In the past few years, several people have asked if they could use my blank books as scrapbooks. My answer has always been an emphatic, “No!” Inserting extra thickness into any tightly bound book will sooner or later break the spine. With a Coptic or long-stitch binding there is a bit of leeway, but as soon as the boards or covers move beyond being parallel, the hinges are put under stress and will break.
The goal in building this type of book is to accommodate extra thickness between the pages while using a strong binding structure that will support extra weight. I, personally, don’t like making scrapbooks: they tend to be large and I like small. The pages are difficult to sew and the endpapers can be a pain, I am documenting my progress on the page “Building a Scrapbook” if you are interested in the nitty gritty. I’m still working on the books and will be updating the page as I progress.
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- Cutting sheet to height by hand
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- Section with tabs
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- Sections ready for sewing prep
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- Plough at work
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- Finishing press
On another matter entirely, I recently stopped by Sam Castner’s workshop and came away with some fabulous ideas and these:
Now I have to get to work designing and making!