Today marks the beginning of the actual binding of the book. As mentioned previously, this is a German style flatback binding. The official title is called a Bradel binding. This type of binding is characterized by a paper hinge that is used prior to applying a book cloth hinge. I like using this type of binding when I use a text block prepared by someone else. It is called a flatback binding because the spine lies flat against the text block, rather than having a rounded shape used in most handmade books.
The first step in building the case is the paper hinge. A piece of card stock is used for the spine and is glued to archival craft paper. The width of the craft paper is exaggerated in this example. The craft paper is trimmed to one inch on each side of the spine.
 |
| Beginning the paper hinge |
The boards are cut to size and are glued to the opposite side of the paper hinge. The view below is the side that will rest against the text block. The beauty of this structure is that you are guaranteed the correct sized gutter (the distance between the board and the spine) because you can measure it on the paper hinge.
 |
| Spine and Boards |
The next step is to apply the book cloth spine. I will be using a three quarter design for this journal. This means that decorative paper will adorn three quarters of the front and back covers. In other examples, the entire book (or half or quarter) could be covered in book cloth. Since the paper used will meet the criteria of the Iron Craft Challenge, I wanted to show as much decorative paper as possible. The reason you don't use the decorative paper for the entire cover is that the hinging (opening and closing of the book) will wear out the decorative paper and will cause it to separate or tear. Book cloth is a fabric that is lined with paper so that the extra support will function for the hinge.
 |
| Book Cloth applied to the spine |
The next step is to apply the decorative paper to the front of the case. Here is the back side of the case because I want to keep the decorative paper as a surprise until the Iron Craft posting date. In the picture below, the middle strip (shown in white is the reverse of the book cloth hinge). The blue pieces are the back side of the decorative paper. To complete this step, I will mitre the corners and turn in all sides of the case. The entire piece will placed in a press to dry overnight.
 |
| Case almost complete |
This weekend, I will take the text block and glue it into the case to make a completed book. Tomorrow, I will decide if I want to add any extras to the book before the final gluing.
No comments:
Post a Comment