Learn Nol. COMPLETE Bookbinding STARTER KIT Bee eee The Anatomy and Glossary - Here are a few of the terms and descriptions you'll find in these instructions: HEADBAND SQUARE ative braid at the ‘The strip of cover that overhangs hhead and foot of the spine HEAD the bookblock round the open edges The top edge of the book BACKBONE, The strip of greyboard Inside the spine SIDINGS he paper covering the outside of a case BOOKBLOCK “The pages once they have been joined togethe SPINE ‘The hinged side of a book FORE EDGE ‘The open side of a book COVER BOARDS he two sheets of greyboard forming the case BOOK CLOTH Fabric that has been stiffened fr paper backed for bookbinding A ENDPAPERS The folded sheet inside the cover; half pasted down MULL ‘Muslin or gauze that joins the bbookbiack into its case FOOT (TAIL) ’ CASE The bottom edge of the book. The entire cover of the book Notes on gluing: Included in your kit is good quality, washable PVA. This is standard builder's type PVA or white wood glue. For most bookbinding, its not necessary to use expensive, specialist conservation quality bookbinding PVA. Gluing can be an art in itself but it shouldn't be stressful. Your aim is to lay down a thin, even layer of glue, without pools, dribbles or dry patches. Be mindful of the direction in which you brush; don't accidentally brush glue underneath and onto the front. Use the largest brush appropriate for the area you are working and apply with confidence. If you are slow and tentative, your glue will be drying before you finish. Its often easier to apply more glue than you need wipe off your brush on the edge of your glue pot and then brush the glue back off your work and even it out as you do. On small areas, such as flaps, you can pounce the glue on: Use a large brush, dip the tip in your glue pot, dab off the excess on scrap paper then apply the giue with a stippling action. This leaves behind just the right amount of glue. There's a cloth included for cleaning up as you work, use it damp. Rouge smears of glue, left behind on your work surface or scrap paper can spoil your beautiful book. Always use fresh scrap paper every time and discard glued-up pieces immediately. Download full instructions at: www.learnbookbinding.co.uk/guide/starterLearn Nol. COMPLETE Bookbinding STARTER KIT step-by-step instructions Download full instructions at: www.learnbookbinding.co.uk/guide/starter Thank you for purchasing your complete bookbinding starter kit. Your kit contains carefully selected, quality tools; everything you will need to make beautiful, hand-crafed books in the age-old, traditional way Ihave been teaching bookbinding to complete beginners for over 15 years and it is out aim at Learn Bookbinding to share this wonderful craft with as many people as we possibly can. | have taken traditional bookbinding, dispensed with all the specialist, expensive equipment and created this easy to learn process. Perfect. for the kitchen table bookbinder! In your kit, are two packs containing all the quality paper and sundries you need to complete two, AS, hard-bound, multi-signature, quarter cloth books We also stock a delicious selection of refil packs in our online store but you will probably also notice that most of these materials can actually be found in high street stationers, art suppliers and haberdashers. You can even make your own book cloth! ‘There are just a few items not included in your kit because you probably already have them: Scrap paper (an old glossy magazine - not newspaper), a board, such as a chopping board (you could use a large book in a plastic bag). Weights to press the book while it dries; bricks wrapped in paper, a large pile of books, or a few large milk cartons full of water are some ideas. You will also find it useful to be able to stand your book, spine up as you work; use bookends, other books, tin cans or you can hold it between your knees While you are siting Read through the instructions at www. learnbookbinding.co.uk/guide/starter before you begin, then go ahead and have fun. Bookbinding is easier than you could have imagined but it does carry a warning... it is also highly addictive! ‘Mandy Flockton, LeanBookbinding co.uk1 ‘Take the pages and place them on your cutting mat, smooth our the stack to squeeze out the air from between the sheets cere 2. Draw circles with one knuckle in the centre of the paper. Use medium pressure and make circular move- ments around 5-10cm in diameter. SPH 3. This circular action will fan out the stack of >>> pages and make them easy to count. 4. Count out the sheets into signatures (there will be one or two spare sheets remaining), Your book is made up from mini-booklets called signatures. © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul5. Each signature contains 4 sheets of paper. 6, There are 6 signatures in your book. Stack your paper in 6 groups, each of 4 sheets. 