OUGD504 - Binding Method Experiments

Binding Experiments:

For my book design I had decided quite early on that the best cover would be a hard back. This was so that it would be hard wearing and well made meaning that it would suite the gin and tonic market. It also would be more sustainable so no matter what environment its being used in it should be long lasting. 

When speaking to the technician about how I could bind a hard back book she informed me that there are only really two different ways in which I could look at doing it. The first would be a perfect bind and the second option would be a stab stitch bind.

I experimented with both methods. The pictures below show the stages of a perfect bind. You have to clamp down all of the pages together and then put a generous amount of glue across all of the pages. Once this is done and you've waited about 30 minutes for it to dry you place a piece of gauze over the top big enough to cover across all of the pages and then once again cover this with PVA glue for it to bind in place. When this is dry you can cut the gauze to size and the perfect bind is complete. Perfect binding is a very simple way of binding a book however it is not a very long lasting method of binding. This is because after a while the pages tend to fall out as they have only been attached with glue rather than a more long term method of binding. 

The second method was the use of a stab stitch. Below is the example which the technician showed me of someones book that they had bound using a stab stitch.

I then decided to extra pages from my print to experiment with using a stab stitch myself to see how it would look using covers the I wanted to make and using the same paper stock on the inside.
The images below show my process and my practice book. I initially had to measure out where i wanted the holes to go through the paper and covers and then drill through the selected holes. Once this was done I used a needle and thread to perform the stab stitch technique to bind the book together tying a not at the end in order to round of the stitch. This is the method which I chose to use as its much more long lasting and sustainable. It also has an aesthetically nicer looking finish which would make the book more appealing.