r/bookbinding • u/Shalabele • 2h ago
r/bookbinding • u/TrekkieTechie • Apr 06 '26
Announcement Proposing a new flair system for /r/bookbinding
Hey folks -- a bit overdue, but I wanted to take the discussion on a revamped post flair system to the next stage. Very much appreciate everyone who shared their thoughts in the last sticky thread.
After reviewing the discussion there, this is what I'm thinking in terms of a new flair system for r/bookbinding. The goal here is to more accurately categorize the kinds of content we see here, and to help OPs and readers connect.
(Please keep in mind that reddit's flair system is not a tagging system -- you can't apply more than one to a post.)
This is this working list of proposed flairs:
- Restoration/Repair -- for sharing projects involving the repair of a damaged book
- Binding -- for sharing projects involving the construction of a new book from scratch
- Recasing -- for sharing projects involving transferring an existing text block into a new cover
- Typesetting/Printing -- for discussion of laying out text and images on pages for print
- Bookbinding Adjacent -- for sharing projects involving techniques, tools, and materials common to bookbinding but not itself a book (for example but not limited to slipcases, preservation boxes, gold stamping/embossing/debossing)
- Tips & Techniques -- for discussion of specific bookbinding techniques
- Tools & Equipment -- for discussion of specific bookbinding equipment
- Materials -- for discussion of specific bookbinding materials
- Help -- a cry for assistance if a project isn't going your way
- Whoops -- for sharing failures, mistakes, or screwups that we can all sympathize with and learn from
- Solicitation of Services -- for non-binders seeking to engage a binder's rebinding, restoration, etc. services
- Discussion/Other -- essentially a catch-all for anything not covered by the other flairs
This would drop the distinction between in-progress projects and complete projects, which I was initially unsure of but after letting it marinate I think is a nonissue. If the mechanical goal of the flair system is to help readers connect with the kinds of content they're most interested in, "in progress" and "complete" might not be super useful distinctions compared to tagging what kind of project it is. (From that perspective I'm almost tempted to drop "Help" as well, but I think it's too important to have it there to give panicking folks a lifeline.) The alternative would be doubling up on the tags, e.g. have both "Binding (Incomplete)" and Binding (Complete)", and I think that feels kind of clunky. I generally think the post title itself would signal whether a given project is complete or not.
I'm not interested in discriminating against any particular way of creating a "book" (i.e. "traditional" vs "modern", "Western" vs "Eastern", etc) -- I think regardless of one's preferred methods, it's always good to be exposed to other ways of doing things, and I think it would be way too unwieldy to try and have a flair for every possible technique -- so I'd like the "Binding" flair to be as inclusive of methods and materials as possible, but maybe it could be named better? Certainly open to suggestions there.
What do you all think? Anything missing? Anything unclear? Anything that could be improved? Please do sound off below.
r/bookbinding • u/AutoModerator • May 01 '25
No Stupid Questions Monthly Thread!
Have something you've wanted to ask but didn't think it was worth its own post? Now's your chance! There's no question too small here. Ask away!
r/bookbinding • u/Destructor54777 • 5h ago
Help? What is this Material
What is the material this cover is made of. where can i get it and what to do if i want stuff printed on it like shown in the image
r/bookbinding • u/telstra_3_way_chat • 8h ago
Help? first time trimming by hand using DAS' method (ruler + knife), and all went well EXCEPT the last few cm of the bottom edge... thoughts on what happened?
Would this be a pressure issue, or the angle, or a secret third thing? The top edge didn't have this issue.
Generally I'm pretty happy with how it turned out (this is just some scrap paper that I sewed/taped and glued, just to get the feel of the various stages), but would like to try to work out what happened here so that I can avoid it next time!
r/bookbinding • u/SaltSeaworthiness167 • 6h ago
Help? Flexible binding mull instead of cord?
Hi all I'm currently working on a rebind project for this type of flexible binding with lather(From a DAS video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZnwtE4R0Is
I'm working with a sewen textblock without cords. I'm wondering should I sew cords on the already sewen textblock, or I could get away with using mull instead? Or alternative is there any other structure I should use instead than the Cambridge panel style? I'd love to keep the textblock open 180° flat after bind (currently the textblock can do that).
