I Destroyed My D&D Books - Making an Epic Dungeons & Dragons Tome - Part 1 - Unbinding

Hello everyone! In this video series I’ll be destroying three perfectly good Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks! My plan is to un-bind these books and then re-bind them together into a single ultimate D&D rulebook. But my success is far from guaranteed. In this installment I tackle removing the books from their cases and cleaning the spines in preparation for sewing, and its far from smooth sailing! So join me as I embark on this epic bookbinding adventure and stay tuned for future videos to see where it leads me!
Cheers,
Dennis
Check out the rest of the series here:
Part 2: • Reviving My D&D Books ...
Part 3: • Enhancing My D&D Books...
Part 4: • Leveling Up My D&D Boo...
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[@cboyko1]

Fair warning to others considering this: not all 5e DND manuals are sewn; many, many are bound with glue (is this still called perfect bound if it's cased in a hardcover?), even these same manuals! We're a big DND house and have four different player's handbooks: only one was sewn.

[@Gworeldoreriverpass]

WICH 1?

[@FourKeysBookArts]

This is a great point so thank you for checking your copies and sharing your findings! Anyone contemplating something like this should definitely examine your individual books (as I did in the video) before slashing into them.

[@cboyko1]

Additional evaluation of my bookshelf suggests that actually they’ve *improved* the quality of the binding over time: all of the more recently printed books my family has are sewn; it’s the older ones that are glued.

[@cboyko1]

@@Gworeldoreriverpass the tenth printing players handbook my daughter has! They’ve changed them so more recent ones are more likely to be sewn!

[@FourKeysBookArts]

An additional thing I discovered: my PHB and MM (with the softer adhesive on the spines) were printed in China, probably around 2019. My DMG is brand new and was printed in the USA, so that explains the difference in the adhesives.

[@sonic_gloom]

I can't believe a bookbinding video left me at a cliffhanger! Smart move though, I had to sub just so I wouldn't miss the next one! This is great.

[@FourKeysBookArts]

Thanks for the sub!

[@tatterberry7841]

Love this! The overlap in bookbinding nerdery and tabletop nerdery is real 😄

[@FourKeysBookArts]

The Ven diagram is an almost perfect circle, at least for me!😄

[@rickmoore]

I recall my original edition 1st edition books getting so much use and falling apart. I didn't have access to a bindery, nor the skill to bind a book, nor the money to have it rebound. I resorted to a 3 ring binder and plastic protector sleeves 😎

[@FourKeysBookArts]

We do what we have to do to keep playing!

[@u2bist]

Very interesting - my 1e books, purchased new in 1980, are still together - and I still regularly play 1e. The DMG's spine cover has come off but all the bindings are still solid. By contrast, my glued-together 5th edition PHB started coming apart within a couple years.

[@bow-tiedengineer4453]

It's really cool, looking into the guts of a book and seeing how it's make. My copy of the monster manual actually has an error, one of the corners on one of the signatures was folded when they trimmed it square. Appropriately enough, the error almost perfectly aligns with the section on dragons, so the dragons are permanently bookmarked in my copy of the monster manual!

[@paulregner5335]

I've got the complete assortment of AD&D books from the 70's-80's, and covers are pretty worn. What a brilliant idea!

[@balmylagoon]

I don't think I've clicked on a video so fast lol. My two favorite hobbies converge! Bravo 👏

[@frenchfriar]

It's actually really impressive to see that the new books are bound that well. Obviously that may differ a bit by edition, but considering how much use and wear these books get, it's nice to know they planned for that. Very intrigued to watch this project. I've done some hand binding, and worked in a print shop, so this is a treat for me.

[@KoTTrpg]

I never knew such work existed and I am so intrigued!

[@satubock]

Just wanted to say that your videos have inspired my scribes wizard who is a bookmaker by trade. Keep up the great work.

[@FourKeysBookArts]

Mine was a knowledge domain cleric whose hammer and shield were flavored as a bookbinder's hammer and the massive cover of an old tome!

