Home Binding 101: slurmstyle
This is my home binding tutorial. There
are many others like it, but this one is mine.
A while back a friend of mine, Bean,
began binding his comic books at home. The internet was immediately envious of
him and his skills. I too was afflicted with skin several shades greener.
Nearly instantaneously the internet demanded that he post a tutorial on his
process of binding books. Being the stand up cat and all around good guy, he
acquiesced. Bean's enthusiasm for binding books was clearly contagious but he
found it difficult to find time to compile the tutorial. He had a partial
tutorial, pictures mostly, set up before C2E2 2013. Over several drinks,
dinners and shenanigans with all our mutual comic book friends I was able to eyeball
his handy work first hand. He had custom bound a tall rectangular Stilt Man
sketchbook that was really popular with professionals and fans alike. I
returned home greener in tone but richer in knowledge.
Months passed. I had a free weekend.
There must've been a wild hare that didn't make it home that week because I vowed
that I would crack the code that Bean left in those process pictures. It was a
puzzle that I needed to solve. I cursed and cursed. Mapping the Human Genome
was far easier, but stubbornness and a nonexistent social life prevailed. After
many hours, cans of soda, and several, several
mistakes and false starts I completed my first bind. Each successive
bind is made in less time, higher quality and has some slight adjustments. It's
all progress and process.
Enter one LA Rabbit. It was now my turn
to feel the pressure of putting together a tutorial on home book binding.
Andrew insisted that I should do my version, so as is my style, I denied and
kick and screamed all the way until finally agreeing. What was the deciding
factor? La Rabbit himself started book binding and posting his process on his
blog. All my friends are doing it, so why not me?
All three of us do the stitching part
of the bind a different way. We all have stylistic differences and media
differences. Make sure to frequent their blogs and tutorials for new tips. In
closing I just want to say that I still would prefer people to defer to the
originator of home binding in our little group, Bean.
This one is for LA Rabbit.
Bean
Bean's Blog
EOC Thread
La Rabbit
LA Rabbit's blog
1. Let's Get Started.
First step is deciding on what set of
comics (magazines, recipes, clippings etc) that you want to bind together. For
this tutorial I chose a medium sized series. (Figure 01)
O.M.A.C. #1-8 and DC Universe #0 is roughly ten standard comic books and I
find that this is a really safe place to do a first bind. The most difficult
for me is the six issue bind. I've bound as much as 22 comics in one volume and
that is a bit easier for me.
Now to move onto the second step.
COMPLETE DESTRUCTION OF YOUR COMIC BOOKS! Not for the squeamish. Lay comic
books spine down and flatten them. (Figure 02)
Unfold the staples and remove.
(Figure 03)
Line up with a metal ruler (a metal ruler will maintain a straight
longer than a wooden or plastic one when nicked by your razor or cutting
blades). Take a deep breath and cut straight down the center of the spine.
(Figure 04-Figure 05)
I generally work from the last issue in
the bind to the first. It makes no real difference, whatever you prefer is the
right way. I do advise to place a piece of cardboard or a comic book backing
board at the bottom of your stack. Set aside for now. (Figure 06)
Repeat the
previous steps until you have completely cut all issues in your bind. (Figure
07)
As mentioned in the introduction, people differ in the style of binding. I
like removing the staples and cutting the spines down because it flattens the
comics as much as possible allowing for a tighter bind.
2. The Initial Binding - Soft Cover
Version
As stated in the introduction, this is
a learning process. As a result I made a happy mistake and will share it with
you here. If you are not interested in
the soft cover version than just skip ahead to step 3.
Your first step is constructing a press
for your comics. I just replicated Bean's press. Remember you don't need
anything fancy, just functional. Two pieces of board, four bolts and wing nuts.
If you are using light woods or softer woods that aren't as dense I suggest
that you also add a few washers so that you don't compress or crack the wood
when pressing your books. (Figure 08)
Using the piece of cardboard make the
spice side of your cut comics flush. Be certain that you don't have any
straggling pages. Place in between the boards using the screws as guides.
