How To make a signature for a hand bound book

Last time I showed you how to find the direction your paper grain runs in your paper to optimize for the best fold for a hand bound book. now that you have a stack of precut pages all ready for folding, with the grain of the paper parallel to where you are going to fold I'll show you how to fold your sheets and get them ready for sewing.















What you'll need:

Precut sheets (cut to the height of your book and double the width)
Ruler
Pencil
Bone Folder
paper clips or alligator clips
Awl or a Long needle or pin
Rubber Mallet


Measure for your score
The best way to fold a sheet of paper is to score along where your fold is going to be using a bone folder. A bone folder is generally made of pig bone and has a pointed end and a rounded end, the bone is smooth for burnishing down your paper once it's scored.

To start take your ruler and measure out where your fold is going to be. My book is going to be 5.5" x 7" so my precut sheets are 11"x 7". Measuring in from the edge along the 11" length of the page I will make small pencil marks at the 5.5" length on my ruler. Remember to measure down the sheet in at least three places so that you are in effect measuring twice (or more) and scoring only once. Because the edges of my paper are deckle edges measuring in more than one place is even more important since the edge of my paper isn't even.

Scoring for your fold
just as you would if you were cutting along your measure, take your straight edge and line it up along your pencil marks. Run your bone folder along the edge remembering to keep your other hand pressing down on the ruler and moving it so that your bone folder hand and your ruler hand are at approximately the same place. It helps to have some extra scrap papers under where you are scoring to act as a cushion. This will give you a deeper score in your page making folding even easier.

Making the fold
Now that you have a scored line in each sheet you can create your fold. Using your scored line as guide, fold your sheet along the scored line and press down using the flat of your bone folder to finish the fold.

Make your signature
A signature is a collection of folded sheets that make a booklet. one or more signatures can be sewn together to create the pages of a hand bound book. A signature should ideally be made up of no less than three folded sheets of paper or leaves and no more than ten. The paper I have used is fairly heavy; 200lb so I am opting to create two signatures of four leaves.

Collect your leaves together and make sure that they all line up. At this point you can make sure your leaves stay aligned by clipping them together with paper clips or alligator clips.

Since this a small book I plan on measuring for two bindings (the straps that will hold the signatures together when the book is being bound). I'll measure out and make a pencil mark on each signature starting 3/4" from the bottom of the signature and 1/2" from the top of the signature.

The next step involves some math. I apologize but sometimes a little arithmetic is necessary. take your ruler and measure the space between the top measurement and the bottom. Divide this by the number of bindings for your book. In my case four. Measure down from your 1/2" mark with the number you have just calculated and with your pencil make another mark and repeat for each number of bindings.

A second mark should be made under each of these measurements to match the width of your binding tape or ribbon. My binding tape is 1/2" wide, under each of my measurements I will make a second mark that is a distance of 1/2". These marks are where I will punch a hole using my awl.

Getting the signatures ready to sew
making sure the leaves in your signature are aligned, take your awl and place the point on each of your markings where your bindings will be placed. Gently hammer the awl into your signature on each point. It is helpful to have something underneath where you are hammering so that you don't damage your awl tip. I've used an old magazine but an old phonebook would work too.

Next time Sewing your bindings onto your signature

How To: getting paper ready to make signatures for a handbound book

I may have mentioned that I'm getting ready to make a bedtime book for the Peanut last week. I've decided that while I'm doing that, I may as well create a tutorial (or more) during the process; mainly because It's been a while since I last made a hand bound book and talking through it is a fantastic way to learn yourself; or in my case refresh my knowledge.

With the Bean's debut just around the corner I'm not up to major projects at the moment so I may get a few tutorials done before she comes along and I may just get this one done and follow up once we're all sorted as a family of four instead of a family of three. We'll see how things go and I'll just ask for your patience now and get it out of the way.

The first step in making a hand bound book (outside of getting text together and breaking it up into page sized bits) is getting your signatures (or in my case; a signature) ready. A signature is a group of folded pages that make up a booklet which is then sewn together and attached to the hard cover of your book.

Today I'll show you how to find the grain in your sheet of paper so that you can cut your paper to make a signature for a hand bound book.

What you will need:
Paper
Ruler
Pencil
X-acto Knife
Soft Bristle Brush
Water

Paper Grain
When working with artist grade paper especially when you are going to be using artist grade paper for book making you should be aware of which way the paper grain is before you measure and cut your paper for signatures and for accordion folds. Paper grain refers to the direction that most of the fibers that make up the paper lie. During paper making the fibers that make up the paper tend to align themselves in one direction. Most artist grade papers are made using cotton fibers.

The best way to figure out which way the papers grain runs is to bend your sheet of paper. One side will roll easier than the other; the smaller the sheet of paper you are working with the more dramatic the difference will be. The side that bends the easiest is where the grain runs. You will be folding your signature parallel to the grain.

Measuring and Cutting
Now that you know which edge is parallel to your paper grain measure your paper for cutting. For my book I am making a 5.5"x7" book. I will be cutting sheets for my signature that are 11" x 7" with a fold made 5.5" in on the 11" length that runs running parallel to the grain of my paper.

I will be using two methods of cutting my paper for this book. the tops and bottoms of my pages will be cut using a blade for a straight edge and for the outside edges of my signatures I'll be making a deckle edge using water and a brush.

Straight Cut:
Using your ruler and a sharp pencil measure out where your cuts are going to be made. I measured down the length of my paper in 7" increments in three separate places along the page. This way I can line up my ruler along each mark and double check that my measurements are exact before I cut.

Laying your straight edged ruler along your measure line you can then take your x-acto blade and run it along the straight edge. It is best to use light even cuts and go over the cut more than once than to put a lot of pressure on a single cut. Keep your hand on the ruler to hold it down along where you are making your cut. This means that you will be moving your ruler hand along with your cutting hand as you make your cut. This gives your ruler edge support during the cut and also ensures that you are paying attention to what your blade is doing.














Deckle Edge:
Now that I've cut the straight edges on my sheets I have a tidy stack of four 7" x 22.5" sheets.

I want to make these into smaller 7" x 11" sheets with a deckle edge along the 7" edge of the sheet. I'm using Opus European Watercolour paper which has deckle edges already so I will be creating a deckle edge to match when I make the sheet smaller.

To illustrate paper grain a little more I've included two more images with these smaller sized sheets, you'll notice that the paper bends much more easily along the longer edge of the sheet. The paper grain then runs parallel to the 7" length of my sheet. This is the length that I will eventually score along for folding

To do this you need to measure where your tear is going to be made just as if you were going to cut the edge as before. Lay your ruler along the marks for your edge and run a wet paintbrush along the edge. I use a soft bristle brush so that I don't scuff my paper surface. Let the water soak into the paper. The paper I am using is 200lb paper which means that it is quite a heavy paper and needs a few moments for the water to soak in before I can start to tear. As with cutting with a blade keep your hand on the ruler along where you are tearing. Lift the edge of the paper where you want your tear to start and pull. Move your hand farther down the straight edge and tear further along your edge until you have reached the edge of your sheet.

Next time: scoring and folding to make your signature