Progress in bookbinding!

[luzula]

I finalized the layout of the book in LaTeX (thanks for your typesetting expertise and opinions, jesse_the_k! ♥). Then I rearranged it into A4 signatures for printing. Annoyingly, I had 387 pages of book, which meant that whether I used five A4 pages per signature (= 400 pages of book), or six (= 408 pages of book), I would end up with quite a lot of white pages at the end. I went with five.

I ordered my bookbinding tools and supplies from Shepherd's, which store I can much recommend--they were prompt to reply to questions and prompt to send my package, which arrived within a few days. Just a week before Brexit would have made me pay customs on it, in fact! (As an aside: I pretty frequently order books from the UK, and will need more bookbinding supplies in future. Arrgh, Brexit. Sorry, I know you actual British people have magnitudes more trouble with it, mine is just minor annoyance.)

Next step, print book (at work...). I used this paper, which I found very nice! Then fold the signatures and punch holes for the sewing, here they are after that (see photo under cut). By the way, the method I follow is partly from armoredsuperheavy's instructions and partly from various youtubers. The instructions in the document say to open the signature face-down and then punch through with the awl, but I quickly switched to doing it from the other side (with a template to show me where the holes should go). The reason is that the side where the awl goes in looks much neater than the side where it goes out, and I want the neat side to be the one which will be visible later. You can see the difference in the photo.


Next up, sewing on tapes. You're supposed to have a frame to hold the tapes, but I didn't feel it was difficult to manage without it. Not actually sure what coating the thread with beeswax contributes? But beeswax smells very nice, so why not.


Here's the result after sewing, both from the spine and from inside the book.



So far the most time-consuming thing has been the typesetting, because there were various LaTeX problems I ran into that don't come up when typesetting math articles. But now that I've solved those, typesetting should be much easier in future.

I haven't decided if I should attempt rounding and backing or just skip the step as many people seem to be doing. I mean, I'm not sure I could do it properly, because I don't have a means to screw the book into position while I bang at it with a hammer. Hmm.

Comments

[mific]

Wow, you really did mean "bang it with a hammer"!

[luzula]

Well, yes. I mean, the rounding I can do without a hammer, because it's easy just to form the spine into a rounded shape by pushing on it with my hands, and I can see why that's necessary, because otherwise the spine will be too thick. But the backing? I just don't know.

[regshoe]

Aww, those nicely bound pages look so elegant. Just the setting the fic deserves, and it must be very satisfying putting it all together like this. :)

(Ugh, I am also looking in dismay at the potential customs duties on things ordered from the EU in future. That seems to be causing a lot of disruption in general. Sympathies...!)

Hitting the book with a hammer looks fun! But possibly not the most practical, heh.

[luzula]

It's very satisfying! : D Both the hands-on craft aspect of it, and the result. Of course, I haven't gotten to the scary parts yet--glueing things together feels like it could go wrong more easily, if the glue gets where it shouldn't.

Yes, of course it goes the other way, too, and you'll be getting customs duties as well. /o\

Still have not decided whether to attempt the hammering; I've got the endsheets to glue on first, anyway.

[nnozomi]

I'm so impressed at how this looks, and also at the apparently very wide range of skills required to create it (from LaTex to, um, banging things with hammers). Wonderful!

[luzula]

Well, I wouldn't say I have all those skills yet--this will be my trial run. But yes, I think it's gone well so far! Let's see how the glueing will go...

[garonne]

This looks so cool, particularly the photo open at a chapter heading.

Also, it's amazing how many instructional/informative videos you can find on Youtube. It never occurred to me to look before, but recently I've been using it for stuff like "how does an 18th century handloom work", "what was it like to wear stays", "how to handsew an 18th century shirt" (and also less fun stuff like "how to repair a radiator"...)

[luzula]

OMG, are you sewing the whole shirt by hand, instead of by machine? That's impressive.

...wait, does the searching for handlooms mean you wove the fabric, as well? : P

And thanks, glad you like the photos! Am just now waiting for the glue to set on the headbands.

[garonne]

Haha, no, I am using a sewing machine *g* Though the style and construction of those shirts in such that I do actually have to hand-finish all the seams.

Though youtube is actually full of people who handsew reproduction clothing and even some who have their own handlooms! It's pretty impressive.

[dhampyresa]

It looks super nice! How many pages is it (per signature, I mean)?

[luzula]

Thanks! We'll see how the finished book will end up...

It's five A4 sheets of paper per signature, but there are four A5 book pages per A4 sheet, so 20 book pages per signature.

[dhampyresa]

I'm confused. I thought you said the book was 400 pages? But five signatures at 20 page per signature is 100 pages. Can you explain? /is tired, cannot brain

[luzula]

Ah, okay. There are 20 signatures in total, and 20 signatures * 20 book pages = 400. But you asked how many pages there were per signature, and that's what I replied to. If I didn't misunderstand you?

[dhampyresa]

It's my fault, I misread the post -- I somehow thought there was a total of five signatures. Thank you for explaining!

[luzula]

No problem!

I just glued one side of the book to the cover, which was scary...the result sadly is not perfect (there is a wrinkle). : / But then, it was my first try.

[dhampyresa]

I'm sure it looks great!

Are you using a guide of some sort? This looks like it could be an interesting project.

[luzula]

Actually it looks better when it has dried!

Yes, there's a link in the main post to the guide I've used, plus there's lots of youtube videos. I'll post photos of the end result soon. : )

[dhampyresa]

Awesome, thank you!

WOW!

[jesse_the_k]

I'm glad I could contribute in any way -- that looks fabulous!

Are you binding in leather or fabric? Pasting in marbled endpapers?

Beeswax orients the little fibers at the edge of the thread. So theoretically it makes it easier to thread the needle and easier to pull the needle through the paper.

Re: WOW!

[luzula]

The endpapers are not marbled or patterned, but they are nicer paper. Then I'll use cloth for the covers. That does mean I have no idea how to get the title on the cover! I would ideally like those sort of gold or silver metallic letters that are stamped into the covers, but I have no idea of how to achieve that. Oh well.

To me it doesn't feel easier to pull the needle through, but it does feel like it makes the thread stiffer and stickier, so that maybe it doesn't loosen up again as much after you've tightened the stitches?

[starshipfox]

That looks fabulous! Well done! I love the typesetting and the sewed pages are so satisfying to look at. What a great project.

Post-Brexit, most companies have been adding the customs payment to the cost of postage to Ireland, which at least means you don't have to pay extra at your doorstep. Do they do that for Sweden too? You're also usually safe if your purchase is below £45 -- but it's very annoying! Oh, Britain :(

[luzula]

Thank you! : ) Soon I'll need to glue the case to the book, which seems a scary moment...

In Sweden, you get a bill in the mail that you need to pay before the package is delivered to you. And usually they don't take into account that books have lower VAT, but just apply ordinary VAT to those too. *grumble*

It's not that I mind paying VAT on everything I buy in Sweden, but it's annoying with the delay and also (I think?) paying in both countries.