock spine firmly into/against the cover spine.

Next I stick a ribbon page marker to the hard spine of the cover. You can of course omit this stage if you don't require a page marker. I used Prit Stick to glue the ribbon but was very careful not to leave any residual glue that would stick the bookblock spine to the cover spine. We'll come back to this in a little while.
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We'll be glueing the bookblock flyleafs to the cover sides. We do not glue the bookblock spine to the cover spine. Tips:

• We stick one flyleaf to a cover at a time.
• Apply the PVA glue to the cover first. This reduces the time that the PVA glue has to warp the thinner material of the flyleaf.
• Apply the PVA glue very thinly and evenly using a spreader.
• Place a scrap sheet of paper between the flyleaf that is being glued and the rest of the bookblock to prevent glue from going where it shouldn't.
• Make sure the glue goes right up to the edge of the flyleaf. This is not so important for the cover.

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Now offer the bookblock spine up to the cover spine and align as carefully as you can. Take a deep breath, press the spines firmly together and smooth the glued flyleaf down onto the glued cover using, at first, your hand to smooth the flyleaf from spine to edge. If you get this stage wrong and the 2 don't align correctly, you won't be able to pull the flyleaf off to reposition without damaging it.
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Then apply further smoothing using a craft bone or soft cloth. Any excess glue that works its way from under the flyleaf should be wiped off with a damp cloth/kitchen towel.
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Then repeat for the remaining flyleaf/cover. Remember to use scrap paper inserts to prevent glue from going where it shouldn't.
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Now that the book is glued, with excess glue wiped off, remove the scrap papers and replace with the plastic/acetate sheets. When the book is dried under pressure (see later), the liquid from the glue will try to warp/buckle the writing pages of the notebook. The plastic sheets prevent this from happening. Don't leave these sheets out, as I did for one of my earlier books, as the glue really will spoil the writing pages otherwise.

At this stage you can also gently massage the book into proper alignment if it is not already.
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Then place under some heavy books on a flat surface and leave overnight.
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Finally, admire your handiwork. Your book will not be like the mass produced ones that you buy. It will not be perfectly symmetrical, it will have signatures that show (because we haven't trimmed them flat), it will be as plain or as decorated as you like, it will have the paper you want to use, it will be cheaper to produce, it will be yours.

I get a real pleasure from using a fountain pen. And it is only enhanced by using one of my notebooks.
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I hope these articles have been informative and inspiring. I like to see comments so please feel free to add your thoughts.

Best Regards,
Dean

Ah...the Balvenie, 12 years double wood....mmmm....love it.

Love the notebook too by the way. I'm gonna try to make my own journals one day, when i find the right paper and cover material. I already have a copy of Applied Crytography luckily

Can these postings get a "sticky" please?

Glad you liked it. All the articles should be, or are about to be, stickied [topic="45081"]here.[/topic]

Dean

Well , I've bought the G clamps , and I will get the materials this afternoon !

Well done, you have inspired a non-DIYer to have a go!

Have you an estimate of the cost of a book ?
I have had a brief look, and it seems that the cutting board will be the main investment for me.

I will be ringing the changes of course, because I will be drinking wine during the final assembly , rather than whiskey!

It's just as easy with wine

I used the most expensive paper I've ever bought for these books - Conqueror Wove. A ream of 500 A4 sheets cost me £19.99. I thought if I'm going to go to the trouble of making my own notebooks, I want the finest materials. It actually works out that I can get:

• Five A5 notebooks each of 192 pages and
• Ten A6 notebooks, each of 192 pages

from just this one ream. Fifteen notebooks for twenty quid on top quality paper!

If you buy an A3 sheet of photomount card, that will set you back about £4 to £5. I don't have to buy this because I have many offcuts left over from my photography. An A3 sheet will give you enough covers for several notebooks.

And then there's the tissue paper. I pay about £2.50 for an A3 sheet and again cut to size for multiple notebooks.

I reckon the cost per notebook is roughly half to 3/4 of the cost of an equivalently sized Black'nRed notebook bought from the shops. Of course, I would never go and buy 15 notebooks from a shop in one go but the materials you buy will keep.

If you get the chance and are able to, please post photos of your finished notebook(s). I'd love to see how they come out.

Best Regards,
Dean

Many thanks for this terrific series, Dean! I've been following them closely, trying to shake the feeling of "oh, I could never do that...!" Your pictures are great and very inspiring. I'm working up the nerve to try it...mostly because I really want a notebook filled with hot-press watercolor paper. Thanks for putting this together, and thanks to the mods for making the series a sticky!

I may just head out to the store this evening and see if I can get the supplies to make my first book. Gotta decide on a cover material, though.

Ah, the Balvenie. You, Sir, are a gentleman.







Edit (appalling spelling)

Picture this:

It's the end of the day, almost the start of the next, everyone's in bed, I'm in my study, subdued lighting from my desk lamp, complete quiet, filling in my daily diary/journal (homemade of course), wondering which fountain pen to use and what to write, sipping the malt...

Peace.

Life is good.

Cheers,
Dean

I'm not quite so gentile.

The end of the day, when everyone's in bed, is when I'm on my balcony with a glass of the water of life, a nice cigar and the laptop on my knee surfing FPN.

Cheers to you!

Those notebooks look so good, you have proven yourself to be a master at overcoming technical difficulties. You should have a new project: show us how to clone that bottle of Balvenie.

Paddler

Dean:

Incredible.

Those aren't just notebooks, man -- they're works of art!

What I like best about the series is that your writing style inspires me to give it a go myself. That's a tough trick to pull off; I write tech books and it's hard to write like that. On the bright side I think you've given me a new hobby for the darker winter months.

Thank you again, Dean. I hoist high a virtual glass to you for this series!

--Mike

<-- that's a blush.

Thanks for your kind comments. It seems a few others have also been inspired to have a go. I hope they all remember to post photos of their efforts. As a hobby it's much more satisfying than sitting in front of the tellie. And it's been nice to give something back to the community.

Regards,
Dean