#bradel binding

[zhalfirin]

Extinction - VER

Full cloth Bradel binding with paper onlays

Yet another binding of this story by @sticksandsharks. Thank you for the kind permission to bind your work.

Materials used

Case Boards - grey board 1mm Spine stiffener - cardstock Covering material - book cloth (green) Paper onlay - chiyogami paper (paper backed for opacity) title - gold foil (hot stamped)

Inner book ' Text block - Schleipen fly 05 (115gsm) Endpapers - chiyogami paper (70gsm) Endbands - linnen core (10/3) and chiyogami paper

format: ~A6

[zhalfirin-binds]

Fitting the case of a Bradel binding

When I do a Bradel binding, I usually leave the covers wider than needed and adjust them later. This has the benefit of being less likely to cut them too short and accommodating for any skew of the book block (or, as another bonus, a slight skew/unevenness of the hinges). The later is particularly helpful when rebinding old books. Those are often slumped and not quite square or even anymore. With a completly square angled case, that does not take the aging into account, you might end up with a perfect cover that still looks odd and clumsy on the book block. In such a case, making the cover skewed to fit the book block creates the illusion of a book more balanced than it actually is.

To get there I mark the top side to which I align all parts of the case, pre-round the spine stiffener for rounded books and do the dry fitting on the finished book block. For the fitting it has endbands and oxford hollow already attached before marking the front squares on top and bottom. I used to use a compass to make sure your squares are perfectly even, but now I just eyeball it.

It's important to keep the book block pushed well back into the case and firmly in place to mark both covers on top and bottom. Otherwise the skew doesn't get get accounted for!

For the last part here I trim the front squares and now I have a well fitted case for the book block (no matter how skewed it might be).

[zenaidamacrouras1]

I promise this is the last book I have bound for at least a while, though I am working on some top secret typesets. I also take requests - feel free to request a typeset/bound book here. You never know. I'm planning at some point to offer some up for charity. I am whimsical and do what makes me feel happy and relaxed re: bookbinding, so no promises, but I love to see the recommendations people share!

This is my fic Tension and Tonic, which was the second fic I wrote/finished and is the last fic of mine that I have bound. I have now typeset and bound all of my fics, I think....anyway this one was last because I needed to copy edit it. I wrote it before I realized if you posted stuff to AO3 there was a chance someone would see it, and did not edit out my typos until just recently. Shortly after this fic, I discovered betas, aka the world's most lovely and perfect humans, who have saved me and others from the millions of mistakes my poor adhd riddled brain + rural country folksy accent is not capable of seeing.

This book is reasonably well-made with no profoundly horrible mistakes! Yay! I did at one point case one of them upside down, but then I checked before the glue dried, and fixed it. Look at me. Growth!!

Screenshot from the typeset of the typesetting notes:

I really like the fabrics for the outside. It is a bradel bind style spine, I think I did an oxford hollow, which it is not thick enough to really need, but whatever. I like how the bradel bind + oxford hollow construction reduce a lot of the errors and messiness I was having with casing in. I'm quite happy with that and thanks to the Renegade Discord Server for teaching me that variation!

It does lay nice and flat. I did not take a picture of that before sending them to their new homes.

[erratum-paginae]

The Scarlet Letter was my first restoration, and first traditional Bradel bind. It's been almost a year since I completed it (I really need to get better at updating this blog.)

Bookcloth is Relmafil, and the endpages are from the collection Queues de paon from Relma too. (As usual, picking endpages was the HARDEST step of all, but these ones felt perfect, like haunting flames fitting for the atmosphere of the book.)

The cover is embeded, and I wish I had made a note of the font for the A, but I wasn't as diligent with it then as I am now.

Some photos of the step-by-step beneath the cut. It was an adventure. I was EXTREMELY lucky to be supervised for this first attempt, which probably saved it from certain disaster.

I think the very first step might be one of the scariest things I have ever done. This book does not look amazing, but it has History(tm) you see. So guillotining the back felt sacrilegeous... But also, almost morbidly fascinating?