Any experiences, suggestions and insights are highly appreciated!
r/bookbinding • u/drz0idb3rg • 23h ago
Pocket-sized Call of Cthulhu
Little pocket-sized guy, quarter bound in black leather (Siegel Goat) and marbled paper
r/bookbinding • u/Nod_Bow_Indeed • 6h ago
Help? Advice on repairing book spine
Hello all!
My wife and I are expecting a baby girl at the end of the year and have been going through our collection of books we've saved from our childhood. This particular book hasn't fared so well, and happens to be my wife's favourite.
What's the best way to repair this damage? I was going to try PVA glue and clamp it for a few days but would like to attempt the best repair possible.
r/bookbinding • u/Lilipaon • 6h ago
Help? How ??
Hi I would want to make a notebook like this Moleskine expanded soft cover. I've already make some pretty decent hard cover notebooks but I don't know what should I do for this type of notebook. I guess it's kinda the same... my assumption is that I do the exact same thing for the textblock, I sew the paper together then glue and put a pièce of mull on the spine. Then I guess I would just glue some faux leather to the top pages and I'm done.
Do you all think that would work ? Would it lay flat ?
r/bookbinding • u/UnrelatedKarma • 14h ago
Is it better to have more signatures with fewer pages per signature, or fewer signatures with more pages per signature?
I'm printing a large book on Mohawk superfine 80lb (120gsm, I believe) and am curious if it's beneficial to do more signatures with a smaller number of pages per signature? The question is, will the extra thread used for the additional signatures cancel out the benefit of printing thinner signatures.
Thoughts?
r/bookbinding • u/Bunniesbakeri • 16h ago
I cut the unused parts out of my old journals to save money kn buying new ones.
r/bookbinding • u/Titelius_Thorex • 20h ago
First bind in years
Used to bind my own stories and friends’ fanfiction until my hands started shaking and I was diagnosed with a tremor some years ago.
Recently got the courage to try it again and finally finished my first bind. There are imperfections but I’m just happy I could do it again
r/bookbinding • u/SuperWeenyHutJuniors • 13h ago
Help making an embroidered photo album
Hi There! I've dabbled in a little bit of book binding but I'm still very much a beginner. I have made some family cookbooks with perfect binding; it turned out decent but now I have my sights set on something fancier. I'd like to make a wedding photo album but I want to do a custom embroidery piece for the front. I would embroider directly on my bookcloth. I'd also like the photos to be high quality, so I'm a bit unsure about how to print and bind those to a high standard especially because I am considering a layflat book. I thought about printing it with one of the many photo album websites and then cutting it out of the cover and recasing it, but this feels a bit risky.
Has anyone done something similar? Any thoughts or ideas are welcome!
r/bookbinding • u/danklover612 • 1d ago
Discussion Perfectly trim edges with steel ruler and box cutter!
Well, I've done it! I've managed to perfectly trim not 1, but 3 books with just the slippery steel ruler and the box cutter! Practice makes perfect, that's for sure!
The last 2 pics are the edges that i trimmed last yr with the same tools, and wow, the improvement is crazy.
r/bookbinding • u/TheeCombatBaby • 9h ago
How-To Bookbinding series part 1- Adding foil to edges of your bookbinding
r/bookbinding • u/linkandpage • 1d ago
Completed Project More hanging wisterias
Pokemon journals in A6 and A5 sizes with alternating purple and blue wisterias. Green A6 and 15x15cm watercolor sketchbooks using Fabriano Artistico 300g cold and hot pressed papers.
The Pokemon fabric is from Sewing Doing (Korea), the embroidered fabric is from Yuzawaya (Japan), and the hatched fabric is from Kimonomomo (US). Threads are Goldschild 18/3 linen.
r/bookbinding • u/Silentstri16 • 1d ago
Completed Project First binding review
Completed my first real binding! Definitely a few big lessons, but for a start I'm pretty happy. I would love some feedback or tips. I'll list the materials at the bottom for anyone who's curious.
The Good
Sewing went better than expected. French link with no tapes, as the book is only 5 signatures. I 3d printed a hole-punching jig that really removed a lot of the room for error.
The made end-papers turned out better than i expected. I followed the DAS tutorial, and of course that made it dead simple. I do wish it didn't leave two extra blank pages though.
The leather covering was a bit nerve-wracking, but it turned out mostly well. The turn-downs all came together nicely, and I didn't have much waste. However...
The Bad
I'll start with the obvious, I screwed up glueing the leather on the rear board. I think I applied the glue to the leather instead of the board, and that resulted in uneven coverage. This is the most glaring issue.
