1、EquipmentStanley/X-acto Knife (anything sharp to cut paper and board)Metal Ruler 24”Bone Folder (shown in pictures later on, this is the most important tool, dont buy plastic ones, they snap)Large Sewing NeedleA compact weight (a box full of change did the trick for me)Brush for Glueing3 Jars to sta
2、sh glue and water.Set Square (optional but useful)A slab of wood (optional, youll understand later on)Tissues/Towel/Hankey to whipe brushes Supplies*Paper Book Binding Glue Linen Thread (Gutterman is good)Wallpaper GlueGreyboard (hard board for the cover)Manila FoldersBuckram/Fabric for the coverCot
3、ton Tape/RibbonMull/JaconetRibbon (for bookmark if desired)A piece of 80gsm (roughly) cartridge paperHeadbands (coloured strips that go at end of spines, not neccessary but they are decorative, make it looks professional and guard the spine from dust)Large sheets of scrap paper to glue on. *Ive foun
4、d it difficult to source these things in Australia. Europe or America probably wont have any problems (names may differ). If your unable find them anywhere I recommend using the internet http:/ is apparently good.The 1 Rule of Binding There is only one rule. The grain direction must go from head to
5、tail. This is the secret to a good book that stays open. If you have the grain going the wrong way the paper will ripple, the fold will not be clean and the book will want to close itself.How to Find the Grain This is an important step. We must find the grain of the paper. There are 4 ways.1. Feelin
6、g2. Folding3. Tearing4. WettingFeelingThis is the quickest and easiest way. Get the paper as thought your about to fold it and press down lightly, rotate the paper 90 degrees and repeat. The direction with least resistance is the direction the grain is heading. This technique is less effective when
7、working with thinner papers.FoldingIn this method completely fold the paper both ways, the direction with the cleanest fold is the direction of the grain. It is noticable when its been folded the wrong way, there will be small crinkles and folding is harder.TearingTear the paper in both directions q
8、uickly. The rip will be fairly clean and stay straight if it has been torn in the direction of the grain. If you tear paper against the grain the rip often curves to one side and is messyWettingIf you wet the paper the paper will curl in the direction of the grain. Wetting just the corner is sometim
9、es sufficient.CuttingAfter finding the grain we are ready to begin. First, we need to pick the dimensions this will often be determined by the paper stock you get. I usually just semi fold it to get an idea of the options I have. For this book I decided to use the breadth of the paper folded a few t
10、imes and then its height halved. First, I removed the rough edges of the paper so I could measured it easily. So then I cut the paper in half, and then half again.Its easier to use your knife rather than a pencil to mark half way points!SewingThis is the hardest section to explain. Before we get int
11、o the actual sewing we need to prepare the ribbons/tape. The tape acts as ribbing that we will be sewing around. It will help to secure the paper block to the cover and reenforce the spine. Yay!First, find an edge of a table or preferably a slab of wood, the advantage of this is portability. Second,
12、 cut 3 pieces of ribbon (if you cant find this kind of tape, I sometimes just use offcuts of buckram in light colours). The ribbon should wrap around the spine with excess on either side. If your unsure use more than you need. The next step is to measure out where the ribbons will be positioned. Try
13、 to keep an equal distance between them. Keep in mind that you can space the ribbons out by eye, but if youre a perfectionist like me youll probably want to measure. If you position them badly, it will be visible because the they determine the gaps in the sewing. This might not be such a problem if
14、your using white thread but in this book I used red. You can also, depending on the shape of the book, use more or less than 3 tapes, usually two is fine but I wanted this book to be strong and durable, adding to the quality of the book.There will be 2 holes quite close to the head and tail of the b
15、ook, to keep it tight. Ok so now sticky tape the ribbon to the edge of the desk, wood, whatever. Then put the section over it where it should be (if youve measured the positions) Hold the section in place and open it while placing your compact weight on the back page to keep it steady. Were now read
16、y to start sewing this bad boySewing ContdRed and Black is the colour scheme, use the colour of the thread as a design element. The First step is threading the needle, the way I do it is to go through the eye then go back to the shorter end of the thread and push the needle through the middle of it.
