{"id":358,"date":"2013-07-29T15:23:10","date_gmt":"2013-07-29T15:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/?p=358"},"modified":"2013-07-29T15:23:10","modified_gmt":"2013-07-29T15:23:10","slug":"how-to-make-a-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/2013\/07\/how-to-make-a-book","title":{"rendered":"How to make a book"},"content":{"rendered":"

Making a blank book can be a lot of fun and it\u2019s fairly easy to do if you have the right equipment.\u00a0 A blank book can be almost any size, shape and color that you want it to be.\u00a0 It can be used as a sketchbook, diary, photo album or just about anything you can think of.\u00a0 The type of book I am making is called a quarter binding because approximately one quarter of the cover is cloth while the rest of the cover is paper.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/span>
\nTo start I decide how big my book will be.\u00a0 In this case it will be 7 \u00bd inches high by 6 inches wide.\u00a0 The textblock will consist of 8 signatures sewn together across linen tapes.\u00a0 I\u2019ve chosen acid-free white Mohawk paper for the pages and I cut this into strips of paper a bit more than twice the width of the book with the grain running head to tail.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"how<\/a>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Once this has been completed the strips are carefully folded into signatures with each signature consisting of three single fold sheets of Mohawk.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"how<\/a>\"how<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\nNext I have to make the sewing stations, which are the holes that the sewing will go through.\u00a0 These are carefully measured and must line up exactly the same on all signatures.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For this book I have a hole at the top and bottom of the signatures for what we call a \u201cKettle\u201d stitch and three sets of holes on either side of where the linen tapes will go.\u00a0 We first measure and poke the holes into a sturdy, folded sheet of Bristol and then use that for a template to punch the sewing stations through the signatures.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n\"how<\/a>\"how<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\nI have the linen tapes taped to a board (paper, not wood) in a way that will line them up with the inside of the three sewing stations in the middle of the signatures.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I then sew the eight signatures together across the tapes with number 25 weight thread.\u00a0 As each signature is sewn to the textblock, I \u201cbone\u201d down the back of the signature with a bone folder to help reduce the thickness of the spine.<\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n\"how<\/a>\"how<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n When all of the signatures have been sewn into a textblock, I place it under a weight and coat the spine with a PVA based adhesive.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I avoid getting any of the glue on the actual tapes or thread.\u00a0 When the spine is dry I put the textblock into a press and, using a special hammer and my bone folder, I gently tap and press the spine into what we call a \u201cRound\u201d.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 T<\/span><\/span><\/span>he round is the slight curvature of the book\u2019s spine.\u00a0 After this has been completed, the spine of the book is lined with several materials. \u00a0The first consists of end bands and strips of heavy, thick Japanese paper called \u201cHosho\u201d. \u00a0\u00a0The Hosho is placed between the linen tapes to make the spine a smooth, uniform surface without the bumps that the tapes would otherwise make.\u00a0 Over that I will place a sturdy mesh cloth called \u201cMull\u201d.\u00a0 The mull will be wider than the spine on either side and this, along with the linen tapes, will hinge the textblock to the cover.\u00a0 Lastly, a strip of Mohawk is placed over the mull and is the width of the spine.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When the spine lining has dried, I take the textblock over to our guillotine and trim its fore edge so that the pages of the text are the same width.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The textblock is complete and now I am ready to make the cover.\u00a0 To begin this, I choose an appropriate weight board and cut two pieces exactly the same height and width.\u00a0 These should be a bit taller and wider than the textblock.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I select the cloth that I will use for the spine of the cover and measure it to be approximately the width of the spine plus two inches by the height of the cover boards plus an inch and a half.\u00a0 After lining the inside of the cloth with a strip of Mohawk that is the width of the spine, I\u2019ll glue the cover boards to the back of the cloth strip.\u00a0 When this has dried, I check to make sure the cover fits over the textblock and that there is enough room for the gutter joint that will run along the edge of the spine.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If the fit looks okay, I\u2019m ready to choose the type of paper I want and glue it to the cover.\u00a0 I cut two sheets of the paper I have selected. \u00a0\u00a0The cover paper measure is the height of the board plus an inch and a half by the width of the board (starting from the cloth hinge) plus three fourths of an inch.\u00a0 These are glued to the boards with a PVA based adhesive called \u201cMixture\u201d and put under weights to dry smooth and flat.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Next the turn-ins are glued down and the cover is complete.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The last step is to glue the textblock to the book\u2019s cover.\u00a0 Before I do this I put wax paper behind the first and last pages of the textblock.\u00a0 Then I put two pieces of waste paper over the wax paper.\u00a0 The waste paper and wax paper should be slightly larger than the textblock.\u00a0 Apply mixture to the first page, the mull hinge and the linen tapes.\u00a0 Remove the waste paper and close the cover around the textblock, flip the book over and repeat the process on the other side of the book.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The first and last pages, now glued to the cover, become what we call the \u201cPastedowns\u201d.\u00a0 After this has been completed put the book into a press and let it set overnight.\u00a0 If needed, a title may be stamped and glued to the spine or cover.<\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n\"how<\/a>\"how<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\nThe blank book is now complete.\u00a0 One thing to remember about making a book is that there are many different types of sewing to choose from or, in the case of an adhesive bound book, no sewing.\u00a0 Also there is a large variety of covering materials to choose from as well, ranging from handmade papers, marbled paper, paste paper, cloth or leather.\u00a0 I suggest using the internet as a good source for more detailed instructions on book making, glossary terms and the type of materials and equipment you will need.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nPatrick Schmude \u2013 Sr. Conservation Technician (UCL)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Making a blank book can be a lot of fun and it\u2019s fairly easy to do if you have the right equipment.\u00a0 A blank book can be almost any size, shape and color that you want it to be.\u00a0 It can be used as a sketchbook, diary, photo album or just about anything you can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[41,104,153,228,254],"class_list":["post-358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book","tag-book-2","tag-diy","tag-how-to","tag-patrick-schmude","tag-quarter-binding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}