Any ideas for binding a book using home-repair tools & materials?

[Martin C.]

Is there something in the home-repair realm that can be used cleverly to bind a 200 to 500 page printed 8.5x11 book?

Googling, fifty 1x11 inch "thermal glue strips" seem to be about $50

But, those glue strips require a $100 machine.

That adds a few dollars to my endeavor to print & bind ebooks found on the net (I have a dozen right now that I've downloaded to print & bind).

Since paper (0.8 cents per sheet) plus toner (1 cent per printed page) are inexpensive, the real problem I'm trying to figure out is a cheap way to bind a typical 200 to 500-page 8.5x11-inch pdf.

I wonder aloud if there is a cheaper alternative in home-repair realm of the box box hardware stores? Maybe a construction glue & glue gun could work?

Any ideas for binding a book using home-repair tools & materials?

[Tegger]

"Pat" wrote in news:iK2dnS7-SstOgOrSnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

You can also use cheesecloth, commonly available in cooking-supply stores.

The key is to use glue that remains flexible when cured.

Way, way back, we used to make notepads by the hundreds by hand. What we'd do is stack the pages and backing cards against an L-shaped "hod", spine outwards. Then, using an ordinary paintbrush, we'd paint the glue onto the spines fairly thickly, just like painting a wall.

We'd let them dry, then break/slice the notepads apart.

If the pads were to have more of a permanent binding, we'd press cheesecloth into the glue, then apply another layer of glue on top of that.

I wish I could remember what the glue was. It was water-based, is all I remember.

Probably won't work too well. Hot-melt tends to be difficult to distribute neatly.

[Tegger]

Tegger wrote in news:XnsA02787EF6C43Ategger@208.90.168.18:

And grocery stores.

I remember that it looked like ordinary white-glue, like Elmer's school glue, except that it did't get hard.

[Pat]

Google padding cement. The glue for making pads is different then the glue used for books.

[Martin C.]

That approach seems totally reasonable: a) 250 sheets of 8.5x11 paper (500 printed pages) is about 1 inch thick. b) I could clamp a board on top and bottom to keep the paper tight c) And then, if it works, just brush on the hide glue!

But ... I don't understand what 'jog' means in this context. Won't the paper be even by virtue of the fact they're all the same size?

Excellent technique! Cheap. Easy. Effective!

[Martin C.]

Looks like polyvinyl acetates are the rubbery ingredient of normal white glue, of which I have plenty.

Good idea to sandpaper the edge after clamping.

Another good technique suggestion!

Ah. Spare fabric seems even better than string for strength.

I had never heard of a 'book press'; so googling, I find it's this:

It looks like a two-step operation in that article:

1. Glue the "text block" (i.e., glue the printed pages)
2. Glue the cover onto that spine

[Martin C.]

This is a great idea, because it's both thin and very cheap, yet still forms a net matrix for holding the glued text block together!

I'll go to Home Depot or Lowes to see what glue they have that I can apply to the cheesecloth.

[Cliff Hartle]

How about a 3 hole punch and a 3 ring binder.

[Martin C.]

Actually, that's a good idea for 8.5x11 paper; but, for some reason, I'm leaning now toward something around a half-sheet in width. Of course, that adds the problem of printing (fineprint?) and slicing.

And, of course, the book press:

1. Tutorial: How to build a book press theragbox.com/2010/tutorial-how-to-build-a-book-press

1. How to make a book press at home: instructables.com/id/Book-Press

2. Plans to to build a book press: tjbookarts.com/documents/simplebookpress.pdf

etc.

[Martin C.]

This seems the simplest book press of all: media.knet.ca/node/6657

[HeyBub]

Presumably you're looking to "perfect bind" a book, much like the way paperbacks are put together.

But be careful. I recall a vignette from the novel "Cyberbook" by Ben Bova.

--- begin paraphrased quote The new efficiency expert hired by Web Press found that the company could save fifty cents per hundredweight on the glue used in perfect bindings by switching to a glue normally used to attach horseshoes.

Regrettably, the new glue disintegrated at temperatures above one hundred and ten (such as found in the back of a UPS truck). But this was not the bad part.

The fumes from the disintegrated glue cause those in the bookstore's receiving department, upon opening the box, to rip off their clothes and run about the store crying "French people are burning me with cigarettes!"

--- end quote

Believe me, you don't want hippies from the receiving department running about naked.

[Martin C.]

Yes.

I'm finding more and more that many people have home-made book-binding presses described on the net.

For example, here's another really simple one: persistenceunlimited.com/2006/03/fun-and-easy-how-to-guide-to-binding- your-own-paperback-books-at-homefast

Now that the printing & binding are close to being solved, that opens the question of being able to print half-sized books (i.e., half of an 8.5x11 sheet of paper).

