No Sew Book Binding - Easier Way to Make a Sketch Book?
Introduction: No Sew Book Binding - Easier Way to Make a Sketch Book?
There are certain builds or projects that are a rite of passage for makers and for me making a book from scratch, is one of them. I've been wanting to make a book for years. Literally years, I purchased the PVA glue that I used for this Instructable back in 2017 and it just sat on a shelf in my garage. (FYI, PVA glue has a pretty long shelf life.) I've watched a ton of videos on how to make books and read many articles about it, but I never took the plunge. The sewing of the signatures, I will explain what these are later, was probably the most intimidating part when it comes to the book binding process, or at least for me it is. Fortunately, I came up with a way to make the signatures and secure them in place without having to sew them. I don't think I am the first to think of this, but I did feel pretty clever when I thought of it. It is probably not better than sewing the signatures together, but I do think it makes for a secure connection.
I'll cut to the chase and explain my idea. Basically, I figured I could use the method they use to make comic books, which are stapled together, to make the signatures. Comic books are basically just large pieces of paper that have been folded in half and stapled along the folded seam. So, I took this same idea and applied it to the signatures of books. If you are curious and would like more details, please keep reading.
Supplies
Pellon Fusible Interfacing - Feather Weight
Fabric - your choice
Iron
Ironing Board
Bone Folder or equivalent
Cutting Mat
Utility Knife with Razors
Long Reach Stapler
Staples
Blue tape
Rulers
Straight Edges
Combination Square
8.5 x 11 inch Paper
PVA Glue
Brush
Decorative Paper or Card Stock
Heavy Objects to apply Pressure aka lots of books or a large piece of granite
Step 1:
One of the things I have come across during my research is the subject of paper selection. Most of the times people who make books use a high-quality paper. Which I think is a great idea if you know how to make books already. But for your first time I suggest you just use copy paper until you get the hang of it and are less prone to making mistakes. Paying for you mistakes with time is always painful but paying for your mistakes with wasted money always hurts just a little more.
I grabbed about 35 sheets of paper from my printer and started to fold them in half. 668
You want to try and get them as close to folded evenly as possible. I used a letter opener on the fold to make the crease nice and sharp. You can also use a bone folder tool for this part, if you have one. I folded all 35 sheets in half and made 7 stacks of 5 sheets each. These packs of sheets, in my case each pack of 5-sheets, are what are called the signatures.
Step 2:
If you have never seen one of these before well let me introduce you to what makes this all possible, the "Long Reach Stapler". It can be had on Amazon for about $14-$16. Where a normal stapler has a throat depth of about 4-5 inches this can take up to 12 inches, this is the kind of stapler that makes all the other staplers jealous and insecure. This particular model has a depth stop which is just a sliding piece of plastic which works fine for most things but I was going to be using this repeatedly so I wanted to make sure I could get consistent results. I took a scrap piece of folded paper and did a test to see where exactly the paper was being stapled. Then I adjust the stop until I was happy with the location of the staple; ideally you want the staple to land right in the middle of the crease. I then used some painters tape to secure the depth stop in place and did one last test to make sure it was good. Now I could staple my signatures together.
Step 3:
Before I began stapling the signatures together, I made marks on the paper where I wanted the papers to be stapled together. I wanted to make sure all the staples lined up together. I will staple the signatures in three places. I used my ruler to make marks at the 1", 1-1/2", 4",4-1/2" and the 7" and 7-1/2 inch spots along the folded edge of the signatures. I did this for all 7 signatures. These marks will help me to line up the stapler when it comes time to staple them together. 276