7. Fold cach of the 6 signatures in half (short edge to short edge). Line up the top and bottom edges (head and foot) of the pages carefully. Crease the folded edge with your hand; first from the centre up and then from the centre down. _ Note: The fore edge will be untidy at this stage. Don't worry, this will be trimmed later. 8. Crease each signature again more firmly, this time with the bone folder. Use a buttering action, leaning the folder forward in the direction it is moving; start in the centre of the fold and crease upwards © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul9. Then from the centre downwards, leaning the bone folder back towards yourself, 10. Your finished stack of signatures will be neat and ctisp. 11. Take one of the spare sheets and fold this in half on its own and crease it in the same way. This will become your guide sheet for piercing and sewing your signatures together to form a book- block. 12. To create your guide sheet you will need the cotton tape, pencil, ruler, and scissors. © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ulSS) 13. Cur three pieces of cotton tape, each approxi- mately 20 cm long 14, Take your guide sheet, open it out and lay the tapes across the centre fold, spacing them out evenly. You do not need to measure, just do this by eye Se 15. Make a pencil mark on either side of each piece . of tape Don't mark tight up against the tape, leave approx- imately Imm on either side. Remove the tapes. 16. Now measure in from 15mm from one side and 20mm from the other along the centre fold. and make marks, “There should now be 8 pencil marks crossing the fold: there will be one for either side of each tape and one at either end, The 15 & 20mm marks at the ends are for the ketcle stitches. (Making them different distances from each side will help you easily line up the stitch holes in your signatures). © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul17. You have now created a guide sheet to pierce your signatures. Fold your guide sheet with the marks to the inside and place it inside the centre of a signature. Make sure it is positioned tight into the fold and. meets the top and bottom edges (head and foot) neatly, 18. Using the awl, you will pierce holes through the signature on ALL the pencil marks as follows: 19. Place the tip of the awl on a pencil mark. 20. Hold the signature down with the side of your awL-hand and hold the fore edge of the signature with your other hand above the pencil mark. Don’t put your hand behind the signature. © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul21, Pull the top edge of the signature closed over your hand as you push the awl through. This will ensure your awl comes out right on the fold. 22. Move your hands down a hole at a time. Pierce all the holes in all the signatures in the same way. 24, Your holes should line up neatly along the ——S— spine of your signatures. © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ulTS 25. Sec up for sewing as shown; Fold your guide sheet the other way out, with the pencil marks to the outside and burt the folded (pencil marked) edge of the guide sheet against the long edge of your cutting mat. You will nced the masking tape and your 3 cotton tapes next 26. Cut 3 pieces of masking tape approximately Sem long. aS 27. Lay your cotton tapes across your guide sheet and cutting mat, between the pencil marks ‘About one third of the length of each tape should be across the cutting mat and the rest on the paper. 28. Using the masking tape, stick the cotton tapes down firmly to the cutting mat © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul29. Cheek the holes for the kettle stitches: make sure your stack of signatures and your guide sheet have the 15 and 20mm holes at the same side as each other. 30. Flip your stack of signatures over so the 15 8 20mm holes are now on opposite sides Finally flip your cutting mat over and bring it to the edge of the table so the tapes hang over the side. 31. To sew your signatures into a bookblock you will need the beeswax, thread, scissors and a ncedle Cut a piece of thread to comfortable length for sewing; around 75cm to a 10cm long should be fine. 32. Wax your thread: Lay your thread, about half way along its length, across the beeswax. Put your thumb on top and draw the thread firmly across the wax The thread will cut into the wax, this is ok. Repeat this around 6-12 times until your thread is com- pletely coated in wax. Turn it around and wax the other half in the same way. Finally, draw it firmly through your fingers a few times until it squeaks to remove excess wax. Waxing stiffens he thread and helps prevent knots forming. Tealso makes your thread slightly tacky so your stitches don’t slip. © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul33. Thread your needle You can flatten the end of the thread between your fingernails or teeth to help with threading, You will be sewing with a single thickness of thread. Do not knot the end. rr 34, Begin by bringing your first signature to the edge of the cutting mat and line up the holes with the tapes. Your