Make Your Own Paperback Using Basic Tools // Adventures in Bookbinding

[@HeathenHammer123]

I’ll continue to say it. You’re the patron saint of bookbinding. Well done. Thank you for passing on your knowledge.

[@ArsLibris]

I hope you are aware of how loved you are. Thank you for all your hard work!

[@paulgrassart8935]

Thanks a lot. I do mainly paperbacks, since my bindings are quite utilitarian. I just need to keep together handwritten notes, or printed texts I want to study and annotate (I print them with big margins so I can take notes...). When gathering loose sheets (handwritten notes), I like to use the double fan binding that you used, and that I learned thanks to you. When I print a book, I like to print in signatures (pdf software and even MS Word automate this now, so it is quite easy), and hand sew them with as thin a thread as I dare. It opens more flat, and I find this more confortable to annotate. But I don't bother to make even a casing : I just glue a paperback cover, like you did here. I print the cover on heavy paper, it is enough for my needs. Double fanning is the easiest and qwickest way, though, and gives a nice result. I love your "two bricks and clamp" press ! Simple and effective.

[@69Buddha]

I love the fact that you clearly anticipated the sewn in thread question and answered it, as it was definitely in my mind. :D Thanks for the great video!

[@ryanmatthewharker8571]

As a novice book binder trying to learn better technique, I picked up so many tricks just watching you bind your book. Subscribed and liked. Thanks!

[@MissCandyTattoo]

I’ve been doing this instead of sewing when I bind hardcover copies of my fanfic and so far I’m really enjoying the finished product. It’ll be interesting to see how it holds up over time.

[@inezgriffiths5190]

That was great I've just re bound some old paperback this way, good to know I was on the right track! Really useful knowledge there Das Thank you

[@mavericksmith7050]

You make this look so easy. Well deserved respect.

[@blakxhart]

I started off making paperbacks using the double fan method. I love how durable and sturdy it feels, but I find the PVA glue used causes a lot of 'throwup' in the spine. I recently bought a small thermal binder to compare, and love how the hot melt glue adds more rigidity to the spine, but you definietly have to roughen up the paper edges and/or create some cuts with a blade before applying the glue, or it feels super fragile. Thanks for the video DAS!

[@steampunkster2023]

Thank you! Now I can bind my underground comics myself! 😊

[@youmichua]

This is the best video I have seen so far. I have been looking for it for very long. Thank you for being so good at explaining and giving us so much information while also being technical while showing the process. I cannot thank you enough 🙏

[@cloudGremlin]

I’ve been looking for someone who does handmade paperbacks- I love the look of vintage pop-fantasy and pulp novels and I wanted to re-bind some modern paperbacks into vintage styled ones! Thank you for the info!

[@goldstarofvenus1861]

This is amazing! I have been wanting to bind a fic for a series I love, but the series is exclusively paperback and I love the look of it, so I don't want to rebind them into hardcover, but I want them all to match! This is so helpful!

[@Kitsaplorax]

Thank you for sharing this. I was the front office person for a large commercial printing firm in the 1980's and became something of a paper afficianado. Speaking as a Southpaw, all blank books and ledgers are between unusable and inconvenient. Someday someone will sell top bound journals. Or at least that's the dream.

[@vdc7153]

Thank you for your superb service and professionalism 🙏👍 your expertise comes always when I need it 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@papphausen2]

Nicely done - Lumbecken a great technique to have in ones " toolbox".

[@Mtonazzi]

It was fun and interesting to watch. I don't believe I'll ever be double fan bindings myself, but it's nice to learn about it nonetheless. I've done the thread one in the past as well, nowadays I just stitch sections (get it trimmed at a local print shop), then I make the soft cover and add it. Notes on this: The print shop I trim the bound sections and the print shop where I make my covers are different, since at the first one the quality of printing and how they treat customers fell into a bottomless pit. I cannot wait for the day I can just get the things trimmed at the second shop too. Now, onto covers, in my own experience, laser printed ones will have the toner rub off with heavy use. What I do nowadays is laminating it with transparent self adhesive film before cutting it from the A3 page. Personally, due to where I live with currency taxes, shipping costs and customs, it's been way more cost-effective to buy books as digital goods and print and bind them for my own use than to just buy the physical thing. I can say, it's also fun and rewarding to do so.

