... homemade journal ...

[TMLee]

Hi All ...

Found another sort of free Saturday today and made my third homemade journal.

 

This time its Conqueror paper as mentioned earlier. Cream colored. 100gsm. A4 cut into half then folded into Signatures that are A6 sized.

They are coptic stitched (as before) with 100% linen thread. (couldn't find somethiing nicer and thicker)

 

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/journal%203/A6size.jpg

 

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/journal%203/copticstitch.jpg

 

Flyleaves being prepared. 'Basic Grey' motifs. (made to look distressed)

Then cut out and pasted onto the signatures, inside front and inside rear.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/journal%203/flyleavesmotif.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/journal%203/flyleavesonsignature.jpg

 

 

This time managed to buy a huge piece of leather at a $bargain. Cognac colour.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/journal%203/preparingleather.jpg

 

This time I also made a pocket to be pasted onto the rear inside cover.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/journal%203/pocketready.jpg

 

Glued the leather onto the flyleaves.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/journal%203/flyleavesinstalled.jpg

 

Glued the pocket onto the rear inside cover too.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/journal%203/pocketinstalled.jpg

 

The finished product. With a DT Densho RE ED for scale.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/journal%203/endpdt1.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/journal%203/endpdt2.jpg

 

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/journal%203/endpdt3.jpg

 

 

The leather is 0.8 -1mm thick. I couldn't find the specially thin ones for books. But its real soft.

 

Need some advice though...

How do I get rid or seal away the leather fibres along all the edges?

 

Do you glue the spine to the leather too? I did not. I did the coptic stitch cos I wanted it to open flat. I didn't glue a mull to the spine too. (I know its a no-no)

 

But I am happy with the paper cos its definitely FP friendly.

 

Any advice on how to do a better cover for my next (4th) journal?

 

 

I replaced the pics which for unknown reasons , became unlinked. This is a much earlier post #49.

Edited March 12, 2008 by TMLee

[Noh]

These journals are awesome!

 

After seeing how simple, functional, and cool looking the coptic stitch binding is I've decided to give this a try myself. I've already made a simple one out of printer paper just to get a sort of feel for it. It's eight signatures sewn with dental floss (mostly because it's what I had to hand, and besides, who doesn't love a minty-fresh journal?) and a card-stock cover which I just glued to the first and last pages of the book-block.

 

I was hoping you could describe in a little more detail how you're attaching the covers to the book-blocks. In some of your designs it looks like it's all sort of dependent on the flyleaves, on others the mull, but I'm having a hell of a time visualizing how it all actually comes together, what gets attached to what, and what doesn't get attached to anything, etcetera. I normally have a really good head for this sort of thing, and I'm sure I'm just missing something simple (and probably obvious), but frankly, the fact that I've failed to work out the mechanics of this in my head has been driving me completely nuts all week.

 

For the design I'm kicking around in my head right now it probably won't be much of an issue since I'm thinking the book-block is going to get stitched straight to a finished natural wood cover (for that authentic Gnostic codex look), but for future reference I would really like to know how to do it, you know--good.

 

 

[TMLee]

These journals are awesome!

 

After seeing how simple, functional, and cool looking the coptic stitch binding is I've decided to give this a try myself. I've already made a simple one out of printer paper just to get a sort of feel for it. It's eight signatures sewn with dental floss (mostly because it's what I had to hand, and besides, who doesn't love a minty-fresh journal?) and a card-stock cover which I just glued to the first and last pages of the book-block.

 

I was hoping you could describe in a little more detail how you're attaching the covers to the book-blocks. In some of your designs it looks like it's all sort of dependent on the flyleaves, on others the mull, but I'm having a hell of a time visualizing how it all actually comes together, what gets attached to what, and what doesn't get attached to anything, etcetera. I normally have a really good head for this sort of thing, and I'm sure I'm just missing something simple (and probably obvious), but frankly, the fact that I've failed to work out the mechanics of this in my head has been driving me completely nuts all week.

 

For the design I'm kicking around in my head right now it probably won't be much of an issue since I'm thinking the book-block is going to get stitched straight to a finished natural wood cover (for that authentic Gnostic codex look), but for future reference I would really like to know how to do it, you know--good.

