Welcome - Introduce Yourself Here

[Ann]

I notice from my website stats that a number of people come back to the bookbinding pages time and again. I often wonder what their interest is and if they're hobby binders themselves or just intrigued by the bookbinding process. I'm hoping that some of them may call in here and let me know!

One of the best things about taking up bookbinding is that it has so many facets and once they've learnt the basics, individuals can find their own niches. I tend to concentrate on antiquarian books that are beyond repair and need a complete rebind. I like producing something that replicates how the book must have looked when it was brand new. I know other hobby binders who prefer repair work and get a great sense of satisfaction in preserving an original binding. Those with artistic talent can produce stunning designer bindings. At the class this morning, one of my classmates was working on a beautifully illustrated "one off" book which she and her husband had produced together, printed off and which she was in the process of binding.

It'll be interesting to see if there are other variations.

[Lesley]

bookbinding - even if it's prints or something i can create is very much on my list of things to do!
i won't ever get to the level ann is - i don't have the patience! it's a lovely skill - glad there are people still working on it.

lesley (i'm an artist when i'm allowed the time!)

[agittins]

Thanks for setting this up Ann. It's a good idea - as soon as I start a project I have questions that need answers...

[gill]

It always fascinates me just how much work goes in to restoring old things and I remember you, Ann, showing us a step-by-step set of photos of a book you were restoring I was just in awe of it all as I wouldn't know where to begin

[martin]

Hello

I've been bookbinding for about 6 months now, so am an absolute beginner. I came to it through not being able to get hold of out of print books. Using googlebooks and the Internet Archive, I download the ones I need and make "real" books - I hate squinting at a screen for any length of time and, notwithstanding all the wonderful high tech bookreading equipment, nothing can beat turning real pages. I picked up the basics from watching videos on Youtube - there is some good stuff there if you sort the wheat from the chaff - but now am ploughing through Arthur Johnson's book to see how it really should be done!

Many thanks to Ann for her wonderful site, what a lot of work has gone into it!

[Ann]

Good to see you here Martin. There aren't many of us at the moment, but I'm hoping it'll build up as time goes on and we'll be able to swap ideas and experience. One thing you learn fairly quickly with bookbinding is that there's rarely a definitive way of doing anything.

[jude]

Goodmorning Ann,
Thanks for the invite to join your bookbinders site. great idea. I have a question straight away. Have you or anyone any idea if an oil stain can be removed from a cloth bound cover? My feeling is 'no' but before giving that negative response to the person who asked me, I'd just thought I'd try here. It was one of the essential oils by the way. I think he might have to rebind the book.

[Ann]

Good to see you here Jude.

I'll start a new thread about the oil stain so that it's more visible.

[sueben]

Hello all
Great idea to start this Ann! I've been bookbinding for twelve years now, utterly hooked. I too am fascinated by working with old books and love the sense of giving a tatty old book a new lease of life. I also love colours, textures ... and am at the stage now of wanting to put the craft slap-bang into a contemporary setting to demonstrate that there's still a future for bookbinding. My dining table looks like an explosion in a paper factory but who wants to eat at a dining table anyway?!
Sue

[susan81]

Hello everyone,
I have just enjoyed a lovely day at an Artists bookfair in Newcastle which was very inspireing! Only bookbinding for a year now and their is so much to learn and directions to go in - you can never be bored or stop learning. Along with traditional methods I am interested in Japanese style binding so will add that to my evergrowing list of things to do list!
Susan

[cherokee]

Hello!  I'm Cheryl, living in Valladolid, Spain. I've been bookbinding for four years (a beginner) and have a small workshop in my home.  I've taken several courses, learned from books and DVDs, and am totally enamored of this endeavor! My favorite thing to do is renovate old deteriorated books, but I also like to transform favorite paperbacks into hardbacks when they're worn out and worthy of the effort.

I'm considering buying band nippers, but since they're expensive (for my budget), I'd appreciate some advice.  I really like the looks of Dimitri's solid-brass model. Has anyone had experience with these? koutsipetsidis.wordpress.com/2012/05/19/brass-band-nippers-2/

Thanks!  

[Ann]

Hi Cheryl, welcome to the Board. You're a lady after my own heart as bringing well used, falling apart books back to life is my favourite form of bookbinding too.

I acquired an ancient pair of band nippers that cost me £5 (roughly 6 Euros) a couple of years ago and I do find them useful. (I'd love to know exactly how old they are, 200 years wouldn't surprise me at all!) That said, I managed perfectly well without them for very many years. The method of wrapping string round the bands is just as effective and a lot cheaper than the 100 Euros "Dimitri" wants! (See www.catsup.co.uk/bookbinding.stages.htm ) Depending on what equipment you already have (and as I'm sure you've already discovered, none of it is cheap!) there may be other things that would be more useful to you at this stage.

[cherokee]

Thanks for the advice, Ann. I've been using band nippers in class, but I'll give the string method a try at home. Maybe I'll get lucky someday and find a great deal like you did -- what a find!

[Ann]

The string method really does work. Opinions on how long you leave the book wrapped up with the string seem to vary, I've heard 20 minutes and 24 hours! I first saw it demonstrated years ago on a Bernard Middleton DVD, but the teacher in the class I attend uses it too. I notice she wrapped the book in corrugated cardboard rather than grey boards. It bends so well that one piece will wrap right around the book which makes it much easier to handle.

I was lucky in that a bookbinding friend who loves pottering around flea markets had come across the band nippers years ago. He never used them, he told me he couldn't get on with them, so he offered them to me. They're extremely basic, they have no spring and are very well worn, but they do the job, which is the main thing.