(Figure 09)
My press is a little weak, due to the thinness of the wood to I
compress the comics at the spine with a couple of small C Clamps. (Figure 10)
Reminder this is only for the soft
cover variant. If you want a hardcover you do not want to do these next steps
without first placing your endpapers as detailed in the hardcover version in
step 3.
Get a cheap brush and some white craft
glue. Add a drop or two of water, only to loosen up the thickness of the glue. (Figure
11)
Apply a light coat to the spine of the book. fill in all the pockets but
not too heavy on the glue. It's simply there to prevent the pages from
shifting. I have a tendency to be overly cautious and this may be another of
those instances. (Figure 12)
Use a comic backing board to create a
template of where you want your stitching to go. I've settled with the pattern
you see here and the distance away from the spine. Distance from the spine is
rather important for those that are worried about gutter loss. (Figure 14)
Place your template backing board over the now dry glued comics. Make sure the
template board is flush with the spine. If you are indoors I suggest that you
go outside for this next step as you will need a power drill. (Figure 15)
The
type of drill and gauge of your bit will be completely up to you, although I
would suggest nothing over 1/8" in diameter. Drill your holes. (Figure
16)
As you can see this can be rather
messy, but the hard part is over. Blow or dust off the residue/dust before
continuing. (Figure 17)
Release your comics from the press. Cut
that piece of cardboard that we were using for stability off of your glued
comics. (Figure 18)
You'll notice a nice trade paperback feel to your comics
now. (Figure 19)
Cut a length of ribbon. Make sure that at least two inches are
included at the spine. (Figure 20)
Grab your glue brush again. Generously brush
glue to both sides of the ribbon and set aside for drying. (Figure 21)
Thread a large heavyweight needle.
Apologies I'm not well versed enough in sewing to give you an actual name or
size. A penny is here for scale. Any thicker thread should work fine. Ignore
the writing in the picture, that's for a different step. (Figure 23)
Sew your books together using the
needle and thread. I used a simple Japanese Stab Binding pattern here. (Figure
24)
Trim & tie off the excess thread and you're good to go with a soft
cover bind. Not as pretty as the hardcover bind, but as stated earlier I wanted
to give the option from the "happy mistake" that I made while
compiling this tutorial.
3. The Initial Binding - Hardcover
Version
Your first step is constructing a press
for your comics. I just replicated Bean's press. Remember you don't need
anything fancy, just functional. Two pieces of board, four bolts and wing nuts.
If you are using light woods or softer woods that aren't as dense I suggest
that you also add a few washers so that you don't compress or crack the wood
when pressing your books. (Figure 08)
Using the piece of cardboard make the
spice side of your cut comics flush. Be certain that you don't have any
straggling pages. Place in between the boards using the screws as guides.
(Figure 09)
My press is a little weak, due to the thinness of the wood to I
compress the comics at the spine with a couple of small C Clamps. (Figure 10)
Reminder this is only for the soft
cover variant. If you want a hardcover you do not want to do these next steps
without first placing your endpapers as detailed in the hardcover version in
step 3.
Get a cheap brush and some white craft
glue. Add a drop or two of water, only to loosen up the thickness of the glue.
(Figure 11)
Apply a light coat to the spine of the book. fill in all the
pockets but not too heavy on the glue. It's simply there to prevent the pages
from shifting. I have a tendency to be overly cautious and this may be another
of those instances. (Figure 12) Home
binding 101Home binding 101
You'll need thread, ribbon, craft glue,
a glue stick, some tape, and a plastic or felt squeegee moving forward. (Figure
13)
Use a comic backing board to create a
template of where you want your stitching to go. I've settled with the pattern
you see here and the distance away from the spine. Distance from the spine is
rather important for those that are worried about gutter loss. (Figure 14)
Place your template backing board over the now dry glued comics. Make sure the
template board is flush with the spine. If you are indoors I suggest that you
go outside for this next step as you will need a power drill. (Figure 15)
The
type of drill and gauge of your bit will be completely up to you, although I
would suggest nothing over 1/8" in diameter. Drill your holes. (Figure
16)
As you can see this can be rather
messy, but the hard part is over. Blow or dust off the residue/dust before
continuing. (Figure 17)
Release your comics from the press. Cut
that piece of cardboard that we were using for stability off of your glued
comics. (Figure 18)
You'll notice a nice trade paperback feel to your comics
now. (Figure 19)
Cut a length of ribbon. Make sure that at least two inches are
included at the spine. (Figure 20)
Grab your glue brush again. Generously brush
glue to both sides of the ribbon and set aside for drying. (Figure 21)
Thread a large heavyweight needle.