[@mousepariah3884]

JUst CLarifying because I just got into fan/handbinding and till now had been finding only guides with the end result being hard cover. It reads like you use the folded signatures/sections stitched together method then apply a Softcover? If so is there a tutorial for this?

[@utubepunk]

New DAS drop! Let's goooooooo!

[@ShadowsandCityLights]

This is so interesting! I wana make my own book!!!

[@ZNCLinguistics-ne3wp]

fantastic! exactly what I was looking for! I have a lot of ebooks that I want to print out, because screens are torture on the eyes. bought a thermal binding machine, which works fine for slim volumes, but the trouble is that the pre-made covers have a page range you can't stray too far from. And they get really flimsy for thick volumes. The stuff I need to keep on hand in the office are mostly reference works/manuals that can run into the thousands of pages. On 70 gsm A4 that's far thicker than the average dictionary. Your video gave me a lot of ideas on how to make them stick together reasonably well without getting a huge stapler. Thanks man!

[@HussainAlkumaish]

I love your videos; Informative and relaxing, thank you. I watched it during the morning drive to work, it made the boring traffic a little bit more fun.

[@lexiatel]

As a story writer, thank you😍

[@Raiinsey]

I'm really happy I found your channel. I want to get into bookbinding and your videos are always interesting!!

[@lorensims4846]

Thanks! My wife had a book press she made for a class years ago but I don't know what's become of it. I do know where to get a long clamp and bricks though.

[@renattocastillo1286]

¡Viva! Muchas gracias señor de los libros, llevaba muchísimo tiempo esperando por este vídeo, usted es el mejor :)

[@nicolekatsitsiyo]

Aah thank you so much, this was so informative as usual 😊 I know you ended up trimming yours at the end anyway, but so many props to how even you kept your pages throughout the process. Whenever I’ve done paperbacks the edges ended up looking super rough I couldn’t imagine not having a guillotine when making one. 😅😅

[@velcroman11]

One can use a wood rasp to achieve the roughing up of the pages. Make sure the press block id placed no more than 2 mm from the edge of the pages.

[@DASBookbinding]

Except I wouldn't rough up the spine for a double fan binding.

[@BasitCeviriler]

What did you use for the cover? 7:13 and 8:28 Sorry if you said in the video but I didn't understand.

[@jamil788]

You might be one of the most underrated individuals on youtube. Great video as always! Quick question, is there a reliable binding method for binding single sheets together?

[@DASBookbinding]

Thanks. I think the double-fan is the best method. I don't like over-sewing.

[@matthewcienki8064]

Very insightful video! I like that part where the cover is glued a short bit over the front and back covers of the book, not just the direct spine only. I am also very interested in what materials you used to wrap your bricks with. I would be very grateful to know your secret in making those! 🙂 Thanks again for your efforts and for your knowledge!

[@DASBookbinding]

I don't know what it is. It's some sort of fake leather I got given from a retiring bookbinder. It was going to get thrown away and I got given it for free. Sorry.

[@mondinsel4235]

Great video! I think I might be using it to give some paperbacks a new cover in the future or at least I will try.

[@DopeBass]

this is incredible man!

[@julesriganti]

This tutorial is gold! The spine of my books tends to curv inward. Is there any way to fix this? I'm not sure if using a hammer would be a bit much

[@simpleton_dc2149]

Always a pleasure to watch. Have you ever considered making a video on an overcast sewn binding. There is very little information out there on the internet that I can find, just a few blog style tutorials. I've done a few and they are quite the experience to say the least.

