#my proteges

[armoredsuperheavy]

Hi. Just wanted to say, I've been learning bookbinding for the last few months, relying almost exclusively on your guide, and I just wanted to come here to say thank you. I've already bound a few fics for myself and am now starting to think about gifting physical copies to my favourite authors. I first found it in a reddit post that link to a forum post and only that forum post linked me to your guide. It's so heartwarming to see there's always a few people in the doc! Thanks for everything ^^

That is wonderful! Thank you so much for dropping by to say hi! It's endlessly satisfying to know that the ideas and methods I developed as I bound fic in isolation in my kitchen, could appeal and spread to so many people. I want us to bind all the great fic.

If you haven't already heard, there are MANY MORE OF US within the Renegade Bindery (Discord server). We are always sharing tips and ideas. Come and join us. Guild membership is not required to drop in and chat. https://www.renegadeguild.org/about

[armoredsuperheavy]

Hello. I am considering binding some of my favourite fanfics, inspired by your post, actually. I have mostly assembled the materials (just scouring the poorly supplied shops in central Europe for off white paper), but I was wondering—how exactly do you trim your books to be neat? Is there a technique you recommend or advise against?

I recommend to NOT trim the block at all. You need specialized tools to do it well. The better choice is to let your available paper dictate the size of the book. If you are using A4 size (210x297mm), your finished text block would be A5 size (148x210).

If the top edge of the block looks uneven after sewing and gluing, you can clamp the block down and then use sandpaper or a sanding block to soften up the rough look of the pages. But I don’t recommend cutting. I’ve tried the cheap methods (a ruler, craft blade, scalpel) and they’re no good.

So glad you are binding some fics! Good luck on the paper search!

[armoredsuperheavy]

hi Armorer! so, I've been really inspired by your posts, and I've just finished my first book! it's not the most beautiful, but I'm still really proud lol and I'm itching to make more! I posted about it at odense post/620247518449664000 if you'd like to see :D

@odense you did an absolutely fantastic job and clearly learned a lot along the way! 

Check out his first case bound book everyone!  With a great writeup about his experience, what worked and what didn’t.

And here’s a link to my fanfic bookbinding resources post if you’d like to give it a try yourself.