hand should be inside the signature. Start sewing from outside at whichever end is most com- fortable for you. Pass the needle through the kettle hole from the outside to the inside = x 35. Pull the thread through to the inside leaving a tail of approx 10cm on the outside of the book, tape the tail down to the edge of the table with a small pice of masking tape. This will stop it from == being accidentally pulled inside the book. Contin- ue sewing using a running stitch; bring the needle out of the next hole, Pull your thread in the same direction you are sewing but not so tight as to risk breaking the thread 36. Life the first tape and pass the needle back inside through the next hole. © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul37. The thread should pass around the outside of | the tape each time. Do not sew through the tape. 38. Continue sewing along the signature, in and out, to the other end, each lifting the tape so the thread can pass across it on the outside. 39. You should finish with your needle out of the kettle hole at the end. 40. Place the next signature on top, and bring to the front edge, to line up with your first signature © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul41. Open this signarure and begin sewing. Pass your needle directly up and into the kettle hole in your new signature. we ail 42. Come out of the next hole and pull the thread in the direction that you are sewing (never pull the thread out towards yourself or you could cheese- wire through the paper) ‘There should now be small connecting stitch be- ween the kettle holes in the two signatures 43. Continue sewing in and out, lifting the tapes up to sew around the tapes. 44. As you sew, keep pushing the signatures down and pulling the tapes upwards to keep he signatures tightly together. © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul45. Continue sewing along the signature. You will end the second signature with your needle coming out of the kertle hole. Un-stick the tail from the start of the first signa- ture, 46. Tie your needle thread and the tail together. 47. Tie twice, to connect the first two signatures together at the kettle holes. 48. Snip off the tail, leaving a couple of millime- tres. © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul49, Line up the next signacure and sew directly up and into the kettle hole on your new signature, above your knot. Continue sewing along your new signature to the other end in the same way; in and out, passing the thread across the outside of the tapes cach time. 50. When you come out of the kettle hole at the end of your third signature, you will tie your first kettle stitch. A kettle stitch is a chain stitch that links the signatures together at either end of the book. To make a kettle stitch; pass your needle into the space between the two signatures, below the one you are working on (in this case the needle goes between signatures 1 & 2). The needle goes behind the connecting stitch and out sideways to come out of the head or foot of the book. 51. Pull the needle and continue pulling towards yourself until the thread forms a loop 52. Pass your needle upwards, through the loop. © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul53. Pull your needle thread upwards, while at the same time hold down the signatures with your finger as the knot forms 54, You have now made a kettle stitch. From now on, you need to connect every signature at i's end to the signature below with a kettle stitch, in exact- [J ly the same way. Continue adding new signatures and sewing in and out along them as before. 55. Joining thread: You may run out of thread as you sew or your thread may break. You will join a new piece of thread by using a weaver's knot. A weavers knot is a way of joining on a new piece of thread without having to tie i in the usual way and it means you can join even if you only have a very short stump of thread left to tie to. Always j thread next to a tape so the weave across the tape. “That way the knot won't get stuck against a hole and cause your stitches to be loose. in knot will lie 56. Wax a new piece of thread (step 32) Form a slip knot: Cross the tail of your new piece of thread on top to form a loop © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul57. Bend the tail end half way down. 58. Pass the bend through the loop from under- neath. 59. Pull the new thread to tighten the slipknot but do not fully tighten it A slipknot is a simple noose. It is important to leave daylight in the knot at the base of the noose. 60. Pass the noose of the new thread, over the tail of the old thread. © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul61. Take the noose up against the book and pull both ends of the new thread to tighten the noose. 62. As you tighten the noose, it will bend the old thread and pull it up into the knot. You should feel it ‘click’. 