[@DASBookbinding]

I don't like overcast sewing. They look great for a while but eventually fail and then the spine edge has to be trimmed to rebind. I am going to do a video on making a 19th century English leather binding, where the first and last sections are oversewn. But it is for historical reference. I would never use it for a modern binding. I know it was used a lot in the past, and when I was learning in the 90s it was still very common. But it does not meet modern conservation standards. Sorry, I know not what you want to hear.

[@simpleton_dc2149]

No it's totally fine, any info good or bad is better than no info at all. I thought it would be better for larger loose leaf books because I don't really trust double fan binding to hold up for something that is 4 or 5 hundred pages. @@DASBookbinding

[@JudithZiegel]

Thank you very much , now I know how to proceed .

[@ericispublius]

For your text block @4:00, would wheat paste work work in place of PVA?

[@rodgeratkin]

many thanks, more new things to try

[@squatchhammer7215]

I really want to print off some my old sci fi and fantasy books that are out of print and public domain and bind them now.

[@JuliaGarbe1]

Thank you for the informative video!

[@ThePebble-j9d]

Do you have a video on binding a paperback with signatures?

[@goldenboy5500]

I worked in printing for more than 20 years you said the commercial books have grains running in different directions the reason for that they print them large sheets opto 10 pages front & back ( the signature ) collated and fed into perfect binding machine and come out the other end a finished book the machine I have seen produced 125 books an hour 77 meters long and could handle 20 signatures

[@FrantzE1971]

thank you !!

[@lawrencediggs7957]

Thanks. Where can I buy Polyurethane Reactive glue?

[@DASBookbinding]

It's a commercial glue. You would need to get it from an industrial adhesive supplier. Not something I use. Sorry.

[@AC-eb5wj]

Thanks for the great video! How long does the adhesive you use take to dry? I've seen some videos on KZbin where bookbinders advise to leave the book block clamped overnight after gluing up, but I've also heard that PVA takes around 30 seconds to set, so I'm curious to hear what your thoughts are on this.

[@appleslions4934]

Hey Das! Thanks so much for this tutorial and all the rest, you’re a legend. I’m also based in Australia and I was wondering what specific brand the paper was. I know it’s semi gloss art paper but it’d be great to buy the exact same one. Cheers! Edit: also, what printer did you use to print the cover? I only have a black and white laser printer so I’m thinking of buying an inkjet for covers.

[@DASBookbinding]

That is a good question. I'm not sure I remember. I try and remember to put this info in the description, but didn't this time. I think I used DCP (Digital Copier Paper) 120gsm by Clairfontaine. I sell it for $80 per A3 SG 250 sheet ream. It's a specialty paper so not sure if many retail outlets will have it. Or if they do it will be the A4 which is long grain. I printed it using an Epson WF-7840. It's a cheap printer that uses excellent inks but it is very flimsy and I'm not sure I recommend it.

[@appleslions4934]

@@DASBookbinding Thank you, Das, you’re so helpful. I’ll be on the hunt for the paper, and if I can’t find it with retailers, at least I know I can get it with you😁

[@gxggscgucddhtexhgy7478]

Beautiful work!!!>< it’s really impressive ❤❤ can I ask about what printer did you use ?

[@Ninjadoc2000]

absolutely great video! i was going to make a paperback myself in a couple of days actually! In your opinion, would it be a good idea to add some endpapers to it? Or would that compromise its structural integrity?

[@DASBookbinding]

I don't think it would hurt. It might open too freely and crease the covering material on the spine at the edges. Give it a go and let me know what you find?

[@ryanchicago6028]

Thanks very much.

[@PacoElMapache]

This channel makes me want to build a library of hand made books. They can be so pricy at times 🥲

[@Writeorsong-vw2mx]

Thank you

[@apollosix]

Is clear gum glue sufficient to make notepads?

[@ather23]

What glue is recommended?

[@zokhann7806]

@4:40 he shows the glue

[@yukicrimson9267]

Is there a video for making a paperback with signatures?

