Bookbinding Forever
The goal of this crash course is to give participants and understanding of how a basic, professional quality book is made. The information shown in this workshop can be applied to all types of bookbinding projects, from high end archival binding of one's own work, to making simple notebooks. Participants will leave with a finished book.
details
- when: sunday, april 19th, 2009, from 2:05 pm - 3:35 pm
- to attend: Please see the info page for more information on attending any of the workshops at the 2009 Boston Skillshare.
- facilitated by: Sam Gerlach
lesson plan
measuring, cutting, and gluing are time consuming and don't teach very much, so i'll prep these materials ahead of time and have a finished copy handy to reference along the way. my instructions will be printed in the first pages of the books everyone will be making
INTRO
introductions, explain the book we'll be making, and that it can be riffed on to suit many kinds of projects
-some projects would do better with modifications on this structure. now you'll know what questions to ask
-actually bookbinding's just a long series of very simple steps and is gratifying in that what effort you put in (measuring, marking, using nice materials) totally shows in the end
MAKING THE BOOK---
PAGES
Pages will already be glued and prepped for sewing, with cloth hinges. the full version of these instructions will be on the first pages of all the packets.
1. explain how pages are squared and glued, and how to cut channels evenly
-one channel will be left uncut, for just a little practice
2. glue and sew
BINDINGS
1. HEADBANDS
-explain what they do
-different ways to make them
-glue them on
2. ENDPAPERS
-explain what they do
-fold endpapers in half, making origami-sure that they're even before pressing in the fold
-glue endpapers on
3. ROUNDING THE SPINE
4. NET/PAPER
-net goes 1" past the binding on either side, and doesn't overlap the headbands
-measure (measure by holding headband/paper over the rounded spine, mark materials, and cut. use this paper to make another paper, of the same dimensions, in cardstock) glue net and thin papers
5. COVERS
can use paper, fabric, leather, etc (i had a book once with a cover made out of leaves!), can screenprint on it first, or honestly just about whatever
-covers are 2 pieces of cardboard attached to the nets, hinges, and endpaper, spine is a thick piece of paper and is not actually glued to the binding.
"hinge space" allows enough play for the coves to open easily but also lay flat when the book is closed. (when very thick material like leather is used to cover a book, notches are cut in the boards to allow the material to be folded in without interfering with the hinge space.)
-glue board to net of front and back covers, boning (yes, "boning") net flat
-check to see if the fabric at the spine in the top and bottom is shorter than the space before the net. Trim if not, then glue the fabric and fold it down, going over the board and behind the spine. this is the trickiest step.
-glue endpapers down, bone out all bubbles.
you're done! good job probably!
If there's time left i can discuss specifics of particular projects people may be thinking about.
facilitator experience
Sam works professionally doing book restoration and custom binding in Pawtucket, Rhode Island and it's the best job she'll ever have.
intended audience
This class is intended for teenagers and adults. No prior knowledge of bookbinding is needed.