Adventures in Amateur Bookbinding

[trdsf]

Much like the reason I learned to knit was so I could have a Fourth Doctor scarf, I have determined to learn bookbinding just so I can have a hardbound copy of my own writing, since actually finding a publisher is unlikely.

 

As such, I have been gathering the necessary tools: book press, bookbinding needles, headband stock, archival-quality paste, all the goodies.  And needless to say, I've started with the worst possible paper, plain ol' white printer stock.  But hey, this is just a practice run, so if it comes out awful, I haven't ruined expensive cotton laid stuff.

 

Pictures as things begin to happen.  I figure you don't need pictures of me actually printing the signatures, because I think we all know how printers work. 

 

And if you heard a horrified shriek echoing over the hills from the general direction of Ohio, that was me discovering how much leather paring/skiving knives cost, and deciding to just do clothbound books for a while.

 

More eventually.

[inkstainedruth]

My husband's old housemate's girlfriend ran a yarn store in Pittsburgh for a while, and at one point she had what was basically a kit (pattern and all the yarn colors) to knit the 4th Doctor's scarf.

As for the shrieking?  I was expecting to read that you had stuck a leather needle into your finger (those puppies are SHARP).

Looking forward to seeing the progress pix.  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[trdsf]

Fortunately I know how to operate a thimble.  XD

 

Leather is off the table for a while because supplies (and the supplies to work it correctly) are not cheap.  As it happens, I do already have a pad of gold leaf, so gilt-finishing the paper is an option.

 

I've also started eyeballing some of the vintage pulp magazines on the Internet Archive and am thinking that hardbound collections of early Weird Tales and Astounding Science Fiction might be fun to assemble...

 

I've toppled into a rabbit hole, haven't I?  Well, as long as the bottle of PVA glue doesn't start saying "Drink me..."

[trdsf]

Have already had to order new supplies, specifically to repair torn pages as my other project is re-binding my literally-used-to-pieces copy of The Joy of Cooking -- I have an older edition from when it was still Irma and Marion's baby and before the professional chefs took over and I'd sooner scrub my cast iron with an SOS pad than part with it.

[trdsf]

Not much new to report other than that a few additional necessary supplies have arrived, including some fake leather, rice paper, and wheat starch for making paste.  Mainly everything is waiting on me right now to get my [censored] together and make a clear workspace on which I can Do Things.

 

I have also learned that there is a definite difference between 'glue' and 'paste'.

 

I am also already eyeing additional future bindery projects.

[inkstainedruth]

On 3/5/2025 at 12:52 AM, trdsf said:

Have already had to order new supplies, specifically to repair torn pages as my other project is re-binding my literally-used-to-pieces copy of The Joy of Cooking -- I have an older edition from when it was still Irma and Marion's baby and before the professional chefs took over and I'd sooner scrub my cast iron with an SOS pad than part with it.

Wow.  You really do have a commitment to your copy, don't you?  I once saw someone seriously considering divorce after HER husband put her cast iron skillet in the dishwasher!  My husband's old hardbound copy of JoC seriously needs rebound; the front cover and spine cover are completely missing at this point, and the back cover is completely detached (but at least is still WITH the book).  I have a slightly different edition (the 2 volume paperback set) and have noticed definite differences in recipes between the 2 editions (of course I've had my set since college, so, mine are also a little, um, moth-eaten as well).  

Trying to remember now where I got my copy of Papworth's Ordinary and Armorial rebound years ago -- that book was clearly designed to basically sit on a shelf and be consulted on rare occasions.  NOT go through the use and abuse of SCA heraldry consult tables, even though we no longer have to try to check EVERY possible real-world potential conflict any more....  (The rules got changed because people just didn't have access to some stuff that was behind the Iron Curtain -- even though I used to know a guy who had a conniption fit years ago because someone at an event somewhere down south was using Walter's FATHER'S heraldry (his dad escaped from Poland with his clothes and family heraldry and not much else...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[trdsf]

One of the Discords I'm on (this one for mid-century cookery, wow, are there a lot of Jell-O recipes!) had as its question of the day, "If you could only save one cookbook from your collection, which would it be?"  My answer was "Mastering the Art of French Cooking -- so I could club insensate whoever said I could only save one, and also rescue my Joy, and my Polish cookbook with Grandma's annotations." 

[inkstainedruth]

I'd be even harder pressed than you because at my house?  My husband and I have a bunch of books that have translations/redactions of recipes from the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[yubaprof]

trdsf, I hope you keep posting about your binding adventure. I've been thinking of doing the same thing. I hope I can learn from you. Good luck!

[trdsf]

On 3/27/2025 at 10:43 PM, yubaprof said:

trdsf, I hope you keep posting about your binding adventure. I've been thinking of doing the same thing. I hope I can learn from you. Good luck!

I recommend DAS Bookbinding and Four Keys Book Arts on YouTube -- they make it look almost easy, and were my inspiration to give it a go.

[yubaprof]

5 hours ago, trdsf said:

I recommend DAS Bookbinding and Four Keys Book Arts on YouTube -- they make it look almost easy, and were my inspiration to give it a go.

Thank you, I will take a look.

[trdsf]

Bookbinding, larval stage: the signatures are printed, collated, folded and creased.  Next step is piercing the sewing holes.

 

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

this is cool

 

[trdsf]

Slowly getting further along.  My book tape is 20mm, and I have marked out the hole punch points, but I haven't made a proper guide yet.  I do have the appropriate waxed linen thread.  Sorry things are moving so slowly, there have been a few unexpected time-eating events lately. 

[yubaprof]

13 minutes ago, trdsf said:

 Sorry things are moving so slowly, there have been a few unexpected time-eating events lately. 

Well, your slow is faster than my slow. I haven't even started yet!

[trdsf]

Just now, yubaprof said:

Well, your slow is faster than my slow. I haven't even started yet!

I've been following the bookbinding channels I recommended for several years and only just took the plunge this year, so your slow may still be competitive.  XD

[yubaprof]

1 minute ago, trdsf said:

I've been following the bookbinding channels I recommended for several years and only just took the plunge this year, so your slow may still be competitive.  XD

Thanks to you, trdsf, I have viewed a couple of those videos. I cannot imagine trying to learn the process without them. Unfortunately, I am not a handy type person. Tools do not feel at home in my hands. I can hear them - the tools - moaning and wimpering and mumbling "why us." So, I am going to have to watch those videos many times over. You will have several volumes finished by the time I figure out which end of the thread needle to use.