[@acecassidy-9372]

I see you have the Epson WF-7840. I have the Epson WF-2760 which is almost the same except not wide format. I’ve been struggling to get printed text as crisp as a manufactured book. I’m not sure if this could be an issue with my printer, ink, paper, print settings, etc… and I wanted to ask if you also find this to be the case. Is your home printed text lacking in crispness/resolution? Tangentially do you use an ink refill system or official Epson cartridges (I’m debating buying an Ecotank ET-M1170 for the cheap page printing). Thank you for all your videos DAS.

[@DASBookbinding]

I use the expensive Epson cartridges. It's crisp enough. Not as crisp as a high quality laser printer. But good enough.

[@pancakeponies]

I find this video really helpful! I’ve been trying to find a paperback tutorial but all i kept finding were hardbacks. I just have one question, what size do you print your paper? Because I’ve tried basically every setting there is but it’s always too small. Is it a setting on the printer or something?

[@DASBookbinding]

I used A5 paper and printed to A5. Maybe I'm missing something?

[@pancakeponies]

@@DASBookbinding thank you! I’ll try that!

[@pancakeponies]

What do you print it off of? I can only find A4 A5 and A6. Is there a certain app or something?

[@pancakeponies]

okay sorry, I just tried it on my computer and it has the option of A5! thanks so much I've been trying to figure this out for a while 😅

[@AnushkaDebnath-d9o]

Can I know which type of paper you used for the cover and can I print on them with normal printers?? Which type of white paper you used??

[@GibClark]

Thanks👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@cathymcquitty7227]

What was the binding cardstock that you used to glue to the cover? Where did you get that from?

[@DASBookbinding]

It's 300gsm (or 10pt) card stock. The specific one I use is Bristol Board. I get it from a wholesaler, which won't help you. Here is a link to a "heritage" version of what I use from Talas in the US www.talasonline.com/Heritage-Archival-Bristol-Board?quantity=5&thickness=14 Any 300gsm (10pt) acid free card stock will be fine.

[@zzek4782]

I would like to ask you about the EVA, I live in Europe and found Evacon-R, do you know it or could you recommend an EVA reference or brand name( maybe supplied by Schmedt)? Thank you so much for the knowledge you share.

[@DASBookbinding]

Evacon-R is great. I would stick (ha!) with that. If I had access to it I would use Planatol BB for most of my work. I have used it in the past and found it good to work with and I like its flexibility.

[@Temporary.life4321]

How about putting ribbon on the spine for bookmarking??

[@DASBookbinding]

I don't like markers. They leave impressions in the paper. I wouldn't use on a paperback, even if I didn't like them. Sort of better on hardcover books with a square (the part of the board that extends past the edge of the text).

[@fd7231]

Thank you so much for the masterful video. Is it possible to use hot glue (from a hot glue gun) for the spine?

[@DASBookbinding]

No. I wish I could explain why - but it's really an in-depth discussion - not a comments thing. Machines use it. But we're not machines. For hand bookbinding it's a terrible idea. And why would you? PVA is a great and easy to use adhesive.

[@fd7231]

@@DASBookbinding Thanks! I am so relieved...hot glue sets so quickly and its texture is so inconsistent (temperature dependent) that I imagine it would be a nightmare to use for hands-on work on the spine. I was afraid to hear that it could have some advantages...!

[@afbsartur1270]

How did you align all pages so neatly. I've done over 10 A4 books so far. but i never manage to align them properly. I was trying different methods - unsuccessfully

[@mariapatriciachavez214]

❤❤❤ yes 🎉😊

[@odycmboden3580]

Whenever I've printed on glossy cardstock for a cover, the color and paper always seem to tear apart where the creases are. How did you get yours to stay in tact at the creases?

[@DASBookbinding]

Maybe luck? It’s a semi gloss and not too heavy. About 110gsm

[@theshadowslullaby4265]

What kind of glue are you using? I wish to get into book printing; however, I lack the skills to do so.

[@DASBookbinding]

I use Evasol EVA. If you are in the US I recommend Jade 401 from Talas.

