Thursday, December 29, 2011

Bookbinding 101 - Sewing on Cords

So, ok, here's another video on sewing books. This time, I've put two basic methods of sewing on cords. (Medieval or Sewn-on & Sawn-in) Again, the camera was so close that I couldn't maneuver smoothly, but it doesn't matter as long as the process is showing. My next video will be headbanding, but I'm thinking I should make a real quick video of how to sew books with tapes and cords without sewing frame. You see, people don't have special bookbinding equipments like a sewing frame and presses, so I thought they might wanna know how to bind books with what they have in the house. Anyway, I'll think about it. Oh, by the way, it's so strange that there aren't any useful video tutorials for sewing headband on Youtube. I was curious, so I checked it. Strange, isn't it? There are tons of bookbinding tutorials on different subjects, but almost none on headbanding. Well, I hope my next video will help those bookbinding enthusiasts.

15 comments:

  1. You are unbelievable... I want to ask you a few questions. How many pages each "part" has? How do you make the holes in so many pages so accurate? Do you use for all the stitching waxed thread? Thank you very much from Greece...

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    1. Hi Texas,

      We call the "part" a "signature". The number of sheets of paper in a signature varies depending on the weight of paper.(Thickness of paper)Basically, the lighter (thinner) the paper is, the more the number of sheets of paper a signature can have. If the paper is 15~75 lb. text, (about the weight of an usual printer paper, notebook, or journal, etc.) you can put 4 to, up to about 8 sheets per signature. If the paper is as light as that of tracing paper or a portable Bible, it can have as many as 10+ sheets. If, however, the paper is 60~90 lb. card stock, (sketch book paper or scrap book or thick hand made paper, etc.)a signature should have 2~3, maybe up to 4. If the paper is as thick as 100 lb. card stock, well, maybe, you can sew single sheets of the paper together without creating signatures.

      If you watch my video, "Sewing with cloth tapes", it shows you how the holes are made. They are sawed with a saw.

      Let me know if you have any further questions.

      MHR

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  2. Hi MHR,

    I've watched almost all of your videos and i have couple of questions. First of all can you tell the advantages of cloth tape over the sewing in cord. For the sewing in cord would it not damage the signature as a hole need to be make as wide as the cord itself? And lastly i wondered why there is no video for hardcover making (there is video prior to case making but no hardcover making).

    Appreciates you reply.

    Zheng Ismail

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    Replies
    1. Hello Zheng,

      Sewing with cloth tapes is much easier & faster to do. Sewing in cord will not damage the signatures, so don't worry about it. The reason why there's no video for case making is because I haven't made one yet. Sorry about that. I'm extremely preoccupied with backlogs, so I just simply don't have time to do anything else other than committing myself 100% to my work at this moment. I appreciate your patience!

      Sincerely,
      MHR

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  3. Where do you get your saw for sawing the signatures?

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    1. The one I'm using on this video is a small Gent's saw. You should be able to buy it at any hardware stores. Make sure to choose the right blade thickness which is appropriate for your book.

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  4. Hi, great video, i was just wondering about the thickness of the cords you use, does it change according to the book or is it always the same? what´s the thickness of the one you use in this video? Thanks

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    1. Hello Rodrigo,

      The one I'm using on this video is about 1/8" in diameter. (3mm approx.) The thickness of the cords depends on the size and kind of binding you are working on.

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  5. Hello, I have seen your videos and I found them very useful for a beginner like me. I am interested mostly in leather craft but I would like to make a book with leather cover starting from 112 A3 80gsm leaves. I read the book "The craft of bookbinding" and I chose to use the flexible sewing method (with exterior cords) with 5 set of double cords + 2 cords where the kettle stitches channels are normally sawed. What I wanted to ask you is if you could give me some advice about the number of leaves for each section and the diameter of the cords I should use.
    Thanks

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  6. Just to say thank you for sharing your knowledge of bookbinding. You are very inspirational and guided me into the craft of hand bookbinding. I wish you great joy and success in all your endeavours. R.

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  7. I'm getting ready to buy a sewing frame. I'm undecided about the width of the frame. Should I go for 12 inches between posts, or 16 inches or a larger 22 inches? When sewing, reaching around the posts or through them.... which is easier?

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  8. Hi MHR,

    First of all, Happy 2020. I'm Moor from Malaysia.I am among thousands of readers and your YouTube followers who adore and respect your work. I bought a sewing frame and punch cradle from after Brazil rightwatching your tutorials.

    The only things that I could say to you is Thank you for making those useful videos and blog writings.

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    ReplyDelete