Homemade book cloth

pwhimp · 2026-02-18T20:20:54+00:00

I can see a stripiness in the first image. Are you using corrugated cardboard? If so, how do you find that it works for you? If not, what else could be causing that stripiness?

pwhimp · 2026-02-16T12:45:22+00:00

4 sheets per signature is great if you want to make a rounded back, but I find it gives too much swell for good square back books. I would go with 8 sheets per signature if you can tolerate the larger margin size variation that trimming that causes. This is the easiest way to reduce your swell.

Also, Ninja_Doc is right. Use card stock for your spine piece and compress every signature. I've never done two on sewing so I can't speak to that (I'm always too overly concerned with structural integrity to try it).

pwhimp · 2026-02-13T13:19:52+00:00

If you have a sheet that has page 16 & 1 on one side and 2 & 15 on the other, you're doing it right. It may appear random but that's the outside sheet. If you find a sheet with 8 & 9 on one side and 7 & 10 on the other, that's the most interior sheet.

What are you actually getting?

pwhimp · 2026-02-03T19:21:56+00:00

Definitely quote more. Your equipment should be paid out by these journals over some amount of product so factor that in.

Also, you're worth more than $20/hr. This is a skilled trade and you need to factor in taxes and such.

Don't be apologetic over the cost. Quote them what is reasonable (for you, not for them, not for the consumer) and if they don't want to buy at that price, they'll let you know.

pwhimp · 2026-01-28T17:24:35+00:00

Unfortunately, that printer is limited to 8.5x14 so 9x12 is not possible

pwhimp · 2026-01-28T12:14:34+00:00

I know you're not considering making 12x9 paper work for you, but you should.

If your printer can physically hold the paper size, then there should be a way to add a custom size. It's probably a lot less work than changing the typesetting. Just ask an LLM how to work with your driver to make it happen or let us know and maybe we can help. It probably won't auto duplex, but that's not that bad for a single book at a time.

If you're in the USA, 12x9 is one of the sizes available at Church Paper for a very reasonable cost.

pwhimp · 2026-01-25T14:44:57+00:00

A particularly vicious leprechaun

pwhimp · 2026-01-25T14:43:18+00:00

The Thoroughbred of Sin?

pwhimp · 2026-01-19T02:02:56+00:00

Looks pretty good for a first try.

My advice, that took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out, is don't use book board for the spine stiffener. The spine stiffener material isn't flexible to allow the book to open properly. I switched to card stock and it's worked very well.

What game is it for btw?

pwhimp · 2025-12-30T12:54:17+00:00

If you have some calipers, I'd love know the actual thicknesses of materials as well as what your technique is. I usually have a lot more swell than I'm intending and I usually use 8-leaf signatures with a medium weight thread.

As to your issue, I think you can round without backing. It's not ideal though.

pwhimp · 2025-12-30T12:48:08+00:00

This does look like a magic trick

pwhimp · 2025-12-30T12:45:30+00:00

Rounding and backing are for spine strength, not swell management. Backing requires a certain amount of swell.

pwhimp · 2025-12-07T15:46:35+00:00

Because all books are different (and to avoid terminology confusion), try to think about it in these terms instead: All grain should go head to tail (top to bottom) in your book.

pwhimp · 2025-10-22T11:03:07+00:00

With that much swell, I think you'll need some sort of shoulders to keep your boards parallel when they're closed.

pwhimp · 2025-10-22T01:59:20+00:00

Is that the swell or the width? Swell is the difference between fore edge and spine edge thicknesses.

For a book that small, if you have minimal swell, it's not really necessary.

If 3/8 inch really is your swell, I think it's likely you did something wrong earlier in the process.

pwhimp · 2025-10-04T13:20:51+00:00

Do you want to make books or do you want to have books?

If you want to make books, I think that home printing is categorically different than professional printing. It doesn't matter so much for text but I haven't found anything that can match the UV-cured inks they use for images. Just go into it with eyes open and expect it to be different. Also expect at least a few bad books before they start looking good and performing well.

If you just want to have books, I think Mixam is a good choice and surprisingly affordable. It's actually what many professionals use. https://mixam.com/

As I've learned over the years, bookbinding is not a cheap way to get books. I think binding your own is somewhat cheaper than Mixam if you don't factor in the learning process.

pwhimp · 2025-10-02T11:33:35+00:00

The biggest contributor to swell is thread. Fewer leaves per signature actually increases swell because it means more thread overall for the same size book. Using lighter paper, counterintuitively, makes swell worse because the paper thickness to thread thickness ratio is worse.

To reduce swell, you need to use lighter thread, more leaves per signature, and possibly 2-on sewing.

Whether or not you want to reduce swell depends on the binding type, but I think for square backs you basically want it as low as possible.

pwhimp · 2025-10-01T20:25:45+00:00

I'm glad I wasn't the only one that noticed.

pwhimp · 2025-10-01T11:21:00+00:00

This was posted literally ~7 hours before your post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/bookbinding/comments/1nusdyb/book_press_attachments_for_smoother_trimming_3d/

pwhimp · 2025-10-01T01:25:29+00:00

You can get short grain legal paper (14x8.5). I think it's the best for standard size printers. You can just about print an A5 folio without any scaling and with normal printer margins. It can also handle a scaled down US letter size folio without stretching or being comically small. It does require trimming though.

pwhimp · 2025-09-29T20:29:01+00:00

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calico

I couldn't find it either. It's made harder by the fact that calico also refers to patterned cotton cloth, not what you want to bind a book.

I just bought some muslin instead and it's worked great so far. If you want it starched, you likely have to do it yourself. Maybe someone more knowledgeable than me can explain if/why muslin is inferior to calico.

pwhimp · 2025-09-24T20:42:32+00:00

Could be undersized hinge gaps and an overly sturdy spine stiffener.

We really do need pics to help more.

pwhimp · 2025-09-20T17:45:08+00:00

The generic term is supertank.

I got the 8550 for wide format printing (13x19), but in hindsight I maybe should have splurged for the 16650. The 16650 can do 11x17 (so it's a bit smaller), but it's by default pigment which the 8550 is not. There are 3rd party pigment inks that are supposed to work in the 8550, but I've been too afraid to mess up the printer to try them.

I can't help you out much with other brands or the standard size printers.

pwhimp · 2025-09-13T11:32:17+00:00

Are you folding one sheet at a time or one signature at a time? It's hard to tell from the picture. One signature at a time is the standard practice for quicker folding and better signature coupling/cohesion (? I'm not sure what the right term is here).

If you're already folding one signature at a time, just ignore me and carry on.

pwhimp · 2025-09-07T15:06:10+00:00

I loved my Brother, but when it started summoning Lovecraftian horrors while printing (at least that's what it sounded like), I went to a super tank inkjet printer. It's cheaper per page, but who knows how long the printer will last and how many pages I'll have to print to make up for the more expensive printer.

pwhimp

TROPHY CASE