 

 

Thanks Noh,

 

Mull

I use the mull to strengthen the bookblock. The bookblock is coptic stitched which allows the book to open flat and stay flat open. This means that the stitches are the only stuff keeping the bookblock together. Becos of the stitch, there's some 'play' between signatures since the threads are the only things keeping the signatures linked to each other.

So to reduce this 'play' , I first clamp flat the book block and apply an even coat of PVA glue on the spine. (look for my pics showing clamping) The glue will fill up the little spaces bewteen signatures. Often , this is good enough to hold the journal together and eliminate the 'play'. Simply becos the journal is small like mine in A6 size. (I am not sure if this works for larger sheets.) The clamping between wooden planks is important to keep the glue from going where you don't want it to go.

Then , I further strengthen this bookblock by adding a mull - glued over this spine.

To help make the book open nicely flat, you have to allow the spine to do that without any hindrance. This means that you don't glue the spine to the cover.

 

Flyleaves

A slightly heavier paper that attaches the cover to the bookblock.

In some of my journals, the mull goes over the flyleaves, ie between flyleaves and cover. The flyleaves are NOT stitched to the bookblock.

 

Cover

Cut it to its rough size first then finalise the exact size after gluing it to the flyleaves/bookblock.

As you can see from my posts, the later creations address the problem of ensuring the journal opens easily and stays flat open. Sometimes removing cover material from the spine to achieve this. Look at my 'Grappa' journal.

 

This thread of mine actually documents my learning experience starting from my very first attempt. I learnt and improved over repeated efforts. Its not a showcase of my selected 'best' journals. This explains why you see some slight differences in the ways each are crafted. The earlier ones , needless to say have some flaws which were then subsequently ironed out.

 

I have not done wooden covers. I saw some books on that though. Pretty impressive. I am not sure how the bookblock opens with that hard spine. My guess is that the signatures are not glued to each other. Do post when you are done. I am sure you will enjoy the learning process. The satisfaction comes when you've reached a level of competence which allows you to be more creative and adventurous. I learnt that learning the basics is crucial.

 

Enjoy !

 

 

 

[Noh]

Flyleaves

A slightly heavier paper that attaches the cover to the bookblock.

In some of my journals, the mull goes over the flyleaves, ie between flyleaves and cover. The flyleaves are NOT stitched to the bookblock.

 

Thanks for replying.

 

I guess my disconnect here is that several of your designs don't appear to use any mull at all; so if the cover attaches to the bookblock via the flyleaves, and the flyleaves aren't sewn to the bookblock--unless the flyleaves are glued to the cover and the first page of the block, or you used mull hidden under the straps which cross the spine and I just missed that part--I'm just failing to see how the flyleaves attach anything to anything.

 

 

[TMLee]

I guess my disconnect here is that several of your designs don't appear to use any mull at all

 

Thats correct. Some of my earlier creations don't have any mull bcos at that time I had yet to obtain them

 

 

; so if the cover attaches to the bookblock via the flyleaves, and the flyleaves aren't sewn to the bookblock--unless the flyleaves are glued to the cover and the first page of the block

,

 

Yes , the flyleaves are glued to the cover and the first page of the bookblock.

 

 

or you used mull hidden under the straps which cross the spine

 

No. There is no mull under the straps that cross the spine. In those journals, the spine is laid with an even layer of PVA glue (or none at all - which makes the books open really flat.)

The straps cross the spine but are attached to the spine by the additional coloured stiches. The straps are not glued to the spine.

In other designs with the straps, the separate straps are glued to the covers, but not the spine. Look at Journal #8.

The covers are glued to the flyleaves as per normal.

Edited March 17, 2008 by TMLee

[Noh]

Yes , the flyleaves are glued to the cover and the first page of the bookblock.

 

Oh, OK. Well that makes a lot more sense then. I don't know why, but I had assumed that they weren't for some reason. I guess that's what I get for assuming.

 

Anyway, thanks a lot for clarifying. I really appreciate it. I'll post some pics when I finish the one I'm working on.

[Noh]

OK, this is my first serious attempt:

 

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk94/saru_kage/book008small.jpg

 

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk94/saru_kage/book007small.jpg

 

All in all I'm pretty happy with how it turned out for a first go.

