Experience: Workshop 7

Book Binding: Coptic Binding Introduction.

I would like to start by inserting my notes:

I am going to recreate this book at home, so please forgive me as I do not have the press nor the cutting tools to make it perfect as I did in this workshop.

The instruments used:

As any bookbinders would teach, the first thing to know is that paper has fibers, called grain, that we always need to be aware of as it will make the biding difficult and easily breakable. There is Long Grain which runs parallel the longer side of the paper, then the Short grain which runs parallel to the shorter side of the paper. To find this out, bend slightly the paper and see where it is less resistant to be bent, that is the way you need to fold.

To do this book binding the technician instructed to create 5 section which would have five folds in them. To fold them, first use your hands then the Bone Folder, fold from the center outwards, this is to avoid distorting the grain.

After finishing the folding the technician instructed us to put our pages in between two solid cardboard panels  that where thick and slightly heavy, then place it under a press, this is to get the air in the middle of the folds out. As I am doing this at home I did not had access to this. The next step was also impossible to do from home since I needed to cut our pages in 14.5 length with the guillotine.

The next thing that the technician instructed us to create was the cover.

I had to modify this as my pages now were of 15 cm as I did not cut them. I measured 15 cm from the corner, create the fold, measure again 15 cm and fold once again. Underneath is how the covers need to be placed.

Now, I was ready to create the dots where I would pierce through: 3.5 cm in between them. Also it is best to sign a corner to remember where everything goes as a mistake of aligning paper will create a distortion of the sawing pattern.

I didn’t have a weight that could be placed on the sections unfortunately, so I used my sister’s book and one of my sketchbooks.

Now the piercing of the paper can begin:

Always pierce the paper in an angle so it will not distort.

Now the sawing:

The thread needs to be 7 times the spine of the book, this is because I have two covers and five sections.

It is incredibly hard for me to explain this with words, so I will leave the pictures to speak for me.

Completed book:

Now the one I’ve done at university:

Experience:

I loved every second of it. I had a lot of fun creating the book and having a new way of biding using Coptic binding, I have been creating a few of my sketchbooks with this technique before, but it was from the internet and they always used inches, which still confuses me a lot. If you pay attention to the sketchbook I used to keep the pages stable, that is a Coptic bonded trail I have done a few months back to see if I could bind watercolour paper.

I also wanted to add that it made me happy to see that I am quick with the thread. With each step of the way I had to be careful, but when I got in the zone while sawing it all ended quite quickly. Not to brag, but is felt awesome to be told that the tension of the binding was great and that I had done a good job.