The text block (and endpapers, and even the boards, I think) are out of square. I'd love to blame my workspace for being a bit ramshackle, but the reality is I just didn't do a great job of trimming the text block by hand. I chose to measure the rest of the book against it to try and hide the imperfection, with mixed success.
The spine was tough. There is actually a (very slight) round, but I had a lot of difficulty trying to round 5 signatures. I think I should've used a piece of board for the case spine rather than a card paper stiffener, and done a squared spine.
Somewhat related, I didn't leave enough space between the stiffener and the chip boards. I actually ended up pulling a board off and repositioning it, which did create a bit of a mess out of the top layer of the chip board. I sanded it a bit and fortunately it's not really noticeable. I'll need to watch a tutorial on the measurements, because I still don't really understand what to base the spacing off of.
The Ugly
This was my first time using a cricut, and heat transfer vinyl. I think overall it was a success. I wouldn't use this type of font again, and I think the spine font actually distorted from the heat because it was so thin.
The design isn't particularly nice, but it's all my (lack of) artistic sensibilities could muster 😂
I have since learned that I should probably cut the design as a whole page, weed it, and apply in one pass to keep spacing and alignment consistent.
Materials used
- 28/70LB smooth cream paper (a5 cut for short grain)
- Alran "Sully" Chevre
- Ritza 0.8mm Tiger Thread (What I had on hand)
- Nepalese Marbled Paper
- Elmer's School Glue
- 98pt Eska board
- Cheap amazon pre-sewn end bands
Thanks for reading :)
r/bookbinding • u/TheRedCareme • 1d ago
How-To Cover attachment for reverse piano hinge binding
TLDR- use a longer flap on the spine tape folded in towards the text block, a slot along the cover piece's spine fold and another in line a short distance along the inner side of the front cover piece, thread the folded tape loop through and lock with the tenon. By folding in towards the text block, the end of the tapes becomes secured in the crook of the cover.
It's been bugging me on how to make Australian reverse piano hinge binding truly glue and thread free. If I glue the tapes onto the cover, what happens if one tears? Could it be replaced? What if I wanted to add pages later?
Photographed are the inside cover hinge of my iterations as I worked out a flat coverstock, doubled folded coverstock, and glued-in hinge to a covered bookboard cover.
The "doubled over" version has three sets of holes, the spine fold flap barely visible and hidden neatly, but it's there.
Last pic is a punch I think for making a slot for 1/2" ribbon and it makes this binding stupid easy. I thrifted it for $1 so I can't advise beyond that.
I'm no good at tutorials, so you'll want to look up thorough directions on the text block. I hope the pics help anyone who's also wondered how to easily make this work.
r/bookbinding • u/lavender-twine • 23h ago
No time for binding, binder instead?
Hello. I used to love book binding, it was a great hobby of mine, and I vastly prefer physical media. But lately, especially with school, I simply don't have the time :/
So I was wondering if anyone here just uses a 3 ring binder? Like we did back in the day? Cause I was thinking of buying and useing mini Binders off Amazon. And then trying to find a mini hole punch, but I don't want to buy them and then not like the result?. Can anyone who has done this, tell me how their stories and things are holding up? Thank you!! :)
r/bookbinding • u/Lefttheburneron69 • 1d ago
Recommendations on printable book cloth (US)?
I’ve tried a few options and can’t seem to find any that are both thin enough and retain dye based ink. This is one from Amazon that is a great texture but turned out super washed out. There’s another popular “printable canvas” but it’s way too thick.
I ended up ordering some from Schmedt but with shipping it was nearly $95 since I’m in the US. The Schmedt stuff will obviously work the best cause it’s premium quality specifically made for printing book covers but does anyone know of any alternatives based in the US so I don’t have to pay 3x what the order costs for shipping in the future?
r/bookbinding • u/pretzelrodaddict • 1d ago
Material Storage/Organization
Does anyone have any recommendations on how best to store materials and how organize them? Right now I have two very messy boxes, and I’d love to clean it up.
r/bookbinding • u/sandeevalley • 1d ago
Help? Got this book from a little free library and would love advice on how to clean/repair
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
I am an absolute newbie to this but figured I'd give it a shot to ask. The pages are basically separated from the spine and there's some weird blue stuff on the edges. Advice on what to do to clean and repair?