A collection of free bookbinding books that you can read online and download onto your ebook reader with links to their latest reprint/republication on amazon.com (where available).
I will continue my search for free reading resources weekly and update this list when I find more. Enjoy!
I have done my fair share of marbling in the past for both clients and personal projects but I am by no means an expert in the subject, this may already be apparent by the lack of technical terminology used within this post but probably even more so when you compare my work with that of a true master.
In this tutorial we will look at the different parts of a book (the anatomy of the book); understanding the individual parts of a book will make it easier for you when following the rest of our tutorials and will prove to be invaluable in your bookbinding journey.
One of the most overlooked aspects I see from amateur bookbinders is their choice of adhesives or glue; many of whom rely on PVA as a ‘one-glue-fits-all’ solution. Whilst PVA is a good option for many aspects in bookbinding it almost certainly shouldn’t be used over other more suitable adhesives.
Ok, so the title might be a little misleading… we’ve actually crammed in 18 of the best Coptic Stitch (also known as the Chain Stitch or Coptic Sewing) book binding instructions and tutorials we could find on the web, along with a collection of video tutorials and many coptic-stitch related resources (PDF’s, Stitching Patterns, Photo Galleries etc) for you to get stuck in to – it took us a while to put this together but we hope it serves as a good resource for some of you out there.
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Headbanding is the process of strengthening the head of a book. This is done by the sewing a cord onto the backbone behind the boards, which secures the signatures together more firmly. The result is a stronger binding construction, and even the backbone can be prevented from damage.
A good video introduction into creating and sewing headbands can be found in this YouTube playlist.
Well worth a watch before reading the rest of this tutorial. Enjoy!
Split cover boards are used for heavy books with several signatures so that the construction remains solid and an adequate level of support can be provided. Figure 200 shows a split board that comprises of a mull and the endsheet placed in between a thick and thin piece of board. These board layers are used for stiffening purposes and conceal the mull and the endsheets between them.
Got an old book that has its pages coming apart and its stitches loosening up? Well, take out your supplies, and follow the rebinding process in this chapter.
As the name implies, a dust jacket can keep your work safe from dirt, wear and other sort of damages. The first step in constructing dust jacket is to select an appropriate paper that is similar to the book for which you are creating a jacket. Now measure the complete wraparound dimensions of the book. Cut a strip of paper that is about five inches wide, and crease it along the edges. Secure the paper in place with a clip as shown in figure 112. Wrap this paper around your book; pull it tight and tuck the loose end on the other side of the cover. All along, make well defined creases on the paper strip as you turn it over the book. Now remove the strip, and you would be able to see six distinct creases on it. In a similar manner, measure the height of the book with another strip of paper. The creases that are formed on the paper when you wrap it around have been illustrated in figure 113. Use these measurements to create a layout of the jacket on a separate sheet of paper. While doing this, measure the width of the flaps and ensure that it is almost one third of the cover width. If your book size is smaller, the flap width should be even more than this as shown in figure 114.
You have now reached the final phase of the bookbinding process that involves mitering the corners, turning the edges of the cover page inside the book, and pasting the end sheets. While you proceed with these steps, make sure that your work is still slightly damp because it would provide you with better results.
The mull is a strip of cloth that is attached to the back of the sewn signatures and the tapes, and is also affixed to the cover boards with tapes. Cut a piece of cloth in a size that can conceal the top and bottom kettlestitches along with the tapes in between them; make sure that your chosen length is at least three inches wider than the back of the signatures so that it can be extended onto both sides.
The 6th part of our book-binding series on how to craft a book from scratch.
Following on from the previous chapter on folding the sheets, collating is the process of inspecting and ensuring that all the parts of a book are complete and arranged in their proper order. Once this has been verified, the signatures can be sewn together. For blank books, collating plays no role. However, in all other cases, this step is very important. If you mark your signatures properly you can easily get this done.
