Binding a DnD book

[James_Nahajski]

I have, several weeks ago, managed to print off the pages of a DnD guide I decided to try and bind myself. And then had them guillotined at a local print shop

Yes I did so with an inkjet printer, no I would not like to discuss how much it cost me in cartridges.

My plan is to try and do what I believe is called a double fan bind?
Where I bend the pages one way and then the other. To get access with the glue to each page.

I have PVA. I’ve seen a book press in the space previously. Is that open to be used?
If anyone has any experience I would massively appreciate any pointers.
Also are there any specific brushes for this? Or can I just use a cheapo paint brush?

(The book for those who are interested is Flee Monsters, with shipping from the US it would’ve been like 80 quid to get a copy. I’m pretty confident I’ve already blown past that)

[Karin]

Great project! Having a physical version is always better. If you talking about Flee Mortals, such a great book only had a chance to see a few pages and liked it a lot.

[James_Nahajski]

Flee mortals is correct

[scday94 (Sam Day)]

The press that we have at the space at the moment isn’t suitable for gluing up a spine. We have an nipping press but you need a laying press as you need good pressure as close to the spine edge as possible, especially for a larger volume as this.

Just for your future reference, it is better to leave the edges un-trimmed until the book block is bound then trim afterwards for a clean finish.

[James_Nahajski]

Thanks for the tip on trimming. Never done this before so I’m somewhat stabbing in the dark.

Would a couple of 2x4s and a some wood clamps work? Maybe with some paper to protect it

[scday94 (Sam Day)]

Yes, as long as you have clamps that can reach the centre of the spine so you can get a nice even pressure though a 2x4 should be stiff enough. and yes a piece of grey board to protect the first and last pages is good. even better if you line this with a release paper, best option would be some silicone release paper (fancy Baking parchment). specificall baking parchment rather than greaseproof is best.

[James_Nahajski]

Some progress from today. So far its going pretty well. But I’ve messed up the trimming on one of the end papers

[James_Nahajski]

My one annoyance so far is that I had to trim one of the endpapers at the bottom a couple of mm so it’s a touch too short. But I think that’s going to be hard to fix as they’re all glued on.

The next step then is going to be to try and make a case for it.

I have a some leather and some mount board
I don’t think mount board is exactly what I need, and I’m trying to work out if it’s good enough to continue? Or where I can get some greyboard or Davey board?

This is what it looks like from the end

Any advice from people who are in the know would be appreciated

[scday94 (Sam Day)]

mount board should be fine as long as it’s thick enough.

You can trim the head/tail/fore edge of the book block after its bound, before you do any head/tail bands and the cover. (the reason fro not trimming earlier )

Shepards in Victoria if you want to get stuff quick but its a bit pricier. they have millboard specifically for covers as it a bit denser and everything els under the sun you need.

Whats your plan for casing the book? are you doing a square binding or are you hoping to round the back?

Ill be down the space later if you want a chat and your still about.

[James_Nahajski]

My plan was to just do a square binding as I think it’s simpler? I might be along later, I’ll let you know

[James_Nahajski]

At the suggestion of someone (I think Sam), I’ve decided to do a practice book first so I can test out working with the Leather, and binding a book.

So I now have a small a6 notebook text block bound

And a bradelback case cut out and glued

[carb (Carlo B)]

Looks great!

[James_Nahajski]

I have some sort of a leather case for my practice book

While I’m excited by the idea of trying hot foil pressing. The suggestion was made today to try engraving the leather with the laser cutter.
@lasertechs do you know if that’s possible? It’s pretty thin leather maybe ~0.6mm thick

[tomnewsom]

Engraving leather is very possible and comes out nicely (Etsy is full of it!) but you must be certain that it is not dyed/tanned using hexavalent chromium. The fumes are super toxic (it’s the chemical in Erin Brockovich).

I believe it’s been banned now, but if you’re not sure it’s probably best to err on the side of caution. Vegetable or trivalent chromium is ok.

[James_Nahajski]

It’s vegetable tanned. Knowing little about leather, is there anyway to check if that chemical has been used?

[Martyn_Thomas]

Please only use Vegtan leather in the laser.
There are some laser setting for leather (including thin leather) - but you might want to do some trial-and-error to dial in the settings to get the result you want.

[James_Nahajski]

Vegtan

Is Vegtan a brand or just a shortening of Vegetable Tanned sorry?

[Martyn_Thomas]

Vegetable Tanned

[James_Nahajski]

Not sure if I’ll continue with some sort of cover decoration. But happy with where this got to. A lot of lessons learned, and a big thanks to @scday94 for his help and advice throughout

[carb (Carlo B)]

Looks fantastic!!