How to Make Your Own Legal Pad

[dcwaites]

Many years ago, when I was a competitive small bore target shooter, I used to make score-keeping and training pads this way.

 

However, I used to use good PVA glue (Selleys Aquadhere, I think) for the glue. I also used to use the same to bind printed computer manuals. One is over 2 inches thick, and still good. I used to use two or three layers of glue for a stronger binding, and I have also glued cloth (usually White Open Wove (WOW) bandage) around the end for those pads and books I didn't want to come apart.

 

I will be making some new writing pads soon, so I must try the Silicone Sealant. I suppose the aim is to find a glue that will allow you to rip pages off, while still holding the rest of the pad together.

 

Anyway, thanks for the article,

David

 

 

[subgirl]

Just a totally neurotic niggly "correction" to your instructable (which btw, is totally ace. I haven't tried it yet, but I've seen several other tutorials on a similar process and yours looks easiest. And cheapest, since the others were done by bookbinders using expensive bookbinding materials)

 

 

that "jog" you're talking about has a name, it's called "blocking". One "blocks" a stack of paper before doing, well, anything to it.

 

I'm a serious repository of pretty useless information, though sometimes handy.

 

*goes off to buy some of that sealant and to make some notepads*

 

Thanks for the tutorial!

[ldb]

Awsome post!

 

I actually made message pads for my office (My OCD made me do it) as I didn't like the layout of the commercially available ones. I even bought a stack cutter on Ebay, which is not necessary of your pad is of a regular size.

 

Anyway, I used Mod Podge for the adhesive. It's available at craft stores for about $5 a bottle. You do need several layers for it to keep the pad from falling apart, but it's cheap availbe and fairly effective. Next time I will try the silicone, though. It looks awsome. And I will remember "plenty of spit" to smooth it out.

 

ldb

[Kabe]

Will try this, with linen paper

[Kabe]

I have this idea, about using the serrated blade in an aluminum foil box, as a cutter, glueing it to the pad, or just using it to pre-perforate...

[Imzadi]

I wonder if the serrated wheel used to mark material from a pattern when sewing would work for perfs.

[Kabe]

Is it like a spur?

[MidnightBlue]

I've always made these pads for myself. Lay say 500 sheets on a bench, place a large piece of paper on the short edge and place any kind of weight along the same edge. Paint any rubber based glue along the edge. After say 1 hour slit them into 100 sheet lots. If you like place strawboard in between the 100s to have a nice solid back. Hope this all hasn't been said before. Thanks

[Imzadi]

Is it like a spur?

 

 

Yeah. You put a piece of colored paper (sort of like carbon paper) between the pattern and the material to be cut. You roll the wheel along the seam line and it leaves a dashed line on the material showing where to sew. like this

[Kabe]

Oh, may work.

 

 

[Kabe]

I'll try basic white glue. or carpenter's basic glue with some silicone. Then I'll add the foil blade with some sturdier glue, and some basic black tape to cover it.

[Aristarco]

Really? Padding compound is difficult to find in the US? Wow. Here in México (and listen to this, Mint) there's padding compound in the mexican equivalents of Staples. Not in Office Max and not in Office Depot, though. Resistol, the most popular brand of adhesives in México, makes the padding compound in red and white and sells them as Resistol 525.

 

Basic white glue, the most common product, is PVA sold as Resistol 850, but this I don't recomend for making pads. It lacks the enormous flexibility of 525 so if you turn the pages without care, the block breaks apart, just like the Moleskine problem, and you end with two or more pads out of one. Been there, done that.

 

So, if you're in México, like Mint, go to any big stationery store like Tony or Ofix and look for Resistol 525. I like the white since it dries up transparent and hides the mistakes very well. Red is a bit of a giveaway when it dries. In liquid form it looks pink, like strawberry yogurth. When dry, it looks transparent vivid red. It lasts for decades. I bought a kilogram about 20 years ago and it still works. Resistol 525 is sold in 1kg plastic containers or 10kg buckets for as low as $10US (more or less). I have NO affiliation to the brand. It just works for me. I use it to make pads but also to reinforce the spine of books and glue the mull to the spine and the spine to the outer binding.

 

Resistol is a brand of Henkel, so maybe in other countries the Resistol brand is sold under other names, like Pritt. Anyway, good luck with the pads! They work for me!

 

 

[Kabe]

I am no Mint. I am Kabe. You are not NOS, you are Aristarco

 

Hola, Aristarco. Lo intentare. A ver dondo lo consigo

[MidnightBlue]

When I posted the idea of painting rubber based glue for padding, I assumed that people would be ripping off each sheet as they went through the pad. It won't handle repeated turn over.Thanks

[Kabe]

I just did my pad, but:

 

I used crazy glue (Kola Loka brand), the one that comes with a brush

 

And isntead of the C vices, I used standard office binder clip, a lot of them

 

First try was with about 20 pages of linen paper. Because of the texture, I was sure it would fail, but I still went for it. And it stuck, great, and I added a coat of white glue just to seal it, and it has resisted turning!

Edited May 13, 2009 by Kabe

[Aristarco]

Sorry 2 kabe! I was tired and mistaken the nick for the activity. Mil disculpas, mano!

So you used Kola Loka? Wow, last time I used crazy glue on paper, a lot of fumes, irritating fumes, and heat, developed at the bonding. And the paper didn't glued. Maybe the formula of the brush version is better. I think they've changed from the original cyanoacrylate to make it slow-adhesive, hence the brush. Good to hear it works on paper!

 

MidnightBlue, I think one can make a stapled version and still be able to rip it off if using a rotary blade from Fiskars. There's a round blade with gaps in the edge to make small cuts like those in tickets or checkbooks. Not the same as microperforations, but usable. Still, the point on making a pad like the one you described is ripping the pages off. Ever tried the rubber circles made by 3M? They make different sizes and thickness. Maybe there's suitable one for pads.

[Kabe]

No hay borlote.

 

I'm gonna try the tin foil blade... as soon as I finish off the tin foil...

[Hemingway]

I just tried this today:

 

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_umCR_mxKcEk/ShBrasQIqgI/AAAAAAAAEFg/2jONLeRQX1g/s800/CIMG3914.JPG

-

 

Here's the reason why I wanted one (well aside from using 100g paper): French ruled flipped upside down.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_umCR_mxKcEk/ShBrsFFLLFI/AAAAAAAAEFk/HpDfEO4cBCQ/s800/CIMG3918.JPG

 

Thanks for this excellent how-to.

 

Peter

[Klippers]

A padding press will work. I know we are trying to keep this on the cheap, but the machine used to do this is referred to as a padding press or paper padder.

 

http://www.officezone.com/images/supermini.jpg

 

I have heard of several people who simply purchasing the glue and using their own clamps (C clamps?) to keep the paper tight (like the instructions on page 1). They then apply the glue.

 

http://www.officezone.com/images/padding_kit_t.jpg

 

Padding brushes & glue.

 

Some good ideas out there. I especially like the idea of using the hot glue gun.

Edited July 15, 2009 by Klippers

[mooshi]

I know it's a fairly old thread (well, just a couple of months old), butt would Rubber Cement or maybe Tacky Glue work? I was thinking that Rubber Cement might be a little too soft, but if used generously... perhaps it'll work?

 

-- Moo