[@gwendolynvary9363]

Is there a limit to how thick of a book this will work on (like is it better to keep it under a certain number of pages?)

[@steveelkins52]

I don't understand what you mean by 'head to tail'?

[@DASBookbinding]

Head and tail are what bookbinders call the top and bottom edges of a book. I'll be doing a video on bookbinding terminology soon.

[@etgha]

No way the first book binding tutorial I look for has the original henrique alvim correa artwork on the front brooo War of the Worlds is my favourite book and that's my favourite art lol

[@gaelhillyardcreative]

This is a great channel and how you explain your process is excellent. If I could make an observation though,: I prefer videos that are narrated to not have the sound of the activity as well unless it is very quiet as it is distracting. Also I am not keen on sped up video. I get why and in that case, to me, it works better if it is just slightly sped up throughout instead of real time in some parts and fast in others. I am so grateful though that you no longer use the piano music over the top. Much more agreeable experience.

[@gpweaver]

Why not wood glue? The cheap stuff is PVA, I thought. Seems flexible enough after drying....

[@DASBookbinding]

Yes it is PVA but they are not all the same. They are designed for different functions. Wood is acidic so wood PVA is designed to roughly match the ph of wood. And it is designed to be stiff so joints don’t move. PVA designed for paper is probably cheaper and easy to get at an office supply store.

[@gpweaver]

@@DASBookbinding Thanks! I'll keep that in mind for the next one! I think I've got a gallon jug of clear PVA somewhere...assuming my kids didn't turn it all into slime 😃

[@velcroman11]

You MUST clamp both ends of you covered bricks. Look at your video, you will see the top of the bricks don’t close in as does the the end where the clamp has been placed.

[@DASBookbinding]

My clamp has enough reach that it is almost at the centre of the book. If your clamp doesn't have much reach then yes. Maybe a trick of the camera that it doesn't look even.

[@angelasudi710]

Hello 👋..how many books per hour can you bind manually please?

[@asailijhijr]

It depends on the size of the books, and your error-rate.

[@Loxalair]

Personally speaking, a book is a multiday process. This one might be a bit faster, since there's no sewing involved, so you could potentially have as many books going as you have clamps and bricks. On tumblr, there's a kind of event called Binderary, where you bind a book a day for every day of February. I know one person who did two books a day, but they were completely wiped by the end of it.

[@miko007]

at least over here, wood glue is just straight pva, i guess that is not the case where you live?

[@DASBookbinding]

I think you will find there is no "straight PVA". The level of polymerisation is different for different application which affects dry flexibility and there is always additives.

[@miko007]

@@DASBookbinding fair enough, but i am pretty sure, it is as straight of a PVA glue as i can get here. the brand "Ponal" is that big, that its name basically is synonymous with "wood glue". at the same time, it is the only brand here that i know from the top of my head, that provided PVA glue, just as i said, woo glue and PVA are basically the same thing here. it consists only of polyvinyl acetate and ethylene-vinyl acetate. i did not know, that there is wood glue made from other ingredients as well, thats the reason for my question.

[@iamKarma9]

wow

[@Temporary.life4321]

7:41

[@lagart991]

If I make a Bible on my computer, send you the information. How much would you charge me to print and make me my own customized Bible?

[@ayadhamed1979]

🌺🌺🌺🌺👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@AT-rw3ou]

B&N has a book-printing service for $5 - $10 a copy, plus shipping. There is no minimum on the order.

[@DASBookbinding]

Only problem is that you won't get to control the paper used.

[@asailijhijr]

The title of the video has a typo, or a grammar error, or a spelling error, 'you' should be 'your'.

[@DASBookbinding]

Ops...

[@Boykfamily69]

It was fixed...

[@davidbnsmessex.5953]

@@DASBookbinding Or even OOPS .

[@RealMatXEdits]

🤓👆

[@JaneHudson-c9m]

Thanks! My wife had a book press she made for a class years ago but I don't know what's become of it. I do know where to get a long clamp and bricks though.