In making your own book, or, in my case, turning your own diary into a self-published hardcover book, we start with the text block.
For the text block, you can use a size and paper of your choosing. It’s important to choose your gsm too. 80gsm is your standard copy paper, but I’m using A5 size, 90gsm ivory paper. I printed out my contents, which I’d already typeset in advance, and made sure that the total number of pages was 64, in multiples of 16. Don’t ask me why 16 in particular. I assume it’s because they’re important when you’re using signatures, which is the method where you sew the pages together.
To bind my text block, I'm using the double fan method, where acid-free PVA glue is used to put my pages together.
Part One: Preparing the Text Block
| Material |
What I’m using |
| Paper |
A5 90gsm ivory paper, already typeset |
| Glue |
Acid-free PVA |
| Extra |
Waste pages to rip off |
| Thread |
For reinforcing the spine |
| Mull |
For reinforcing the spine |
Before doing anything with the glue, get all the pages together and make sure they’re straight. This part is more important than it looks. The pages need to be lined up properly because once the glue goes on, there’s not much room for fixing things.
Once everything is straight, clamp the pages in place. You could use your favorite book titles for this. Or a book press. It totally works with anything that can hold the pages firmly in place. Be creative.
Now we can start the double fan.
Tip the book up so that the spine is facing upwards and we can work on it.
First, glue the spine while it’s straight up. Once that first layer of glue is on, fan the pages slightly to the left and glue along the exposed edges. Then fan them to the right and do the same thing. The point is to get glue between the pages rather than just leaving a layer sitting on top of the spine.
Once both sides have been glued, pinch the glued spine back into shape. Add some weight on top of it and leave it to dry.
And now we wait.
While the text block is drying, we can start working on the parts that will eventually turn it into an actual hardcover book.
Part Two: Reinforcing the Text Block>
Once the first layer has dried, we can go back to the text block.
Prop it back up and cut the support. Add the thread and trim it so that it sits neatly along the spine.
Then peel off the waste sheets. The waste pages are there to protect the actual pages while we’re doing all this gluing. Once they’ve done their job, they can be ripped off.
After that, score the spine, add thread, adn then the mull. Glue them into place.
Part Three: Lining Paper
Now for the lining paper.
The lining paper should be the same height as the book. For the width, it should be twice the width of the text block. Fold it so it spans over a width of two pages. t
Once it’s folded, glue it to the front and back page, by the spine of the text block.
At this point, the text block is basically done. Now we can move on to making the case.
Part Four: Making the Case
For the case, I’m using 2mm chipboard, cloth for the covers, and another piece of cloth for the spine.
| Part |
Material |
| Covers |
2mm chipboard |
| Covering |
Cloth 1 (cool fabric) |
| Spine |
Cloth 2 (cotton, black) |
| Lining |
String and cotton book paper |
Before cutting anything, remember:
Cut on the grain!
The measurements are important here because the covers need to sit properly around the text block while still leaving room for the hinge.
| Part |
Measurement |
| Cover length |
Book length + 1cm |
| Cover width |
Exact width of book |
| Spine |
Spine measurement + 2mm |
| Chipboard |
2mm thick |
For the cover chipboard, the length is the book length + 1cm. The width is the exact width of the book because of the hinge. For the spine, it’s the spine measurement + 2mm, which accounts for the thickness of the chipboard.
Once everything has been measured, cut the two pieces for the covers and the piece for the spine.
Lay them out before gluing anything. This makes it easier to check that the covers, spine, and spaces between them are all sitting where they should.
Now we can put the cloth onto the case.
For the cover cloth, leave a 1-inch margin around the edges. This gives us enough cloth to fold over the edges of the chipboard.
For the spine and hinge cloth, I’m modifying it for quarter binding. There’s a 1-inch margin here too, but the width depends on the spine and the spacing between the spine and the covers.
From the spine, there’s a 9mm spacer. The formula is 6 - 2mm, which gives us 4mm after accounting for the thickness of the chipboard.
The rule of thumb is that if you're using fabric flat backs, use the measurement of 3 x board thickness, and for fabric open backs (rounded), use 2 x board thickness + 2mm.
| Measurement |
Cloth Margin |
| Spine Spacer |
6mm |
| Top and bottom |
2cm |
| Front cover |
2cm |
| Back cover |
2cm |
| Overlap |
+ 2-3mm |
The spine cloth sits between the two covers, with the 7mm spacer creating the hinge.
Once the cloth is positioned properly, glue it down and fold the 1-inch margins over the edges of the chipboard.
When folding the cloth over the corners, make sure everything is neat and secure. Tuck the corners!!
At this point, the case should have the covers, spine, and hinges all joined together. Once the glue has dried, we can finally bring the case and the text block together.
Part five: Assembly
Time to put the text block into the case.
Before gluing, place the text block into the case and check that everything lines up properly. The spine should sit in the middle, and the covers should open properly with the hinge.
Once everything is where it should be, glue the lining paper to the inside of the covers.
Press everything into place and add some weight while it dries.
And that’s basically the book.