[Noh]

OK, this is my first serious attempt:

 

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk94/saru_kage/book008small.jpg

 

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk94/saru_kage/book007small.jpg

 

All in all I'm pretty happy with how it turned out for a first go.

[Deserter]

Huge thanks, this inspired me so much I have made my first A6 sized journal just finished it today, and I am pretty impressed with the first attempt. I would love to post pics of it for you to critique for me, but it is literally still in the press finishing glueing.

 

Thanks again, I have enjoyed this so much I am currently cutting and sewing up my next book block ready. Just a quickie, I backed my book using some denim I had hanging around, is the leather easy to work or does it take a lot of getting used too?

[TMLee]

OK, this is my first serious attempt:

 

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk94/saru_kage/book008small.jpg

 

All in all I'm pretty happy with how it turned out for a first go.

 

Hi Noh,

Thats a very professional looking piece of work for a first attempt ! Amazing. Keep it up !

So how did you resolve the issue of attaching the cover to the bookblock?

And what is the cover material? Looks like hardboard.

Does the cover open well?

Any PVA glue on the spine? I am guessing the bookblock may have a little 'play' or 'twisting' as the signatures are attached to each other only by the threads.

What is that graphic on the cover?

Great stuff Noh, more pics !?

rgds

[TMLee]

Huge thanks, this inspired me so much I have made my first A6 sized journal just finished it today, and I am pretty impressed with the first attempt. I would love to post pics of it for you to critique for me, but it is literally still in the press finishing glueing.

 

Thanks again, I have enjoyed this so much I am currently cutting and sewing up my next book block ready. Just a quickie, I backed my book using some denim I had hanging around, is the leather easy to work or does it take a lot of getting used too?

 

Hi Deserter,

I am happy you are enjoying it as much as I and others do.

Its that thrill and satisfaction of crafting something out with your own hands and personalising along the way thats most exciting.

 

I haven't tried denim before. It would be good to share your experience with others here. I think its thick and may be a little tricky when it comes to folding round the corners. I am sure you can arrive at improvised solutions as you work on it.

 

Leather has similar problem IF its thick. You can see in my earlier attempts. There are flaws. I can't get book leather here so thats why I am improvising with whatever materials I have. I love the feel of leather but haven't found a way to resolve how it goes round the spine without affecting how the book opens flat.

 

Anyway, pls post some pics for all to see.

 

rgds

[Noh]

Hi Noh,

Thats a very professional looking piece of work for a first attempt ! Amazing. Keep it up !

So how did you resolve the issue of attaching the cover to the bookblock?

And what is the cover material? Looks like hardboard.

Does the cover open well?

Any PVA glue on the spine? I am guessing the bookblock may have a little 'play' or 'twisting' as the signatures are attached to each other only by the threads.

What is that graphic on the cover?

Great stuff Noh, more pics !?

rgds

 

At first I was going to skip having flyleaves altogether and just sew the bookblock right into holes I drilled in the cover (which actually works pretty well as it turns out), but then I decided I did want flyleaves after all and ended up gluing the bookblock in via the flyleaves using your method. The black stitching along the spine edge of the cover was to do something with the holes left from my original plan.

 

The cover material is 1/8 inch (3-ply) plywood. It seemed like the best choice for a durable natural wood cover. Eventually I'll probably add a beeswax finish to it, but I haven't decided whether or not I want to add straps to it or not, and trying to glue cloth or leather onto a beeswax finish would be pretty futile.

 

The cover does open well, and no I didn't add any glue to the bookblock except to the knot I tied between the first two signatures and the finishing knot. I thought about gluing the block, but I didn't want to do anything that would interfere with the book opening flat since for me that's coptic stitching's main selling point. Writing in hardbound journals always drove me nuts because they were always trying to close on my hand while I was writing, and spiral-bound notebooks always drove me nuts because they are a pain in the butt to keep neatly on a bookshelf. So for me coptic stitch is the best of both worlds. There is a little play in the signatures, but as long as the book holds together that doesn't bother me.

