02 November 2015

book binding


Today I'm finishing up on binding a few sketchbook journals. I would have finished on Saturday but ran out of glue. I normally use old-fashioned Elmer's glue, a bit thinned with water --- easier to find!

Two books are finished, seen in the lower left. I used 2 sheets of Fabriano Artistico 140 # cold press watercolor paper per each of the larger (7 3/4 x 8") books, adding a few pages of toned Mi-teintes to each. One sheet of the Artistico paper makes up each smaller (5 3/4" square) book. Covers are from two sheets of hand-made decorative paper I found at Jerry's Artarama in Austin -- the tan one is papyrus! The bookcloth on the spines is leftover from previous bindings that I made myself ironing a paper substance to cotton.

Not having any mull cloth, I used thin cotton fabric cut from an old cloth diaper to strengthen the spine on the larger books. For the smaller ones, I'm trying some open-weave dry-wall tape -- probably not archival but is that really important to me? I don't expect my family to care about my art journals after I'm gone.

To dry glued pieces under weights, I use a heavy book (Lord of the Rings, illustrated edition here) and two antique sad irons. 


One tool I've found really helpful is this glue spreader from Rockler's woodworking supply. Bill ordered one once but they sent two by mistake so I got one. The "brush" is soft flexible silicone and works great; the other end can be used like a bone folder to crease the edges of the paper and smooth the glued bits down.

I mostly get my "how to's" on bookbinding from Gwen Diehn's book, Real Life Journals: Designing & Using Handmade Books. But there are many other good instructional books and YouTube videos out there.

11 comments:

  1. Very cool. I love book binding. And I find it interesting that you also use old sad irons for weights. Me, too. They are perfect for the job. Also went to a metal works place and had them cut a scrap of 1/2" iron sheeting about 6"x 8" from some of their unused scraps. They smoothed the edges and ended up giving it to me for free. I love that, too. Enjoy your sketchbooks. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Great idea, Fay! I tried a cookie sheet but it just doesn't have the weight.

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  3. 5 very thick cookbooks are the weight here

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  4. LOL -- So that's what those cookbooks are for!
    I actually gave away many cookbooks when we downsized to living in a small one-bedroom cabin with a tiny kitchen. Otherwise, that would have worked great.

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  5. Oh, how cool! And I don't think I have that book of Gwen's, oh no! Temptation...

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  6. Oh. Whew. Yes, i do, I just didn't recognize the name!

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  7. LOL! I almost made you buy a book! It would serve you right for all the books I buy after you mention them . . . The recent one you received on bookbinding looks pretty good.

    The idea for my current leather journal with the signatures sewn directly to the spine area of the leather using colorful hand-dyed silk threads is taken from Gwen's book.

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  8. I love your finished journals, Vicky. I have the same book from Gwen Diehn, but I haven't tried making any per her instructions yet. I took a round back spine bookbinding course from Roz Stendalh this spring and loved it. No more binding for me for a couple months, though--just broke my right arm on Sunday when I tripped over my dog in the dark. :-( But maybe a few weeks of left-handed drawing will help me loosen up on my perfectionist tendencies! :-)

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  9. Oh, Susan, I'm sorry to hear about your arm! I'm praying that it heals quickly.

    How awesome to take a bookbinding course from Roz! A sketchcrawl pal of mine in Kansas was able to; I saw his new journal in person and it was gorgeous! While I follow instructions from Gwen's book, I also blend in info learned from several other sources. The current journal I am working in is a soft leather wrap-around cover with signatures sewn directly to the leather --- you can see a photo of one in Gwen's book. Feels elegant, but sometimes that leather flap gets in my way.

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  10. This is a late post to your site. I wanted to take time to take it all in. Don't know why bookbinding is so attractive to many of us, but it is. I've wondered about that type of silicon brush so I'm glad it works for you. I took a bookbinding class in Lawrence (close town, home of those KU rascals). The teacher uses old credit cards to spread the glue. Works nice. The old iron is a nice touch. I haven't figured out a good weight yet. I liked Fay's comment on thick steel. We have a fabrication shop in town I may need to check.

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  11. Learning new tricks & techniques from each other is part of the fun!

    I've tried many brands of paper but I think from now on I'll just stick to my favorites for binding. I'm not happy with the pieces I submitted for Kate's new book because of the paper, but we had just moved when she asked me and that was all I had on hand at the moment.

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