Still, I remained for a few minutes with the back in my hand and the flying sheets of the body in the other hand, stunned at the fact that I had, actually, indeed, guillotined a book I loved. (#JustFrenchThings)

This was my first time sewing loose pages. The stitching to build signatures was fascinating, and nothing like I had done before. I love the look it gives it. And I got to borrow my supervisor's binding frame for the first time. It made me realise that, while I don't mind manually sewing ribbons, this was incredibly more convenient and faster (I guess there is a reason bookbinders use it, I'm just being stupid about it.) It was still not enough convenience that I'd need to buy one for my own workshop, though. I have my limits.

You have to admit, though, that those stitched pages sewn together and bound on ribbons make for a satisfying result. I almost wouldn't have minded keeping the book like this... except the fun was only starting.

Rounding and backing. HAMMER TIME.

There's something quite intimidating in backing an old book. It feels so fragile. I felt like I was going to tear the paper, expecting the fibers to explode. It was ugly, but I was, once more, lucky to be supervised in this adventure. Hammering became fun, and somewhat... cathartic. (I had just found out my role at my job was being disestablished and I was going to be made redundant, so. I probably needed the catharsis. Bookbinding as a healthy coping mechanism, yay?)

Adding the endbands was somewhat gratifying, because it started to really feel like a fancy book at this point. These were machine-made, I can only learn so many things at once, but I will make my own someday. But even more satisfying was...

Preparing the casing and realising the boards fit *perfectly* within the hinges. That had to be the highest high of the project, seriously. Things coming together as they are intended to be.

The cover was made by adding a layer of cardboard, in which the capital A had been cut with a Silhouette Cameo, over the initial board. I was concerned the cut would not look good, but I was wrong. It worked beyond my expectations.

I sadly don't have photos of the casing itself, but I'll conclude with the part that I'm most happy with.

Look at these hinges. I've never managed getting this result again, at least so far.

Overall, a super instructive project, although I won't be doing too much restoration in the future. I'm not sure my heart can take more of guillotining my favourite books.

I do look forward to more Bradel binding, unsupervised this time. Hammer, here I come!

[low-bridge-bindery]

Around this time last year, I made a custom guestbook for my sibling's wedding!

8x10, 50 pages of heavy paper, linen full cloth binding. The heavy paper only came in letter size leaves, which dragged me kicking and screaming into trying out perfect binding for the text block, with a square back bradel binding for the case to strengthen a spine that I was VERY nervous about failing mid-reception!

It turns out I did my job a little too well: everyone assumed the guestbook was professionally made and completely failed to give me my duly owed compliments 😔 (<- aware that this too is inflating their ego)

[maniacalshen]

I hand-made a copy of Jack London's Before Adam for my friend's birthday. The little sabretooth is hand-embroidered, and the title is slightly inset.

Text courtesy of Project Gutenberg but formatted by me! Oh, and the oak leaf is courtesy of Openclipart.

Don't mind the crease on the front... I was am still working out how to properly iron fat quarters.

[dddots]

Stub-Bound Birthday Wishes Book

I was asked to bind a stack of beautifully calligraphed birthday wishes into a book, for a lovely customer who is now a great friend.

The birthday wishes were written on a thick card stock of about 300 to 350gsm, and they were in the wrong grain direction. I wanted to make a book that could open completely so that the calligraphy can be enjoyed. Since most of the single sheet bindings do not allow for that to happen, and also considering the thick card stock and its wrong grain direction, I decided to use a stub binding technique. 

My customer previously requested for some journals to be made, and she really loved deckled edges. So i decided to tear the stubs by hand to create a deckled edge. The book is then bound, rounded and backed, using Bradel binding. The covers are made using the paper bags of the bakery my customer owns. She said she loves the patterns and would love it on the book as a feature. Hence, after getting my hands on 2 large paper bags, I created this beautiful birthday dedication book for a lovely boss, from her lovely staff. 

[zhalfirin]

Notebook Bradel binding, half cloth binding with front rail and paper onlay

Materials used

covers - grey board 1mm spine stiffener - cardstock cover material - uncoated cloth onlayed paper - chiyogami paper endpapers - chiyogami paper endband - chiyogami paper with linen core (18/3)

size: ~A7