63. Pull your new thread to check the weavers knot has been successful. if it slips, you will have to pull it off and repeat steps 56.b - 62. If your knot failed, it is because you didn't leave enough daylight in the knot at the base of your noose (59 A). pees 64. Once you have tied a successful weaver's knot, snip off the tails a couple of mm from the knot. ‘Thread your needle onto your new thread and con- tinue sewing, © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul65. Your knot should sit on the outside of a tape where it can't become stuck against a hole as you tighten your stitches. 66. When you have reached the end of your final signature, tie wo kettle stitches to finish. 68. Snip off your remaining thread. © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul69. Turn the bookblock and cutting mat upside down and remove the masking tape. 70. Trim the cotton tapes down to approximately 4-Scm to make them more manageable (chey will be trimmed shorter at a later stage). 71. Square up your bookblock by ‘jogging’ it (cap- ping it) on the table; square it up along the spine... 72. ..and along the head and foot. © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul73. Bring your cutting mat to the edge of the table and lay your bookblock down with the tapes tucked underneath, >) The spine should overhang the edge of the cutting mat by a few millimetres. 74, Place a board, such as a chopping board on top (or book protected with polythene ot waxed paper). few millimetres to allow you to glue up the spine. Place weight on top of your board to press your signatures together. 76. Using the small brush, apply PVA all the way along the spine of the bookblock. © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul77. There should be enough PVA to fill the grooves between the signatures but not so much that it forms into drips. Glue across the tapes too 78. Dampen one of the cloths and wrap your brush head in it to stop it from drying out. Leave the bookblock to fully dry. You can use a hairdryer to speed this up if you wish. 79. The fore edge of the bookblock needs to be trimmed neatly, paralell with the spine Measure and and make two marks the same dis- tance from the spine, near the head and foot on the front page. ‘The marks need to be at least 5mm from the fore edge. | (Lf you try to trim t00 close to the fore edge, the blade can sometimes skip off the edge) 80. To trim the book by hand you just need the ruler and a fresh blade in you knife. Te is a process of technique and patience - no force required! First, read through 81 - 85. Stand up to cut and position your book so you are cutting a stroke that is naturally comfortable for you, Relax and breathe! Position your bookblock on your cutting mat with the spine overhanging the edge of the mat by a centimetre or two (see picture 83). Position your ruler on your pencil marks and hold ie down firmly with your fingers well away from the edge. © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul82. .and finish off the foot. ; sees) 84, Stroke - DO NOT CUT - your way through the bookblock. You MUST NOT use pressure on the knife, Stroke your way through the bookblock one or two sheets of paper at a time, using only the weight of your hand on the blade. Try to ignore the fact that you are cutting through paper, be zen! Don't flick away the strips of paper to check how far down you have gone. Don't try and adjust the direction of your cut. If it wanders, this has hap- pened because you are applying pressure and you will not be able to redirect it. 81. DO NOT use any pressure on the knife, simply allow the weight of your hand and the sharpness of the blade to make the cuts. Your cut- ting stroke will begin off the head of the book... 83. Your knife blade should be perpendicular to the cutting mat (at a right angle to it). You can tile your blade backwards or forwards to find a com- fortable position but DO NOT tilt it sideways. Look directly over your cutting with and eye on either side of the blade. Make sure your first stroke is very light and your blade runs along the edge of the ruler. © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul85. Just keep stroking until you hear and feel you knife change note. ‘This will tell you, you have © reached the cutting mat. One or two more strokes ) will ensure a clean finish. Finally, remove the pile of paper strips. Ic isa good idea to practice this cutting technique on old magazines. 86, Measure the height and width of your trimmed bookblock and write these measurements down. 87. Now deduct 2mm from the width and add 8mm to the height. Write the totals down. This will be the width and height of your cover boards. “This formula (w-2, H+8) gives you a square (the amount the cover overhangs the bookblock) of 4mm and allows 6mm for the hinge 88. Measure and mark the cover board height onto the sheet of greyboard at both ends, parallel with the long edge. © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul89. Draw a line across the board at your marks. 