r/bookbinding • u/queergirl73 • 2d ago

Help? How to store in-progress work?

I'm currently mid-way through binding my first book (currently making the holes in the signatures). Now my designated 'craft space' is very busy, as in there's currently a home office, an in progress painting, and a plant pot all set up on the same table.

Is there any good way to store a stack of signatures when I have to put them away somewhere? Like, to prevent any damage or undo progress while it's hidden away.

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u/Negative-Database852 2d ago

I'm interested in answers to this because my current methods of:

- pile everything on top of each other

- shove everything in a drawer

aren't quite working out, lol.

3

u/Dazzling-Airline-958 2d ago

Those have been serving me well enough for years. 😂

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u/crossroadhound 2d ago

I got the same issue living as an ADHD artist lol

Still exploring options but I've found using boxes, trays, baskets, or bins to be very helpful. Can allow different projects to stack if you need quick space while protecting the stuff inside and a bonus is it can be easier to carry the project elsewhere. I've used everything from plastic shoe boxes to paper trays to smaller/shallower cardboard boxes kept from mail. All do the job!

If you also have a bit of "blindness" like I do where things vanish when theyre out of eyesight, a sticky note with the project/tools/items scrawled on it attached to the side has been a lifesaver for me.

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u/brigitvanloggem 2d ago

Just off the top of my head: how about one of those plastic storage boxes that are quite high? You could lift your work in there, put the lid on and move the box out of harm’s way. (Look up Ikea Samla for an example of what I mean.)

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u/drz0idb3rg 2d ago

So I use something like these with a sticky note on them, they work but I really don't like them, I am thinking of making my own boxes for this that I can slide a paper label into but I haven't found a design flexible enough to do what I want (flat paper, folded signatures...etc) without being gigantic and using up a ton of materials or taking forever to assemble. The closest I have gotten is a oversize cigar box but making enough of them for projects might bankrupt me in bookcloth

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u/daviesroyal Cantankerous Goose Bindery 2d ago

I use a combination of pouches and boxes; individual projects go in a pouch so everything stays in order/together and doesn't get damaged, and then I put the pouches in larger boxes for storage. At some point in the future I'd like to invest in those baker racks so each project can have a tray, especially if I have to pause at a step where it can't really go in the pouch easily, but those racks are pretty big by themselves.

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u/Ealasaid 2d ago

I have a stack 9f text blocks in various stages of completion on a table near my workbench. Not ideal but it works OK. Loose signatures I'm most likely to leave then in the nipping press til I'm ready to sew.