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.
When it comes to bookbinding, one of the most commonly overlooked areas is the gluing process, so we’ve decided to put together a YouTube Playlist of the best book binding related gluing video tutorials we could find.
We would love to know what you think of the videos, please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
** Note that videos shown above and below are works of other bookbinders and not the work of iBookBinding (these will come later…). I would recommend watching all video tutorials as they each demonstrate different techniques and offer helpful tips and advice throughout ***
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.
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.
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.
There are lots of different bookbinding supplies, materials, tools and equipment. This post presents a review of many of these.
Bookbinding: A Step-by-Step Guide is a very well laid out, easy to follow book to help get started in bookbinding. The author, Kathy Abbott has been in the bookbinding industry for well over 20 years and has a huge amount of experience which is clear from reading her latest book, Bookbinding: A Step-by-Step Guide.
The instructions within this book are clear, concise and well worded; this coupled with the easy to follow illustrations, take the reader by the hand through the art of bookbinding.