[@gymnosophist7471]

Oh my god! You are a RPGer! Yet another reason to love this channel! 😊 I approve of this project, 2000 XP for the first stage.😊

[@FourKeysBookArts]

Nice, can't wait to level up!

[@KoTTrpg]

And some inspiration of course!

[@elickes]

Yes. Thank you, sir. This is a true labor of love and something I've always wanted to see happen. May your characters be 18/00 and your rolls be 20.

[@FourKeysBookArts]

Love the old percentile strength reference, thanks!

[@CornishMiner]

Great idea. Interesting problems to overcome. Looking forward to the next instalment.

[@jnltt]

Such a cool project! Didn't know you were into D&D so this video is a great surprise!

[@Beryllahawk]

Quite fascinating!!! Especially interesting is that the DMG is so different - I don't understand why the sewing spots are offset compared to the other two, but it's very obvious that the folks at TSR expected that book to see the MOST use-and-abuse of the three. And kind of wonderful, that they put such forethought into the making of the books. I would never have the fortitude to pull apart those books. I did however destroy my Pathfinder (1st Ed) Core Rulebook...but I had none of the necessary tools to rebind it. I ended up having to take it to a local print shop and asking them to drill and bind the book with spiral binding. But I still have it and use it! And may I also say that I'm VERY tickled that you are also an "old school" D&D player? It's becoming a bit more rare to find folks who knew AD&D, haha! Looking forward to your next installment as you continue on your epic adventure here!!

[@FourKeysBookArts]

The difference with the DMG may be more due to it being a brand new book which I bought just for this project, whereas my PHB and MM are about 5 years old. I think in that time the binding method must have changed, or maybe it was bound in a different facility. And I still have my battered old 2nd Ed. Player’s Handbook and it’s still (mostly) holding together! Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed the video!

[@SoulisStar]

When the 5e books first came out they had many many failed bindings. They have a lot of players getting replacements from wizards. I wonder if this is the reason for the change in binding

[@sean.chiarot]

I've been wanting to do this to mine, but haven't mustered the courage to tear them apart. Very much looking forward to this series!

[@gabbytorres9724]

this is so amazing. your precision and dedication is something i strive to have. i’m so excited to watch the rest of the process!!

[@KoTTrpg]

I had to rewatch 6:37 it gave me a nice little chuckle, get work. I originally watched the book cover portion but now I am going back and watching the process Stellar work!

[@marcelorezende5788]

Big project, never stop. 👋👍

[@louGriggs1944]

Great project.I can't wait to see the next steps. Thanks.

[@leothackstone620]

can't wait to see the finished product!

[@chyldstudios]

Love the attention to detail!

[@misskit866]

I'm so impressed with the quality of the binding. Even before you took them apart (painstaking work!) the separate signatures were clearly visible. I enjoy your videos very much--you take care at every step and do not rush the work. Thank you!

[@kathyk479]

Haha. I've. Started playing with the white box set with the red letters! In the 70's! Haha!

[@Grimlore82]

I am so excited to see the end result. This is awesome.

[@Remulos1]

I've been waiting for a new video from you with baited breath and then you come out with THIS!! I actually squealed I'm so excited!

[@yourboynik]

Yes! I've been considering a project like this for a while now, but I didn't know if it would work. So thank you for your service in doing all the necessary experimentation for all of us bookbinding DnD nerds!

[@ralorieth6858]

An awesome start to a big project!!!

[@lavender-hearts]

Tearing apart mass-produced books to create something unique and still functional is something I love to see. It turns them from something anyone can pick up brand new at a book or game store into a unique piece of art that you can still pull out and use as a master reference book at the game table... though gosh, I can't imagine how heavy it would wind up being! Definitely not something I would want in my bookbag to take to a friend's game table, but rather something I'd use if my friends came to my place to play.