 

The design on the cover (which is burned in, in case you were wondering) is the Sanskrit character for the word Aum. In Hinduism Aum is called "the four syllable word." The theory is that by saying Aum you are saying all the vowels in one word, and by saying all the vowels you are saying all possible words (consonants are just considered interruptions). If it seems odd that a three-letter word should somehow work out to four syllables, that's because the fourth syllable is silence. It seemed like a fitting sort of thing to put on the cover of a journal. Plus I think it looks pretty cool.

 

Oh, and I used Southworth 100% cotton 24lb "exceptional resume" paper for the bookblock. I don't really recommend it. It's nice paper, and it works mostly OK with most of my pens with regular nibs, but there's something weird with the texture that just makes my italic nibs write horribly. The same brand of 24lb 25% cotton paper works a lot better, but it doesn't seem to like blue ink at all. My PR American Blue, and my Noodler's Navy Blue just would not dry even after sitting for hours. So just a little something for people to keep in mind since this seems to be one of the more ubiquitous brands of quality paper, at least in my area of the country.

[TMLee]

At first I was going to skip having flyleaves altogether and just sew the bookblock right into holes I drilled in the cover (which actually works pretty well as it turns out), but then I decided I did want flyleaves after all and ended up gluing the bookblock in via the flyleaves using your method. The black stitching along the spine edge of the cover was to do something with the holes left from my original plan.

 

I like the black stitching to the cover spine. It adds to the overall aesthetics. BTW, what thread did u use for this black stitches?

 

 

The cover material is 1/8 inch (3-ply) plywood. It seemed like the best choice for a durable natural wood cover. Eventually I'll probably add a beeswax finish to it, but I haven't decided whether or not I want to add straps to it or not, and trying to glue cloth or leather onto a beeswax finish would be pretty futile.

 

The beeswax will give the journal a more finished look. I think when and if its done, the journal will take on a 'no nonsense' feel about it, consistent with the Aum graphic on its cover.

 

 

 

The cover does open well, and no I didn't add any glue to the bookblock except to the knot I tied between the first two signatures and the finishing knot. I thought about gluing the block, but I didn't want to do anything that would interfere with the book opening flat since for me that's coptic stitching's main selling point. Writing in hardbound journals always drove me nuts because they were always trying to close on my hand while I was writing, and spiral-bound notebooks always drove me nuts because they are a pain in the butt to keep neatly on a bookshelf. So for me coptic stitch is the best of both worlds. There is a little play in the signatures, but as long as the book holds together that doesn't bother me.

 

What thread did you use for the bookblock? They look quite thick. Are they waxed too?

 

I am guessing that your journal may need a little more reinforcement on its spine stitching becos of :

1) its size ; 2) thickness.

Its likely to be used for a longer time for it to be filled completely, due to its no. of pages. So when its used often, it will start to experience more stresses. The stitches will loosen a bit even if done perfectly as seen in some commercially produced journals very much like what you created. eg, the Paperblanks Sketch series Journals Smythe sewn. (exposed spine) I have one and it was pretty good but suffered 'play'. The thread gauge was heavy and so it held up till it was filled which was not too long since the bookblock was only about 3/4in thick and its overall size was small - A6 size.

One way around this is to apply a layer of PVA (dries transparent & very flexible) on your completed spine. Clamp the book properly so the glue won't seep between signatures deeper than you can see. When fully dried, the spine will be one homogenous unit. The book still opens perfectly flat. But you no longer see the gaps between signatures when the book is flat open, the glue is holding the 2 pages between adjacent signatures.

 

How many pages in one signature did you use?

 

The design on the cover (which is burned in, in case you were wondering) is the Sanskrit character for the word Aum.

 

Whats it called ? A pyrography kit ?

Can I use that on leather ? How do leatherworkers do it on their craftworks? (I have been wondering a long time about how to do it)

 

 

Oh, and I used Southworth 100% cotton 24lb "exceptional resume" paper for the bookblock. I don't really recommend it. It's nice paper, and it works mostly OK with most of my pens with regular nibs, but there's something weird with the texture that just makes my italic nibs write horribly. The same brand of 24lb 25% cotton paper works a lot better, but it doesn't seem to like blue ink at all. My PR American Blue, and my Noodler's Navy Blue just would not dry even after sitting for hours. So just a little something for people to keep in mind since this seems to be one of the more ubiquitous brands of quality paper, at least in my area of the country.

