Making Handmade Books

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December 21, 2022

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Instructions: A Book Structure from Australia

Val Forbes brought me a new binding, a gift for me when she came to my open studio, and I'd like to share it with you. She saw it at a crafts fair in Australia, then found it in the book Live & Learn: Real Life Journals: Designing & Using Handmade Books by Gwen Diehn under the name Flat-Style Australian Reverse Piano Hinge binding (which is just one syllable short of supercalifragilisticexpialidocious) . It is true that it employs the mechanism of a piano hinge. It is true that the hinge is inside, and therefore reversed. And yes, it lies nice and flat. Once other people know what it is, I am hoping we can call it Australian Piano Hinge, or at least use that as a friendly nickname. But never mind the name. Let's make the book. Top: two of my models Bottom: model by Val Forbes Tools: pencil; metal ruler; art knife and cutting mat; bone folder; PVA and scrap of board for gluing Materials: lightweight to medium weight paper for accordion (colored charcoal paper i

Instructions: Linked Hinge Binding, a Dreamed Structure

On February 16, 2019, I woke up with a book structure. But that only meant I had an idea; I've tried out dream bindings in the past and sometimes they only work in the dream, but when I put this one together I was pleased to see that it works in waking life as well. It has elements of the Crossed-Structure Binding by Carmencho Arregui and the Piano Hinge Binding by Hedi Kyle . But it is glued, not sewn like CSB, and the pattern involves the whole structure, not just the cover. It has the alternating effect like Piano Hinge, but there are no extra rods or pieces. It also is comprised of single sheets, which is like neither of the two. It also has the spine pattern like my spouse Michael's Slot and Tab . So, while it seems to have the flavor of a little of this, a little of the other, it is its own self. I'm calling it "Linked Hinge Binding" since the pages link at the spine with tabbed hinges. While you could case it into hard covers, the spine is attractiv

Instructions: Interlocking Double Accordion

This fall, in addition to teaching bookmaking and letterpress at my home school of California College of the Arts, I've been teaching the Introduction to Bookmaking class at California State University, East Bay, usually taught by Michael Henninger . We visited the Special Collections department in the library there and looked at books I picked out that were both familiar and unfamiliar to me. One 2005 book, (I Want a) Prenup by Petra Press , utilized a structure I had not seen before: two eight-panel accordions that interlocked, much like Slot & Tab (in Making Handmade Books ). The design of the pages makes excellent use of the mix-and-match effect of the structure. Petra Press, on the Vamp and Tramp website, describes it as a "double accordion book." The playfully woven designs on the page clearly took quite a bit of time, thought, and careful planning. The interlocking double accordion structure turns out to be simple, yet eye-catching. No sewing. No

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