[@ValeriePallaoro]

Thank you for understanding. Way too many people 'cringe, I can't destroy books even for something this spectacular'. They are mass produced, they are printed (not hand written), they are rubbish once they've been used a hundred times. They're special, but not _that_ special. This? This makes them a work of art and craft.

[@ottolehner7249]

hey man, respect for the craft. I saw your final video and got interested but I decided to start with the beginning, so now I have watched this video and I gotta tell you it is great. it is rare to find someone both skilled in a craft and in the art of pretending it, I love that we are able to see the thought process in your work. With this one video, you have earned my subscription.

[@FourKeysBookArts]

Thank you, welcome to the channel!

[@Mama.Cadence]

I'm amazed that those books are sewn! It makes sense though as they are opened and paged through over and over again, but still, it's very cool. I might do this myself with my copies.

[@DStrormer]

This is gonna be so awesome and I look forward to seeing the process. I'd love to do this to my old (and well worn) 3.5 books.

[@XyerDark]

An unexpected serie but a very welcome one for sure! I wouldn't do this to my newer manuals but I can definitely see the appeal, especially with so many homebrew settings and fanmade rulebooks, this could be applied to a lot more than your average manuals.

[@alexstrongmetal9838]

This is going to be a very exciting series! I now have full intentions to do this to my books.

[@user-oq7sr7fl5q]

WELL done- very good job. thanks a lot for Broadcasting yourselves handwork

[@zelbarnap]

This is awesome! I look forward to part 2!

[@stephmo371]

Very fun project can't wait to see what you come up with

[@rb3537]

I hope to see part two soon!! I would love to get mine done into one megatomb!!

[@polly-emilytaylor6410]

Watching you peel the glue off was weirdly satisfying. Really enjoy your videos and your tone of delivery.

[@lilpixie25]

Lovely, can’t wait to see how you tackle the unmatched holes :)

[@Louise_Moura]

For a beginner like me, this seems like a very ambitious project, I can't wait to see how it will turn out in the end!

[@Sams911]

like you I played D&D and AD&D back in the late 80's when it was straight up real nerds that played...

[@paulcattrone3196]

What a fantastic surprise! I’m spreading this video to all my old gaming friends.

[@FourKeysBookArts]

Awesome, thank you!

[@troyfowler5177]

Dude... Watching you pick that glue off a little at a time, only one word comes to mind: Commitment! Bravo!

[@lockbow]

Cool project! I'm looking forward to the next part to learn how you solve the cliffhanger problem.

[@timwjack]

This is a very cool project!!!! My history with D&D is much like yours. I am so excited to see the rest of the project!!

[@trineficous9475]

So glad I found this! I just moved, and found my old 5e PHB. It's separated at the spine, so I might do something similar, but more basic to save it.

[@Link_ye_Hyrule]

Should get an Artist to Pretty up the edges of the pages with a scenery that Screams Dungeons & Dragons

[@goodbye3064]

Your videos are a bastion of peace and creativity in my chaotic life right now. Thank you so very much.

[@dirk4926]

Looking forward to seeing how this turns out

[@garyleonard9178]

Alas, not all books are sewn signatures. My books look exactly the same, but are glue bound. Time to look into a coptic stitch solution if I want to rebind.

[@PurpleHonee]

Boy, that was a sticky situation! Well-glued.

[@ricktho2020]

I recently started binding, using homemade paper so I wasn't wasting paper. I decided I've practiced enough and wanted to start on some damaged books I've found at library sales. Last night while going through my shelves I came across my DND books and thought, I wonder if I can rebind these. Thank you for having the same idea. I didn't have to go in blind now.

[@targetdreamer257]

That is some tight and fiddly work. Very fascinating.

[@ashenwalls3558]

What a process!

[@ssilmath]

This is amazing. I got into book binding specifically because my (perfect bound) players handbook is quite literally falling apart. That project hasn't started yet, need to learn perfect binding and doing leather covers, but your project is definitely inspiring.