17、 Then yank it, its pretty solid. The thread length depends on the size of the book, get enough to sew about half the book. OK! Start from either end but make sure you go IN first from the outside. I find the easiest way to do this is to prick the holes from the outside then sew the whole section at
18、once. You want to make holes close to the ribbon but not too close, give them room to breathe, maybe 1 or 2 mm. LEAVE SOME THREAD AT THE FIRST HOLE TO TIE IT OFF! At this point, fold the first section back, give the thread a yank so its firm and give it a rub on the fold with your bone folder. Now l
19、ift up your weight and put the second section on top. Set it up, with the new section open and the weight on top. Prick your holes in the new section using the lower section for reference and just head back the other way. Youll end up like this. Heres a diagram for all you silly billiesAfter youve t
20、ied it off, go straight into the next section, sew along and youll get to this. Go under the previous section, going from the inside to the outsidePull it through! Then grab the needle and go back through the big loop you made Make sure all the thread is pulled snug, not to tight though. Get it to a
21、bout this stage and then give it a pull UPWARDS and do it quickly and firmly but dont yank it like a maniac. This is called a kettle stitch. I like to do this twice (for the win). Repeat this technique until the end. Note: The only place you need to do a double knot is at the start and finish of the
22、 paper block. As you sew it should just be: Go straight into the next section, sew along, do the kettle stitch then go straight into the next section, repeat. Try and keep the ribbons fairly firm and straight as you go and keep rubbing with your bonefolder.Connecting Thread You will inevitably run o
23、ut of thread and need to connect two seperate pieces of thread to one another. ALWAYS JOIN THREAD INSIDE A SECTION not the outside.Sorry for the shodiness, rope diagrams are hard. With your new piece of thread, curl it like this.Reach through the loops and grab the short end, bring it towards yourse
24、lf.Pull it through and lay it down on the paper approximately where you want the join to be. Now thread the old piece UP through the loop (not the circle) Try to make an acute point by folding the old thread to a point. You want the circle to wrap around the old thread at the acute point. Pull the e
25、nd of the new thread so the circle gets smaller and closer to the old thread and eventual wraps around it, then pull it tight.TrimmingFinished sewing? Good. Remove it from the table/wood. Starting to feel like a book? Have a play around with it, make sure it opens ok and everything is fastened snugl
26、y.Now what we want is nice clean edges, take it to a printers, local stationery shop or anywhere that has a guillotine and someone you can trust will do it well, some local placed near me do it for free. DO NOT GO TO KINKOS, they are the devil. All you want is enough chopped off to make it squared o
27、ff and straight. This book has a curved spine, French style. You dont have to do it like this but I enjoy it. To get the curve you want just start pushing and shaping the spine by hand, when you have the curve desired put a weight on top and position it at the edge of the desk or your piece of wood,
28、 were going to glue it!. The Spine In this section we are going to secure the spine, this includes gluing, using mull/jaconet, putting the headbands on and a bookmark if you desire, then sealing it with one piece of paper to help secure everything.I recommend cutting out all your stuff before you be
29、gin then you dont have to rush while the glue is drying :) You need a bit of mull about this big, enough to wrap around to where the ribbon/tape goes to. I cut two pieces of mull for this for extra strength and durability.Then you need some headbands! As I said before, black and red for this one. I
30、went and bought some of this sweet ass red from my suppliers out in Sydneys Industrial area. Usually you only need 2 cuttings, one for head and one for the tail but you can double them up. Traditionally, the more flamboyant the headbands, the more important the book was, plus it draws attention. The
31、 headband should be just enough to wrap around the spine of the book snuggly. Ok time for the best bit! Spread the glue evenly over the whole spine, push the glue into the cracks with the bone folder and your fingers.Once the glue became tacky I grabbed my first layer of mull and rubbed it in, then added another layer of glue ontop of thatTakings off the weight quickly, I folded the edges in and put the new layer of mull on followed by more glue.
