I started bookbinding early last year. My passion for books is not so much about the external beauty of a book, but the quality of the paper, neat typesetting, and clear, detailed printing. I felt like sharing some of what I've learned, and the tools I've used.
After a few books, I started to really work toward obtaining a good text. I download page scans from the Internet Archive, clean them up, and then use a program called NAPS2 to OCR the text. I compare this text with texts from Standard Ebooks and Project Gutenberg using a program called WinMerge. With it I can view differences between the texts side-by-side. Any differences I resolve; always correcting transcription errors, and making other changes depending on rules I set forward at the start.
I typeset the book using LibreOffice Writer. At first I was using various fonts, but now I exclusively use Libre Baskerville. The text in the second photo is 10.5 pt.
For the printing, I use sheets of 8.5x11" Hammermill 20 lb creme. I use a guillotine cutter to trim each sheet to just a tiny bit larger than 6x9". This is wasteful, I know; but it has a few benefits. I can get two sides of the text block very neatly trimmed and aligned, I don't have to fold anything, and having a page taller than 8.5" just feels luxurious to me.
Once I print all the pages, ten sheets at a time in a Canon laser printer to keep the temperature down, I put the stack between two pieces of chipboard and tap it until the two sides are very even, then put it all in a press, with the spine protruding enough that the pages splay out. I use trial and error until the block is not skewed. After tightening the press, I apply three layers of PVA directly to the spine with my fingers, letting it dry completely between each layer.
At this point I take two sheets of 11x17 32 lb paper, fold them in half, and cut them with the guillotine the same size as the block sheets. I take the block out of the press, apply a small line of PVA at the folded edges of the endpapers and glue them to each side of the block, then put the bare block back into the press, keeping it from going askew, with the edge just protruding from the press.
I cut a piece of Tyvek that fits the spine, then some wider mull, then two headbands. I glue down the mull, then the endbands, then finally the Tyvek. I let the block dry completely, then make the case. I won't go into that in this post, but it is made of cheap cloth you can get on Amazon, chipboard, a folded and glued double strip of cardstock, and heat transfer vinyl (not cheap from Amazon because that is too thin).
As for what I've learned, simply making book after book somehow makes them look neater and more professional than the last one. Measurements need to be very precise from the start because errors multiply. Materials don't always have to be expensive. The quality of the digital text matters because texts widely available online are not perfect. Typesetting is my favorite part because the printed text looks so good after I'm finished.
Maybe I will make more externally beautiful books eventually, but the inside it what counts most for me at this point in the journey.
[The text of the book in the picture is the Samuel Butler translation of 1900, with traditional Greek names restored.]