[@robbabcock_]

Fantastic work! I'd love to be able rebind my old AD&D 1e and 2d books in leather!🧙⚔🧝🏹🐲

[@sharkymalone]

The dwarf fortress soundtrack was so perfect in this video

[@Bueny96]

Really damn interesting video. I’m excited what the end result will look like.

[@SamundraDarion]

Looking forward to PART 2

[@robinmartin4464]

You definitely get inspiration points for this! Matt Mercer, eat your heart out!

[@SirLeuroy]

Im waiting for more!

[@lukethomas216]

Those DnD books are well made! Loving the deconstruction 😁

[@carolburns8667]

This is so fascinating.👏🏻👏🏻❤️🇨🇦

[@falconnm]

Great video! So impressed with you're knowledge & craft. Also impressed that WoTC does invest in several quality techniques to keep our books together!

[@nicholasdaviner7249]

Amazing!

[@claybowser698]

Awesome project. I was a hard core D&D player back in the day. The best books in my opinion would be 3rd edition AD&D. Those are top shelf level books. I bet this tome you're working on is gonna be amazing.

[@snuggiethegoblin7101]

I have totally wanted to do this!!!!

[@FantasyApprentice]

this is awsome, you books binding videos are amazing and this channel helped me learn how to book bind I'm kind tempted to do this to my Ghosts Of Saltmarsh book, it looks a bit bland

[@andrearigacci9113]

I just stumbled onto this channel, and fun fact, I was looking for bookbinding tutorials to make props my players could use in our ongoing dnd campaign. I was not expecting to be suggested, at the end of the video, to embark on a crafting adventure to disembowel monster-filled tomes, learn their secrets and solve their riddles, but colour me invested!

[@coolitudeextraordinaire]

oh i adore this! it was perfect to watch while i was bleaching my hair :] bookbinding is just such a delight to watch- awfully kind of you to share your work with us :D

[@Mizai]

this channel gave me a new appreciation for books

[@talourg1334]

Hey! Great project! An ideia: You can use the existing holes for sewing, except between signatures that connect two books, right? So make an idependent seam just in these connections, perhaps with new (aligning) holes. I hope it helps. Looking forward to part 2

[@haroldseaman4243]

Outstanding I wanted my books done after seeing you video the first time!!! All I got to say is Thaco is way but I do love the many different dice sets😂😂😂!!

[@Caracal-lm6es]

It wasn't broken so you decided to fix it 😄 Seriously though, this looks like a fun project. Looking forward to seeing the final tome.

[@deetrvl4life875]

I want to have a beautiful medieval type binding/cover done on my Skyrim, Legendary Edition Manual! (even though I've used it almost to death!) What a challenge. Love your videos!

[@jennglow4647]

Very cool 😀

[@JLogan1231]

Working in the Technical Services Department of a University Library, we did book mending. A lot. I don't even know how many books I've had to unbind. No project was ever as cool as this one though!

[@u.s.e.c3454]

this music brought me back to Total Miner Forge. God I miss that 360 game.

[@EpileptikRobot]

gah! I wish this video existed 6 months ago! I took apart 7 of my dnd rule books and combined them into one huge book. I went in with 0 knowledge and it turned out great but this would have made it go so much smoother lol

[@DonsArtnGames]

The movie was fun! Got to watch an early screening. Players and nonplayers in my group really enjoyed the movie. So much that we are going to watch it again when it officially releases.

[@danmunteanu7676]

After solving the sewing holes alignment issue you will have to decide what type of glue to use for strengthening the spine. From my experience you can't use pva glue as it doesn't stick well on cold hotmelt glue (which you still have superficially on some of the signatures). With use the book might tear apart because of that. I successfully used contact cement in the past, but I didn't try to round the spine. Intereresting problems....

[@MrBuyerman]

5:17. I agree. It feels all kinds of wrong to do this to an innocent book, but I hope that these are reborn with an epic makeover.