 

Maybe its perfect for pencil sketches ?

I have one journal like that 9in x 9in and I love it. Its posted somewhere here on this forum , forgot where. The paper works horribly with ink but perfectly with pencil. Its bookblock (1 in thick) is stitched but inserted into a stiff leather jacket. and yes they applied a layer of glue over the stitched spine for effects as I described above.

 

 

 

[Noh]

I like the black stitching to the cover spine. It adds to the overall aesthetics. BTW, what thread did u use for this black stitches?

 

The black stitching is actually hemp beading cord which I tried first as a substitute for linen thread (since none of the four fabric stores and three hobby/craft stores in my area had anything even close, let alone a nylon equivalent). It's really strong and almost worked for stitching the bookblock, but it doesn't hold up to being pulled through the signature holes very well. Little strands tend to break off after a while and bunch up at the hole you're pulling though.

 

 

The beeswax will give the journal a more finished look. I think when and if its done, the journal will take on a 'no nonsense' feel about it, consistent with the Aum graphic on its cover.

 

Well beeswax shouldn't end up making it look that much different than it does now, just a little shinier, but it will definitely hold up much better to coffee spills. But yeah, I'm really liking the earthy minimalist look it ended up with.

 

 

What thread did you use for the bookblock? They look quite thick. Are they waxed too?

 

I actually ended up using the same kind of linen bookbinding thread that was used in the Molskine Reloaded tutorial. I did end up waxing it because it cuts down a lot bunching and tangling while sewing.

 

I am guessing that your journal may need a little more reinforcement on its spine stitching becos of :

1) its size ; 2) thickness.

Its likely to be used for a longer time for it to be filled completely, due to its no. of pages. So when its used often, it will start to experience more stresses. The stitches will loosen a bit even if done perfectly as seen in some commercially produced journals very much like what you created. eg, the Paperblanks Sketch series Journals Smythe sewn. (exposed spine) I have one and it was pretty good but suffered 'play'. The thread gauge was heavy and so it held up till it was filled which was not too long since the bookblock was only about 3/4in thick and its overall size was small - A6 size.

One way around this is to apply a layer of PVA (dries transparent & very flexible) on your completed spine. Clamp the book properly so the glue won't seep between signatures deeper than you can see. When fully dried, the spine will be one homogenous unit. The book still opens perfectly flat. But you no longer see the gaps between signatures when the book is flat open, the glue is holding the 2 pages between adjacent signatures.

 

Well, I figured if it develops too much play between the signatures or starts coming loose I can always resew it if it starts bugging me. I've already written a quarter of the way through it and so far it's just as tight as when I first sewed it.

 

How many pages in one signature did you use?

 

The signatures are five 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of paper folded in half, so ten pages per signature, and 10 signatures in the block. One signature has six sheets instead of five to make up for the two pages that got glued to the flyleaves, so it's 100 pages total.

 

Whats it called ? A pyrography kit ?

Can I use that on leather ? How do leatherworkers do it on their craftworks? (I have been wondering a long time about how to do it)

 

As far as I know it's just called a woodburner. The package mine came in just said "Wood Burning Tool" on it. You can pick one up at any craft store for between $10-$25, or you can pick up a soldering pen for pretty cheap at pretty much any hardware store or Radio Shack and that's pretty much the same thing. There isn't much point in spending a lot of money on one, they tend to wear out pretty fast unless you get one of the top of the line ones and those can run well over $100 and they're pretty hard to find.

 

I have no clue how it works on leather. I suppose it's worth a try though. Either way, you'll definitely want to do some practicing on scrap pieces with it before you start using it on anything you want to keep. It takes a little while to get used to.

 

 

Maybe its perfect for pencil sketches ?

I have one journal like that 9in x 9in and I love it. Its posted somewhere here on this forum , forgot where. The paper works horribly with ink but perfectly with pencil. Its bookblock (1 in thick) is stitched but inserted into a stiff leather jacket. and yes they applied a layer of glue over the stitched spine for effects as I described above.

