More than 20 years ago Karli Frigge a renowned Dutch bookbinder and paper marbler started a new fair for bookbinders in Belgium. There is a long tradition of bookbinding and papermaking in this part of Europe. There also is a tradition of bookbinding fairs in the Netherlands. However, this new event started as a tiny thing in a back room of a cafe in Antwerp.
These past days I’ve been digging into piles of my old and new stuff. Heaps of bookbinding paper and documents, power tools, pieces of wood and lots of other things. Just in two weeks, we are moving to Amsterdam, and all our possessions had to be sorted, separated and evaluated. Many of them went to garbage, some we are taking with us. Dealing with many things that were stored for a long time without moving made me experience the worst sort of allergy I had in a long time.
This is the third calendar year I’m in charge of iBookBinding. Like every previous year, it has its differences. This year was more about my personal experience being bookbinding, maker of bookbinding tools and teacher of bookbinding. List of the most popular posts of this years only confirms that. Both iBookBinding and I have changed and grown. The new year is coming, and I’m sure it would be exciting, educational and fun! =)
Many of you know that iBookBinding is mainly a one-person venture. So, some changes are coming in my life that would affect iBookBinding quite a lot. My wife works for a large multi-national company, and she is being relocated to Amsterdam this February. I’m closing my workshop in Moscow and plan to start working full time on iBookBinding and its Etsy store right after we move to our new home.
Good news, everyone! Now you can get our Complete PDF Bookbinding Collection (all 105 books) for free!
I’ve just received a package with corner cutting jigs from Argentina. Triángulo de la Felicidad (triangles of happiness, I suppose) is made of plastic. It has one of the classic designs when a truncated corner has a reinforcing crossbeam.
We have a huge sale at our Etsy store from this Friday to next Tuesday (to allow customers from all time zones to buy something). All our 3d-printed jigs and tools are cheaper by 30% now, and prices on everything else dropped by 15%.
Over past years I’ve been using lots of different things as weights while making books. You name it: books, larger books, dumbbells, weight plates, handmade soft weights, proper weights, anything else that was near my workbench. I have also used bricks. However, since the first use, I wanted to make some encasements.
Oftentimes there are discussions on affordability of bookbinding equipment on Facebook and forums. I’ve been preparing my studio for a new season (yeah, I haven’t had any classes since this summer in my workshop), and found the first press that I’ve made for myself more than ten years ago. Or should I call it a vise?
As temperatures fall below the freezing point in some regions, it may become risky to order white glue. Or even to buy it at a local store. Like many other water emulsion glues, PVA may lose its gluing properties after freezing/thawing. Especially, if that process is repeated several times (e.g. while glue is in transit).
This happens again and again. Time after time. Every evening before a new class, I’m feeling a great anxiety about what will happen tomorrow. Even while I’m absolutely sure what to show my new students, and historically 99% of students are happy with the results, I’m really worried and nervous.
While many things have changed since 2017, iBookBinding continues to produce and sell 3d-printed corner cutting jigs in multiple colors and sizes. And as a more recent development, we now offer the same jig made with metal (steel, brass, etc.)
This video was released in 1981, but it is definitely worth watching. Bookbinding craft is not so prone to changes and all the main processes are shown here in detail.
I have just returned from my vacation and a package was waiting for me at the post office. This summer the London Centre for Book Arts issued a call to support their development and current operations. One of the rewards in their Kickstarter campaign was a new book they’ve just made. That book is exactly what I found inside the package!
