BOOKS under construction

How do you make a book, and what tools and materials do you need?

It is a meticulous and rather lengthy process (see here) requiring patience (lots of it, especially printing, and sewing, I find) but enormously rewarding and satisfying.

I enjoy the skills, the materials and the tools required. I tend to prefer to buy the right tool for the job rather than make do. I just love the feel of using them.

I am always happy to talk to people who are interested in making books themselves. It is an often overlooked art and craft, but has brought me such joy and satisfaction. Feel free to contact me.

Materials include:

Paper: of various weights and tints and textures. The right paper makes a big difference to how the books feels, and handles, obviously.

Grey board: the strength in a book cover, of 1mm, 2mm, 3mm thickness (often a smaller book requires a lighter cover).

PVA Glue: fast drying, sometimes too fast, so I often add some starch paste which slows down the curing time. Like woodworking adhesive, very easy and pleasant to use.

Adhesive tapes: Archival quality, very thin but strong (and not cheap) for taping sheets and strips of pages together (for say a leporello / concertina book).

Book cloth: for covers, usually linen or silk or rayon, various thicknesses and colours and patterns. Some textured and robust papers are good for making interesting covers too.

Thread: Linen, washi, or man-made, for binding with straight or curved needles.

Newsprint paper: for gluing out on, keeping surfaces clean, and protecting paper and cloth (and fingers) from the glue (PVA likes to go off-piste anywhere, especially the book you are working on if you’re not careful).

Decorative papers: For the end papers front and back between the covers and the book block). Lots to choose from: plain, textured, artistic, graphic. Again, the choice is important.