[@keldynmajere9345]

You didn't destroy those books. You improved them. 👍

[@6butterflywings6]

Haha! I was just thinking about the eyesore that is my hubby’s D&D shelf. Wonder if he’d go for this?

[@anymajordude87]

this is fascinating and horrifying. could not look away. I know it will work out in the end, but I can not see myself destroying books to make a new one

[@IowaTower]

I want to try something like this - with cheap used books in case I get distracted or lose interest or throw it through a window in frustration - but the thought of losing the covers and that beautiful art paralyzes me. For now, I take satisfaction watching an expert actually do it.

[@seameology]

I'm surprised that the bindings are so different. Nevertheless, it's a problem I would encounter. I can't wait to see how you solve it.

[@xavierpaquin]

What a cliffhanger 😂

[@Kai-ye8cr]

Anyone elses heart hurt when the book was destroyed, even though you knew it'd be better in the end?

[@ValeriePallaoro]

15:08 Oh, shit! Breaking out the big guns Ohmylordybe!

[@silvercandra4275]

As someone who got into DnD during 5e, it always makes me smile to hear someone going "I was into DnD before it was cool"

[@KoTTrpg]

It's always been cool, and I think that TTRPG's are becoming way more popular now as it is a means to connect to others.

[@silvercandra4275]

@@KoTTrpg Yeah, definitely. I got in touch with 90% of my current friend group, just through DnD. In case it wasn't clear, my point here was more, that it makes me smile that DnD manages to bridge gaps of decades, having both fans that are well into adulthood, and fans that are still teens.

[@ValeriePallaoro]

@@KoTTrpg nope. As someone who watched D&D grow from the beginning; it was not cool. Nerdy wasn't cool, introverts weren't. Just saying, from being there.

[@odinulveson9101]

This is awesome. Chunky book! Hmm. Possible to cram in Fizbans Treasury of Dragons, Tashas Cauldron of Everything and Xanathars Guide to Everything into one too? A third could be Mordekainens Monsters of the Multiverse, Van Richtens Guide to Ravenloft and Sword Coast guide one

[@GreyhawkGrognard]

When these books for 5th edition first came out, there was an issue with the glue used. I have a Player's Handbook whose pages just popped out of the cover entirely (it was perfect bound, no folios, no sewing). Fortunately I had kept the receipt and Wizards of the Coast replaced it, as it seems to have been a common problem at the time.

[@targetdreamer257]

I would absolutely LOVE to have the three core books bound into one tome! And then since I am dreaming It would be cool to do the same for many of the modules and sourcebooks. I think the final tome would be way too big to have them all in one. So I guess it would be dependent on how big each is.

[@moo4boy]

I'd love to eventually see a companion tome (or several) with all of the expansions in it.

[@thekingou]

Incroyable ! Magnifique ! Again for warhammer New édition please!!! Welcome to France 🇫🇷 🎉

[@riftalope]

1:26- Wonderful set of videos. And what a way to immortalize the old system books. I would have put a sheet of gold embossed paper around the middle book, giving all three a distinctive divider. ... Next time. I remember an old oversized survey ledger book in my State's archive that had metal hinges on the cover, and a brass plate between each "chapter". It wasn't just decorative. They were relief piano hinges that let the spine slink down with the turning of those two foot by three foot pages. Not that it matters, this is just an observation, but if the focus were a bit sharper on the hands when you do the gesturing bits it wouldn't seem like a Pixar video. Then again, I've never seen a Pixar animation remember to put dirt under a fingernail without an extreme close up.

[@carolinelabbott2451]

I'm actually planning on printing off my pdf RPG books and combining them all into one book. :) This is because I find black on white difficult to read, so I'm going to have it printed on coloured paper instead. ☺️

[@lordofgraphite]

oooooooooh i hope this continues

[@rhpsoregon]

I've been wanting to do a similar project with all of the 2e Monster Compendia. There's never been such a collection before or since (~3000 pages). Maybe since it's so big; and one of a kind I should chain the spines to its own bookcase. Just an idea...