There are few hobbies or skills out there that combine the feeling of the white collar knowledge with the blue collar skills in the way that bookbinding does. Not only does this hobby or trade allow you to work with books (sometimes very old books if you’re repairing), but bookbinding also forces you to become skilled with your hands in order to work the stitching or binding as needed.
There are many ways to get started with bookbinding. One of the best ways can be to go to garage sales or auctions where old damaged books are sold. Make sure none of them are valuable antiques. Then practice repairing the bindings.
Another way of getting into bookbinding is to ignore practicing repair work and to start a new project from scratch after buying the materials you would need. Many people will self publish and then hand bind their own books, like a family history. Another common example of bookbinding includes spiral or plastic coil bookbinding, which will help to put together reports and other similar publications.
The history of bookbinding starts all the way back in Egypt. Coptic bookbinding was practiced by the early Coptic Christians in Egypt as far back as before AD 200. The original method isn’t used often, but a modern form of this is still called Coptic bookbinding today and involves the sewing together of groups of pages into one large book.
After Coptic bookbinding came long stitch bookbinding. This method of binding books is actually quite popular and although it isn’t one of the most common methods used today, it still sees plenty of use. Long stitch bookbinding involves using a slotted cover, which helps to bind the pages more tightly together without having to use nearly as much glue.
One of the most common methods of bookbinding that is popular today is the one mentioned earlier, which is spiral bookbinding. This is sometimes also referred to as plastic coil bookbinding and is what you get when you often see office reports or manifestos. Many local cookbooks also appear in this form.
These are just a few of the styles and methods that are available when it comes to bookbinding. Do a little research, find a good how to book or a mentor, and dive in! You might find that this is the hobby you’ve been looking for all along.
If you want to learn more about book binding, please have a look at this page covering a wide range of topics, including book binding instruction.