What's the best (cheapest straightest) way to cut 250 sheets of printed paper in my garage so that the resulting book is around 8.5 inches tall by about 5.5 inches wide?

I have a 'normal' paper cutter (but I can never get more than about 10 pages cut without skewing the deck).

How do you cut paper in the garage without skewing the deck?

[Tegger]

"Pat" wrote in news:BoOdnSd18cBE1-rSnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

I just did. That's the stuff!

The "padding cement" search also brought up hits for book-binding adhesive. It may be that we used book-binding adhesive when we used the cheesecloth, but it's been about 25-years since then, and I don't remember anymore.

[Martin C.]

Interestingly, while googling for "fedex kinkos", a targeted ad clued me into a local

company that I hadn't known about prior.

a) They are less than half the price of FedEx Kinkos for printing. b) Plus they're free for cutting (while Kinkos is $1.50 per cut per half inch of paper). c) Unfortunately, just like Kinkos, AIM doesn't offer the "perfect binding" method either; so binding will still be on my own at home.

By those new numbers, a 200-page 8.5" tall by 5.5" wide paperback book cost about $2.00 to create at home; about $5.50 at AIM; and about $13.00 at Kinkos.

Home:

- 200 book pages / 4 book pages per sheet = 50 sheets of paper

- Paper = 1¢ per sheet

- Toner = 1¢ per side = 2¢ per sheet

- Cutting = free

- Binding = almost free (about 50¢ in Gorilla Glue, cheesecloth, & NRE)

- Total = 50 sheets * 3¢/sheet + 50¢ binding = $2.00

AIM Mail Centers:

- 200 book pages / 2 printings per sheet = 100 printed sides

- Printing = 5¢ per printed side * 100 sides = $5.00

- Cutting = free

- Binding = almost free (about 50¢ in Gorilla Glue, cheesecloth, & NRE)

- Total = $5.00 for printing + $0 for cutting + $.50 for binding = $5.50

FedEx Kinkos:

- 200 book pages / 2 printings per sheet = 100 printed sides

- Printing = 11¢ per printed side * 100 sides = $11.00

- Cutting = $1.50 per cut per half inch of paper (about 125 sheets)

- Binding = almost free (about 50¢ in Gorilla Glue, cheesecloth, & NRE)

- Total = $11.00 for printing + $1.50 for cutting + $0.50 for binding = $ $13.00

At these prices, it might be worth the extra few bucks to have all the books done at AIM (forget Kinkos).

Do you know of other relatively unknown printing centers?

[Cliff Hartle]

You really should print it half sheet on normal 8.5 by 11 and print in booklet mode 4 sheets at a time. You can then fold and stitch the book together.

[Martin C.]

Now that we have printing costs and home-built binding machines figured out ... I'm working on the problem of figuring out what printer driver to use for the printing imposition task!

I think you're describing BOOKLET IMPOSITION where we print the book, two pages to a side of standard US "letter" paper, double sided (for a total of four pages to a sheet of paper) - and - then we fold the paper in half lengthwise and then staple lengthwise in the middle - to form a booklet. (i.e., no cutting is involved).

For example, using the Windows Fineprint printer driver, I've printed many 100-page PDFs into handy 25-sheet booklets where the printer driver does imposition such that both sides of the first page of the folded booklet are printed along with both sides of the last page on the same sheet of folded paper. When all pages are folded & stapled, you end up with a nice thin 25-sheet booklet of your 100 pages.

But, I'm starting with much larger PDF documents so booklet imposition won't work. I need book imposition (where the paper is cut in half & bound in two stacks).

I think book imposition is where the first and middle pages are printed on one side of the first sheet of paper, and on the other side of that sheet of paper is printed the second and middle+1 pages.

That way, when the stack of paper is cut in half, we just over lay the first stack of paper on top of the second stack to create the book.

I "think" the Windows FinePrint printer driver does both booklet imposition and book imposition; but I'm on Ubuntu and the fp & fprint utilities don't seem to do the same printing imposition (AFAICT).

Q: Anyone know how to do book imposition printing of a PDF on Linux?

[Cliff Hartle]

Yes but you print only 4 sheets at a time and then stack up the books like the b side of this.

I'll try to find a better demostration

[HeyBub]

1. Buy a paper cutter. I have a table-top unit that can cut about 250 sheets at once. They can be had in the 0 range. Here's one:
2. Take your stacked sheets to a print shop and ask them to cut the paper. They should charge you a nuisance charge of, maybe, .00.

[Martin C.]

I agree. Cutting isn't the hard part.

FedEx Kinkos charges $1.50 per cut per stack (where they define a stack of about 1/2 inch, which is about 125 sheets of paper which is about 500 pages printed four to a sheet of paper double sided).

[Martin C.]

Nice site!

I like that they have TEMPLATES for printing!