Bookbinding Session With Sarah

Because Amber kindly booked out the print & binding resources, I thought I would take advantage of this and do some pre-runs before binding any future final publications. Sarah was on hand to guide me through two binding techniques: perfect glue binding and japanese stab binding.

The first example, perfect binding, was done by clamping the collection of paper together in between 2 card boards and adding thin layers of PVA glue into the straight edge. The glue will then soak through the paper and bind the pages together. Multiple coats are necessary, either 2 or 3 after each one has dried, to firmly glue the pages together.

Japanese stab binding is carried out by drilling a sequence of holes (3 to 5) in a sequence roughly 10mm adjacent to the spine of the book. The holes are then threaded together with needle and thread in a way demonstrated by the youtube video below. I used much thinner thread when binding, however.

I glued the front covers on by PVA glue to cover the thread, and included a crease on the perfect bound example, with the pressing machine, to make opening the book easier and to reduce strain on the glued front cover.

Here are my binding examples constructed in the session today: