Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Home Binding 101: slurmstyle


 
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

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