Book binding

Fachkurs Buchbinden

by Gaby Kosa Documentation

by Ana Lúcia Magalhães

1. Paper 2. Bone folder 3. Awl 4. Needle 5. Thread 6. Clamps 7. Glue 8. Cardstock 9. Endpaper

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1. Paper Sheets of paper you wish to bind into a book.

2. Bone folder Dull edged handtool used to fold and crease material in crafts.

3. Awl A long, pointed spike tool for piercing holes in paper or leather.

4. Needle Strong pointed needle with a large eye so that it won’t strip the wax off your thread.

5. Thread Waxed thread or wax some emboidery thread with beeswax.

Dental floss might work too.

6. Clamps A fastening tool to hold the signatures tightly together.

7. Glue PVA (Polyvinyl Acetate) a bookbinding glue.

8. Cardstock A thicker paper which is more durable than normal writing or printing paper.

9. Endpaper Pretty (thicker) paper for the endpages.

Folding papers Organizing a signature Piercing holes

fold line

Cover End page

worksheet

Folding papers Collect all the sheets of paper you wish to bind into a book. Fold each sheet in half, with the image or text on the inside, using a bone folder.

Organizing a signature A signature is a gathering of two or more folded pages. Make a signature by gathering three folios (folded sheets), one inside the other. Repeat this step until you have six signatures. Rub your bone folder over each signature to sharpen the folds. This will help keep the spine from being too fat.

Piercing holes Grab a signature and use your ruler to find the center of the folded side. Make a small hole with an awl. Make another holes measuring 1cm away from each edge. (the amount of holes will depend on the type of binding) Use the signature you pierced as a guide for the rest. Place it directly in the middle of an unmarked signature. Pierce it straight through the holes of your guide and into the signature underneath.

1. Saddle Stitch 2. Text Block 3. Coptic Stitch 4. Long Stitch 5. Perfect Binding

1. Saddle Stitch Collate all of the pages of your workbook. Turn the pages over and secure all the pages together so that the fold line of all pages (including cover) are directly sitting above one another.

Mark three points along the spine of the book; 1 cm from top, 1 cm from bottom and half way between these two points. Make holes through these three points through all paper layers and piercing the spine. Ensure the holes are the same size as your needle/thread thickness.

Cut a length of thread two times the spine length and thread your needle. Sew through the centre hole in the spine inside of the booklet. Leave a tail about 3 cm long, bringing the needle through to the outside and then sew back through the top hole coming back to the inside fold.

From the inside, your next stitch is the hole from the bottom of the book, back through to the outside of the book again. And finally, back through the centre hole, towards the inside of the booklet.

You should end up with two stitches on the outside spine and one long stitch on the inside of the book. Tie a knot with the two tails of your thread, ensuring that the one long centre stitch is between your two tail pieces when tying.

Tying a knot Pull the thread taught so that both stitches sit flat against the spine of the book. Using the needle, pull the thread under the centre stitch. Tuck the tails (one up, one down) under the long centre stitch. Cut the tails from the centre knot but not too short.

2. Text Block Collate 6 signatures of three folded pages each. Create a template from one of your signature pages. Measure and mark 6 holes starting from the center. Poke holes through each signature.

The length of thread should be the spine length x number of signatures you have. Starting with the bottom signature, take your needle and thread and insert it from the outside of the signature through the hole of the edge, then come out of the next hole.

Continue to weave through the holes.

You will enter the next signature up by entering the hole above the last hole you just came out of. Tight the stitches and weave in and out of the signatures.

Continue and when you reach the end of the signature tie a knot by a loop under the thread and come out the same hole. Get the next signature and continue this method. When you reach the end of the last signature, tie a knot and trim off any excess thread.

3. Coptic Stitch Get a cover board and then punch holes 1 cm away from the spine. Punch about 5-7 holes and do the same in the spine of all the signatures. Cut the thread which should be the spine length x number of signatures you have + covers.

Stitch at the bottom hole inside the first signature. Bring the thread out and under the cover board to attach it to the signature. Wrap the thread around the cover board and put the needle back into the signature hole where it came from, then tie a knot.

Move up one hole and repeat the process of looping around the cover and coming back up, but don’t tie a knot. just keep looping through to attach the signature to the cover.

At the last hole, instead of going back into the cover, stack on another signature and go into that hole. Come out on the next hole and stick your needle into the left side of the stitch already there and exit to the right of it. Then stick the needle back into the hole you came from and repeat going down the line of holes.

Once getting to the last hole of that signature, after doing the kettle stitch add a new signature and go into that hole. Continue it until you add all the signatures.

To add the front cover stick the needle in the first hole and double loop around the cover, kettle stitch to attach it securely to the book and then go back into the signature of paper. Move up one hole and repeat the steps.

At the last hole, instead of going back into the signature, go in between the cover and signature. Loop it around that stitch and tie a knot to finish binding the book.

4. Long Stitch Mark three points along the spine of the signatures. 1 cm from the edges and half way between these two points. Make holes through these three points through all paper layers and piercing the spine.

Place one signature inside the leather cover. Center it and punch a hole into the leather next to each of the three holes in the signature. Make a second row of holes in your cover. Repeat this step until you have six rows of holes in your cover.

Stitch the first signature to the top row of holes in the cover. Leave a small length of thread on the inside of the signature. Stitch through the middle hole of the signature from the inside out and through the middle hole of the cover. Then sew in the right hole and sew out through the middle hole. Stitch in the left hole and stitch out through the middle hole for the third time, but don’t stitch through the leather.

Take the next signature, stitch through the same holes, but instead of stitching out, you will be stitching in - and vice versa. Stitch in through middle hole then out through hole on the right and through the second row of holes in the leather.

Continue binding until you have stitched every signature. End your binding with the thread on the inside of the last signature. Tie a simple knot

5. Perfect Binding Cut the paper and stack it together with the covers on the outside. Place two clamps on the outside to press the booklet. It is important that the edge you place glue on is very flat. Rush the glue on the edge of the book and let it dry in between layers.

Once the glue is dry (around 5-10 minutes) you can take the kraft paper and place it over the spine and position it where you want it to go. Crease the edges to mark you spot.

Place glue on the inside of the folds of the kraft paper. Place it on the spine starting from one edge of the paper. Once the kraft paper is glued to the spine, rub the entire edge with your fingers.