90. From one short edge, measure in the width of the cover board. Again, make two marks at either end. 91. Draw a line across the board at your marks. You have now marked up your first cover board. 92. First, cut the narrow strip from the long edge and discard this strip. © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul93. When you are cutting greyboard it is always safer to use use more strokes and less force. Keep your fingers well away from the edge of the ruler. | Stand up to cur, itis safer. 94. Cut the board into two pieces, down your pencil line. 95. The smallest of these pieces is one cover board. ‘The cover boards and the backbone are all the same height 96. To find the width of your backbone; sandwich your bookblock between the two pieces of grey- board. © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul97. Pick up your bookblock sandwich and tap it on the table to align the boards and the bookblock at the fore edge (the spine should be visible at the top) 98. Pick up the sandwich, squeezing it together at the fore edge and measure the total thickness; from the outer edge of one piece of greyboard to the outer edge of the other. 99. Make a note of this measurement, In this ex- ample the backbone is 13mm wide. 100. On the largest piece of greyboard, parallel with the long side, measure and mark the width of your backbone at the top and bottom edges © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul101, Draw a line berween your marks 102. Place your ruler up to this line and cut your backbone from the sheet 103. The backbone is the same height as the cover boards. Hiicone ict 104. Place your first cover board on top of the re- maining, larger piece of greyboard. Line up the edges carefully and draw around it; down the long, edge i Wicteeaicductios © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul105. Cut off this waste piece. 106. You now have two cover boards the same size and a backbone of the same height. 107. Cut a strip of paper ftom your guide sheet ap- proximately 1-2 cm in width. This will be used to take measurements and make a guide for spacing the backbone, cover boards and hinges as you as- semble the case. 108. Place one of your cover boards as shown, overhanging the table. This overhang will enable you to pick it up easily. © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul109. Place your bookblock on top the cover board with an even amount (4mm) of greyboard showing all the way round the fore edge, head and foot of the bookblock. The spine will overhang the greyboard by approx 6mm. ‘This is the 'home’ position of your book- block. ‘When your book is finished, this is where the bookblock will sit in relation to the cover boards. =. 110, Place the second cover board directly on top to create a bookblock sandwich lining up the cor- ners from above with the coverboard at the bottom. 111. Pick up the sandwich carefully and clamp it together with the bulldog clip at the fore edge. ‘The spine of the bookblock should be protruding from opposite edge of the sandwich by approxi- mately 6mm. 112. Place the greyboard backbone on top of the spine of your bookblock and wrap the strip of paper around the outside to hold it snugly. Draw a pencil line on your paper strip at the edge of the coverboard © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul113. Without displacing anything, turn the sand- wich over and draw a pencil line on the other side of the strip of paper at the edge of the cover board. 114, You now have your guide for the spacing of the cover boards HJ 115. The ribbon book-marker, headbands and mull are attached with PVA. Cut two pieces of head- band approximately 3cm long (they will be wider than the thickness of the bookblock to begin with and they are trimmed down when the glue is dry) 116. Stand the bookblock up on its fore edge, with the spine at the top and apply a generous layer of PVA along the length of the spine © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul118. Apply more PVA on top of the ribbon to secure it. Again be careful not to get PVA on the ribbon beyond the spine. WF 120. Apply the headband and hold it down for a few moments to ensure it adheres 117. Attach one end of the ribbon onto the PVA from from the top of the tape to the head of the bookblock, up the centre of the spine. Be careful not to get glue on the ribbon that extends out beyond the spine. 119. The headband can sometimes be tricky to stick down so apply a little glue to the canvas part on one side only, being careful not to get glue on the decorative braided edge. © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul121, Correctly positioned, only the braided edge, resembling a caterpillar, can be seen sitting on top of the pages. 122. Apply the headband to the foot of the spine in the same way. 123. Apply the mull; position it centrally along the spine, between both rows of kettle stitches. 124. Rub the mull down along the spine with your fingers so the PVA squeezes up through the weave. © Learn Bookbinding - LearaBookbinding.co:ul