Paperbound! Bonding Once More!

Hello again! Okay everyone, so my paper just arrived! 150 A3 Satin sheets from Photo Paper Direct :) However, would you believe that the paper came a little curved?

The artist bonding with paper instead of forming bonds of paper

I was really concerned about this...I just spent a bunch of money on this paper (on a payment plan of course ;)) and it came bent!?! That said, I hate returning things, and I am impatient--I wanted to get started right away, and so I went ahead and printed on it anyway. Luckily, it turned out fine. I guess the heaviness of the ink helped to straighten it a bit, plus, once I put everything in the book press it flattened out even more.

Edit: Najwa from the future here proofreading all of this and I am actually kinda embarrassed that I was so stressed out about this "bent" paper. I'm over here in the future straining my eyes to see the curves I was so bent out of shape over (hehe, I'm sorry but I had to it was the perfect opportunity). But we live and we learn, and in my case I just gotta let go some more and not stress so much. Anyways that's all, back to the past you go. Future Najwa over and out.

So, as you've probably noticed, I like working on the floor. Well, at least when I'm bookbinding. I guess it's because I feel boundless and free. And so I was especially excited tonight because I upgraded to a new paper cutter that is supposed to cut at least 5 sheets of paper at a time. Let me introduce you to the Fiskars Rotary Trimmer that has a self sharpening blade and looks super bad (insert expletive here) like it's about to kick some butt and all that!

Super cool cutter that looks like it's about to cut it up!!

I got started right away. Eager to see how this would compare to my more rudimentary cutter that did not need replacing in any way shape or form, and yet somehow I still felt compelled to buy a $120 paper cutter, when I was broke, and so I had high expectations for this cutter as there was no way that it would let me down.

Or, so I thought. As it turns out despite how tough it looks, it was a complete failure. It couldn't even cut a straight line. EVERY single page I cut was sliced on a diagonal which is totally unacceptable.

The artists' attempt to cut a straight line, to no avail, as her frustration began to rise

The artists' face upon, after many attempts, came to terms with the fact the 120 dollar cutter ain't never gonna cut straight. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. The face is also contemplating why she would even spend a large amount of money on a paper cutter when she had a perfectly good basic cutter at home that was not broken and did not need fixing in any way shape or form. Keep in mind, she only went into Michael's to buy the replacement blades for said cutter.

The artist further expressing her frustration on an expensively, and completely USELESS apparatus

The OG paper cutter, the paper cutter that's been holding the artist down since the beginning, and of course the paper cutter the artist resumed using after her previous realization.

That said, once everything was properly cut, the 120 dollar cutter abandoned, and the signature made, it was time to put the unglued signature into the book press.

This part can be tricky. Before putting everything into the book press, I had to quadruple check that everything was lined up accordingly in both the vertical and horizontal orientations. Upon aligning everything to my satisfaction it was time to put the signature inside, tighten it, and proceed to gluing the spine together. I like to apply 3 or 4 coats to the spine because, after several failed experiences where the pages came flying out, I like to make sure that everything is secured. After, the application of the PH neutral glue, I let it sit overnight.

The artist gluing the spine together

Next step: apply the muslin. Now this isn't required but after two failed attempts where the paper would pop out of its spine once dry, I decided to use the muslin for greater hold and stability.

Thus, after slicing the Apple's arm off, I thought that I was home free and that all that remained was to glue the cover on, and put the completed signature into the book press to dry overnight.

WRONG!!!!

Somehow, while adding the glue to the spine in preparation for gluing the spine I ended up adding too much glue and the glue ended up pouring on to the first page! In a mad dash effort, I grabbed some wipes that were nesting nearby and attempted to carefully wipe the glue off the first page. Luckily, because the paper is satin, I was able to wipe off the glue without completely damaging the paper however, the damage inflicted, in my eyes, was damage enough.

After scoring the spine, it was then time to attach the cover to the signature. Here came my next problem. The cover was way too large for the signature. Now, this is completely baffling to me. I've measured the entirety of the signature multiple times; I then adjusted the size of the cover accordingly several times in Krita, and yet, the size of the cover was still too large. I am still troubleshooting this, as the only solution I have found is to trace an outline of the signature on the inside of the cover and trimmed to that line with the paper cutter. This is less than ideal for while it succeeds in trimming a more accurately sized book cover, I also end up chopping off details, like a part of the Apple's arm which is truly not what I want to do.

Since the muslin looks a bit archaic, I tend to cover the muslin with one layer of archival white tissue paper which is nice for two reasons: it covers the muslin and secondly it adds one more layer of protection against loose pages.

I only proceed to adding the cover once everything has dried. Otherwise. the tissue paper will lift off, ripping and tearing which makes it nearly impossibly for the cover to adhere to the spine smoothly.

In order to prep my cover for adhesion, I first have to score the spinal section of the cover, for lack of a better term. To do this, I employ my light box and ruler. The former so I can see the spinal region of the cover with greater ease and the latter so that I can easily slide my bone folder down the sides of my ruler several times to create the indentation. And yes, I forgot, a bone folder is also required for this part of the process.

Next, in order to prep my cover for adhesion, I first have to score the spinal section of the cover, for lack of a better term. To do this, I employ my light box and my ruler. The former so that I can see the spinal region of the cover with greater ease and the latter so that I can easily slide my bone folder down the sides of my ruler several times to create the indentations. And yes, I forgot to mention this but, a bone folder is also required for this part of the process.

Since the muslin looks a bit archaic, I tend to cover the muslin with one layer of archival white tissue paper which is nice for two reasons: it covers the muslin and secondly it adds one more layer of protection against loose pages.

Since the muslin looks a bit archaic, I tend to cover the muslin with one layer of archival white tissue paper which is nice for two reasons: it covers the muslin and secondly it adds one more layer of protection against loose pages.

I then went on to adding the cover once everything had dried. Otherwise. the tissue paper will lift which makes it nearly impossibly for the cover to adhere to the spine smoothly.

In order to prep my cover for adhesion, I first have to score the spinal section of the cover, for lack of a better term. To do this, I employ my light box and ruler. The former so I can see the spinal region of the cover with greater ease and the latter so that I can easily slide my bone folder down the sides of my ruler several times to create the indentation. And yes, I forgot, a bone folder is also required for this part of the process.