Apologies I'm not well versed enough in sewing to give you an actual name or
size. A penny is here for scale. Any thicker thread should work fine. Ignore
the writing in the picture, that's for a different step. (Figure 23)
In the hardcover version we want to add
the end papers first. Measure out the size that you feel appropriate and create
a template to simplify your work on future binds. (Figure 26)
Personally I just
place the bind over and trace and cut. (Figure 25)
Sew your books together using the
needle and thread. I used a simple modified Japanese Stab Binding pattern. The
modification comes from NOT stitching around the actual spine as is customary
(Figure 24)
but as shown here. (Figure 27 and Figure 28)
We need the extra end
paper to be able to be folded to be the actual pieces that bond out books to
the hardcover. Trim & tie off the excess thread and you're good to go.
4. Putting Together Your Hardcover And
Spine
I have certain measurements and
reminders on a scratch piece of cardstock. (Figure 22)
The top diagram is set
for the covers to fold over the chip board. The middle is a good measurement
for spacers that you're going to want between your spine section and your front
and back covers. The bottom figure is for the spine itself. I like 2.5" on
either side of whatever the actual spine size is. Once you've measured out you
cover size and spine size cut your chip board accordingly. I'm not specifying
dimensions here because you could be binding Golden Age to Modern size comic or
magazines or anything else. Set those aside for now, spacers not shown. (Figure
29)
Now that your front and back cover chip
board is cut you need to trim your cover stock and get your glue stick and
squeegee ready. (Figure 30)
Be generous with the glue stick and cover the
entire face of your chip board. Line up one edge and press out any air bubble
or potential bumps with your squeegee.
Trim your cover stock into tabs shown in the picture. (Figure 31 and
Figure 32)
Glue the tabs over the chip board and press tightly with the
squeegee. (Figure 33)
Repeat for the other cover.
Now you will need your spacers, spine,
and both covers. Set them up flat and tape the spacers to the covers lightly.
(Figure 34)
Having already cut the spine cover stock now it is time to align it
to the center and glue to the spine and covers. Remember not to place glue on
the spacers those will need to be removed in the next step. (Figure 35)
Glue
and fold over the remaining spine cover stock and remove spacers. (Figure 36)
5. Binding And Finishing Touches.
The easy part is completed now the
tough part; getting your cover and your books to play nicely together. Lay your
cover flat on the table and center your bind on it carefully gluing (with glue
stick) the end paper flaps onto the cover. It's tricky and while it gets easier
the more you do it, it is not easy. (Figure 37)
Trim your second set of end
papers, after measuring your best to align the new one with the old (if you are
using patterned paper) so as to match up the design. I use a rounded corner
punch to prevent the sharp corner lift. That and it looks nice. Function and
flair. (Figure 38)
Another tough one is now aligning the
end papers and gluing them to the cover and first page to create a seamless
look. The stitching will be covered and you have finished the final step!
(Figure 39)
To Play it safe I let the book sit for
a while to make sure all the glue adheres properly. Other than that it is time
to enjoy reading your favorite books again. Give yourself a pat on the back.
(Figure 40)
You'll note that I don't have a step
for the title of the book on the cover or spine. I found that I like the black
spine so stamps won't work for me. Bean uses stamps for titles and as a
signature. They are fun, and you can see my set just above the masking tape in
Figure 13. That's it. Any other additional things are completely up to you. I
have made a custom dust jacket for one bind. It's all a learning process so
please look to other tutorials to see what works best for you. The first one is
a bit of a chore but the process gets smoother as you go on.
6. Wash, Rinse, Repeat.
(Figure 41)
Special thanks to Bean.
A heartfelt curse and a hug to LA
Rabbit for putting me up to this.
-BobgarHome binding 101Home binding 101
