At our next meeting with Chris we will be taking the binding of a book (s) apart which is called ‘Pulling’.

When: Saturday  10 Sept 2022, 9.30am – 12.30pm

Where: Room 3, (COTA) Hughes Community Centre, Hughes, ACT.

Pulling books – taking the binding apart

One source of books to bind is old books pulled apart.

The best books to start with are ones that are section-sewn and hollow back case bound (you can see the ends of the sections and can see light down between the spine covering and the bookblock when you open the book out).

Also good are paperback books that are section-sewn with a glued paper spine (such as pre-1960s Penguins), ideally where the glue is starting to crack apart. Some section-sewn paperbacks have old cracking glue and can be gently scraped clean; more recent books are hot glued on the spine, but most of these are single sheet. Removing the hot glue is possible but not as easy as older glues, and single sheets are rarely as good to bind as sections.

Book sources:  bookshelves; little street libraries; Lifeline and other book fairs; second hand bookshops.

What to bring:

• A book or two or three to pull apart in preparation for binding
• Your bookbinding kit
• Bone folder
• Retractable sharp knife with snap off blades
• Boot knife or kitchen bread and butter knife with straight edge to be used for scraping
• Cutting mat
• Fine pencil and notebook
• Camera/phone to take images

During the morning we will explore:

• Extracting the book from its case by cutting or detaching the tapes or cords from the cover
• Scraping off the spine linings either dry or dampened
• Cutting threads
• Gently pulling apart sections that are tipped together
• Endpapers

Look forward to seeing you all there with your books!