Binding book pages together- single page or folded page method

This method is to bind single pieces of paper or a number of individual folded pieces of paper together.  This method is a variation of the sort of binding used for paperback books and uses glue to hold the pages together along with a piece of fabric for extra strength.

That said, this is not my favourite method for something you want to really last.  Just as pages can fall out of a old paperback book, with wear they can potentially fall out of books made this way and for the same reason- glue can degrade over time and once there isn't enough glue to hold the pages, out they come.  I also have not used this method myself to bind single pages together.  It should work fine, but there may be a greater chance of pages falling out as the glue has less area to grip on for each individual piece of paper.  If you try it yourself, tell me what you think!

What you will need:

Use a thin, light weight fabric slightly shorter than your book's spine and the spine width plus 5cm

• Your pages to bind.  while it doesn't matter if the edges not to be bound are neat, the edge that takes the glue must be straight
• Some glue.  I use a acid free pva glue (also known as white glue, carpenters glue, wood glue, school glue depending on where you are from).  Being acid free it is not going to degrade the paper over time.  It also is designed to not yellow, set clear and, most importantly, have a flexible bond.
• A piece of thin, loose weave fabric.  Thin because we don't want too thick fabric to deal down the track, and with, loose weave as it allows glue to pass through easily.  The fabric should be about a centimeter (half an inch) shorter than the length of your book spine and the width of the spine plus about 5 centimeters (2 inches)
• Something to clamp your pages in.  Mine is actually a large flower press- two thick pieces of wood with holes drilled in each corner for large bolts to pass through, held in place by wing nuts but you can easily improvise something similar with some scrap timber and some bolts.

All the pages folded, note how the book will be composed of individual folded pages.

If you are going to use folded pages, take your pile of pages and fold them, making sure all your creases are nice and sharp. Also make sure that your pages are in the right order- you don't want to finish making your book only to find out at the end that page 53 comes before 27!

Folded pages, ready to go

You'll probably find if you are using folded pages that you end up with a bit of a bulge when the pages are put in a pile due to the folds.  That's OK- just make sure your creases are as sharp as you can.

Your first step is to put the pages into your book clamp.  It is absolutely vital that your spine is perfectly even.  The easiest way to ensure this, is to have your spine flat.  Then you can use a flat surface to tap your pages.  However, you can use a slight outward bulging curve.  The key though is that the spine is even.  If any of your pages don't make contact with the glue in the spine then there will be nothing to hold them in place.

 

Book pages clamped in.  Note how little of the pages are exposed.

Clamp the book so the spine sticks out only  about 3 mm (1/16 of an inch).  This keeps the pages from moving.  The pressure also prevents glue from seeping too far into the book, sticking all your pages togther- we just want the book to be glued at the spine!

Another view of the book pages clamped in place

Glue on spine

Take your glue and run a thin line down the length of the spine.  Then use your finger to smear the glue out- you must ensure that all pages get covered by the glue.  Use a bit of pressure to force the glue into every crack and cranny.

Smear the glue into the spine well (sorry for the bad quality- it's hard to take a photo one handed while using glue with the other!)

Leave the glue to dry, then add another coat the same way.  Leave to dry again.

Add more glue the same way, but this time place your piece of fabric, centered on your book.  Run your finger over the fabric to work the glue through the material to ensure it makes good contact.  Leave to dry, then add another coat of glue over the spine with fabric as before.

Leave everything to dry well, then remove the clamp from your pages.  Your pages should be nicely glued together- if you just hold the fabric on each side of the spine and lightly shake, nothing should fall out!  These bound pages (called a text block) are ready to be bound into a cover- stay tuned for the next exciting tutorial installment!