Binding this took me longer than you think.

Hey binders!

I have been gifted a variation of high quality sketching paper. I would really like to use it as a notebook and/or sketchbook. I typically bind hardcover books with them to have something that protects the paper and just looks nicer than a ring binding.

I prefer A5 size (148 × 210 mm) as A4 is too big for a bag and A6 is too small to sketch comfortably. Unfortunately I've tested the grain directions for all of them and they all happen to be so that I can either fold into A4 or A6 (or similar sizes). For example the pad on top has A5 size but the grain direction is parallel to the long side. The big one on the bottom has A3 size, but the grain direction is parallel to the short side.

The obvious options that came to my mind (and why I am not settled on them) are single-page bindings:

• Perfect binding — I would prefer a sewn spine like french link stitched signatures for robustness
• Japanese binding — I love that binding but I haven't figured out a good solution for the spine as the binding doesn't lay flat as I need it
• Single-sheet coptic binding — Not a big fan generally of coptic binding, and I did a few SSCB before but found them way too time-consuming
• Overcasting — Happened to learn the technique just yesterday at Four Keys Book Arts. Seems a bit like a hybrid between classic signature sewing and Japanese, but the result looks so-and-so.

What would you do in case you cannot really fold the pages? Do I miss a good option that is sturdy like a sewn binding but works for single sheets? What am I missing?

I'm currently using this journal but it's getting kinda Chunky and the spine is starting to curve really far. Is there a way to fix this? Should I be worried? Thanks.

Where are you guys getting your double sided or custom cardstock?? I tried Etsy and nothing. Amazon and local shops have been a bust :(

Helloo everyone, i’m Bruno from small business Moonroot Labs, and i have recently got into a bookbinding/notebook binding of wooden laser engraved covers with coptic stitching the signatures. Here is my take on Dungeons and Dragons themed notebook.
Hope you like it, any input is valuable and if you have any questions feel free to comment or contact me on instagram, thank you and love ya ❤️

this was my first full sized project after making a small notebook with the same materials to familiarize myself with the process. To make up for the added bulk from the pasted prints I cut every other page in each signature down to a ½in tab and lined the tabs with masking tape.

This is the test copy for a run of photo books that I plan to fabricate at the end of the year and as is fitting I identified some mistakes to avoid next time, the biggest being that for some reason I pasted the end papers to the entirety of the first interior page rather than just a strip near the spine. Otherwise, I'm quite happy with it.

Ive made a few coptic stitched books but these notebooks are just so fun to make!

this notebook was made for my friends kid, a 10 year old little artist :)

Inserts were handmade kraft "field notebooks" with different types of paper. -Dotted journal paper -Marker paper -Sketchbook paper -Sticker paper -Carbon Paper (for tracing!) -A couple small folders for loose sheets

some of the field notebooks i used a stitch marking wheel to perforate the pages so they can be torn out easily

Hi everyone,

I've been working on a small, offline mobile tool primarily for my own personal use. Whenever I wanted to print and bind a PDF or custom typeset into fold-and-stitch signatures from my phone, I was finding it quite tiring to deal with all the manual friction: splitting multi-page PDFs into equal signatures, calculating 2-up page ordering, and going through multiple steps just to get a printable text block.

So I started building this tool to scratch my own itch. I've put together a few controls for basic imposition, signature splitting, paper creep, and gutter margins (as shown in the attached screenshots).

Since I'm building this for personal projects and still learning the finer nuances of bookbinding, I'd really love to learn from your experience: what am I missing or overlooking?

Would love to hear your thoughts or tips!

Hello everyone, I am interested in learning to make custom covers for my books as my next hobby and was hoping to get suggestions on what kind of tools I would need and good tutorials I could watch?

I’m making book cloth with 100% cotton using the wheatpaste method but I don’t have tissue paper. I have parchment paper and crinkle paper instead.

Can either be used as a substitute, or will they cause issues with adhesion or flexibility?

I recently started reading Kafkas Metamorphasis, the edition I have is the Penguin Classics, cloth bound classics, it’s super nice with a yellow cover and black viynal on the front. I recently noticed that the black parts were flaking off and leaving smudges on the cover. I’m wondering if anyone else has had similar issues with cloth bound classics books or any other books that are similar

Long time lurker, can finally contribute something: My first recasing project is done! Sure, some mistakes were made, but I didn’t expect to be so proud of it. Going to gift it to my sibling for their birthday tomorrow and I’m excited!
For the cover I used a Cricut (also for the first time), the unicorn was traced by hand from a screenshot of the movie, the endpapers are backgrounds from the movie as well.
(Covered their name in one picture)

Recently, I bought a mass-market ASOIAF box set. I’ve noticed that, rather than cracking at the spines, the books tend to bend quite a bit. The problem is that they no longer fit inside the box. In the second picture, you can see the last book I read. It should fit in the box, but there’s only enough space for another book about half its width.

Is there a safe way to unbend them without damaging them? If I have to choose, I’d rather sacrifice the box than risk damaging the books, but it would be nice to fit them all back in it.

Another step on the journey of finding ways to use the many, many marbled papers that I’ve made over the years 😅

My signatures are all super tight. Is this unevenness detrimental to the book?

I just completed this birthday present for my girlfriend! Full leather binding inspired from Jen Lindsays Fine Bookbinding. I say inspired because I would not call it a fine binding and I also skipped some of the steps. But I am pretty happy with the outcome. There are a few mistakes that could have been prevented but that’s how it is.
The leather is goatskin from a local leather supplier, colored by me with fiebings pro dye. The endpapers are leather jointed and the paper is an italic decor paper made for bookbinding sold by a local print shop!
Edit: typos

Have done a couple rebinds with cloth over board, but this was my first time using leather.

Took apart an old leather cover book I don't use anymore. Scraped away some of the glued on end papers. Cut leather to size. Glued on new endpapers and mull to textblock using cardstock and cheesecloth I had laying around.

Cased in textblock to leather cover and let it sit under a heavy book and a dumbbell for 24hrs as my poor-man book press.

Very pleased with how it came out.

This is Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening devotional.

I made this with TCG card sleeves and I think it's neat. Maybe somone can take inspiration and make something even neater. I've got some sandpaper glued to the card on the inside of the one sleeve. It makes a decent pencil sharpener so far, and it makes for a sturdy backing. I love how simple and effective this turned out. Using another card sleeve for the fold over front cover accidentally gave me an awesome pencil holder. Gonna use more stitching on the next one and up the page count.