 

Yeah, it might be pretty good for pencil. It might be really good actually, but I haven't tried it. I don't do much with pencils these days. I just thought since this is a fountain pen forum someone down the line might like a heads up on that before they went and bought half a ream of the stuff at $0.80 a sheet or more only to find out it's not so great for pens. Ironically all my more expensive pens write horribly on the stuff, but the cheap little no name dropper-fill pens that come with the 4.5oz bottles of Noodler's write brilliantly on it. Go figure.

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

over the weekend, pushed myself to persevere to the end to complete my very first homemade handstitched blank journal....

 

 

A6 in size. Covered in scrap leather.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/journal%201/A6overallview.jpg

 

 

View of the spine. Wonder what string to use next time. This thread too fine and not expressive enuf.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/journal%201/journalspine.jpg

 

 

Close up of the signatures. I made six of them.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/journal%201/signatures.jpg

 

 

spread opened. Not perfect I know.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/journal%201/openpages.jpg

 

 

testpage with assorted FPs

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/journal%201/testpage.jpg

 

 

reverse side of the same testpage. the ink doesn't bleed thru but it can be seen from the reverse side due to transparency of the paper.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/journal%201/Dtestpagereverseside.jpg

 

 

As in all self made projects, its always exciting & the feeling of accomplishment is just sweet.

 

Sugee!!!!

 

I bet you're not a left-hander. No lefty can write that beautifully.

 

[shane27]

All these are beautiful.

 

I definitely have to try this sometime soon

 

 

[Deserter]

As promised here are 3 snaps of my first book, not up to the same standards as the others on here yet, but I'm working on it. I have 2 more book blocks ready (using the full Coptic stitch this time).

I've just bought a leather as well so I can give that a go. For some reason books look so much better when leather covered in my opinion.

 

Anyway here's the pics, please critique them as you will. I am looking forwards to reading any comments even the negatives so I can learn and improve.

 

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h140/kytauk75/Books/03042008046.jpg

 

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h140/kytauk75/Books/03042008048.jpg

 

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h140/kytauk75/Books/03042008051.jpg

 

Cheers

Chris

[TMLee]

Hi Chris,

Looks pretty decent to me.

What paper did you use?

The signatures look quite thick. How many pages in one signature?

The photo is a bit blurred, If I am not wrong, the gap between the coverboard and the spineboard needs more attention. Try to find out why the book covers don't open flat completely, ie touching the table , and you will understand what I mean.

 

OTOH, you may want to try NOT putting a board on the spine, since denim is stiff enough. Or use a thinner board at the spine?

 

You will experience that same problem when you use leather not meant for books. The stiffness of the leather at the spine will give resistance to the opening of the book.

 

Also , you may want to try using one size thinner for the covers. Looks a bit thick , but that just me.

 

Do continue to post yr efforts. Tks for posting.

[Deserter]

The paper is Southworth 100% Cotton paper, which was on offer at the local staple branch, I also have some of there parchment 25% cotton paper for the next few books.

 

Its got 6 signatures with 4 A4 sheets cut down in so you have 16 A6 pages per signature.

 

One reason I know of for it not opening fully is down to the stitching method, this isn't coptic on this one, the ones I am working on at the moment are and lay a lot flatter, but still no where near flat. I think maybe I am using too much glue on the spines.

 

The cover boards is actually made out of some left over watercolour boards which i have hanging around and will never use. (I don't like the way the paint lies on them). They are about 2mm thick.

 

I am trying to discover how you go about curving the spine, as I think that may look nice and also allow the book to lie flatter. When you say that the gap between the coverboard and the spine board needs a little attention, in what way do you mean? I thought maybe it was a little close, but the guide I was following which was off site said that the signatures should be pushed fully to the spine when gluing. Or maybe I am just misunderstanding and the gap should be closer.

 

Thanks for giving me this feedback, as I said I am sure that with a little guidance I should be able to create some lovely pieces of work in the future.

 

Cheers

Chris.

[Deserter]

One last thing whilst I'm thinking about it.

 

Am I right in thinking that to make an A5 sized book you would need to source paper in A3 size so it could be folded down the same and leave the grain the right way, or would A4 work?

 

Cheers

Chris.