Bookbinding And Hot-Foil Stamping Questions

[Wilshire]

Wasn't sure where to post this, so here it is. Please move to an appropriate section as necessary/

I have spent a lot of time trying to work out how to re-bind a book. It started with looking for direct quotes for the whole thing, but with numbers like $500-$1000+ per book, I decided on another route.... DIY.

Since then, I've been trying to nail down each piece of the project. Once I have everything lined up, I'm going to start.

I want to recreate this book's dustjacket: http://i.imgur.com/4ufHxXn.jpg

In leather. So I'm looking for dark grey to black leather, and silver colored foil.

As it stands, I believe I have a good book binder who will help me re-bind my book (The Darkness that Comes Before by R Scott Bakker, for any that are curious). I need to supply the leather, so thats the 2nd step. I recently found out that I have a Tandy's in a city near me, and also that this is a great place to start. I have yet to stop in one yet... Anyway, if for some reason that doesn't work out, I'll be ording leather from http://www.hollanders.com/ . Unless, of course, you fine people have better suggestions (please!).

The main thing here is trying to keep costs down without sacrificing much quality.

After the picking the leather, and getting it bound, I need to get the artwork done. This looks like its going to be my biggest expense. For the cover(s), I will be removing the english text you see on the front, and be left with just the art/script. I have done the legwork here and have a nice clean black/white file (its a .psd from photoshop). I need to get a die made, and from the quotes that I have gotten, it looks like Owosso is going to be the cheapest (<$100 for an 8.5x5.5x1/4 inch magnesium die).

Next, and this is part I am stuck on currently, I need a way to do the actual hot-foil stamping. It seems that since I've cut out all the profit margins for anyone (kind of the point, saves me money), and email people asking them if they would take a finished book and a finished die and stamp my book... well lets say I haven't got a lot of positive responses.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I might go about hot-foil stamping my book?

TL;DR version

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I might go about hot-foil stamping my book?

Does anyone have any suggestions on where to buy good bookbinding leather, and what questions should I be asking someone if I end up in a leather store like Tandy's?

Is there a decent way to jerry-rig your own hot-foil machine? It seems the main thing is just something to hold the die, and a heating unit. How hard could it be?

Thanks for the help.

ps: if this goes well, I'll be doing the same thing with the rest of the trilogy

http://i.imgur.com/oh8YaPz.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/x9CAoG4.jpg

Edited January 27, 2015 by Wilshire

[thefanninator]

http://www.talasonline.com

They've got bookbinding supplies. Tandy's probably won't have much for this kind of project.

Good luck. I don't think any of that stuff is cheap.

Post pics if/when you complete it.

Edited January 27, 2015 by thefanninator

[25b]

Do NOT go to talas.com!! The correct site is talasonline.com.

The "other" site is the type of site infamous for installing malware...just fyi...

Edited January 27, 2015 by 25b

[thefanninator]

Sorry!

http://www.talasonline.com

[Wilshire]

Haha thanks for the head's up. I have heard of Talas, and thought they where to expensive back when I first looked, though now that I spent some more time there, it seems I might be able to get something nice.

Certainly none of it is cheap, which is one of the reasons why I haven't really done anything yet, even though I've been researching for about a year now. I don't want to start and find out I am missing something, or have waste time/money on inferior materials. Just a lot of steps along the way and I want to have it mapped out and be at least somewhat confident that I will end up with something decent.

[thefanninator]

How about Siegel...

http://www.siegelleather.com

Edited January 27, 2015 by thefanninator

[TwinOaks]

This makes me think of felling a tree because you only need 1 toothpick.

[Wilshire]

Alas, in this case it is far more affordable to take the whole tree and fashion a toothpick from it, than it would otherwise be to acquire the finished toothpick. But, yes, I agree, I too have often gotten his feeling.

Thank you for the advice about the leather. Anyone have thoughts regarding hot-foil stamping?

Specifically, I am wondering if there are non-metal alternatives for the die. I have access to a nice laser cutter, free of charge, that can do acrylics and silicons (and wood). Anyone know if there are any suitable materials that would be used for super short run purposes ( <10 uses)? Magnesium seems like it can be good for upwards of 1000 uses, and I certainly don't need that many.

[evandailey]

I have bought goat skins from hidehouse.com and used them successfully in bookbinding projects. Their prices were about half any that i found at sites designated as bookbinding suppliers. Bookbinders can be a bit of a elitist crowd and make claims that ONLY particular products (hides, glues papers, etc.) should be used. In some cases this is true, in some cases they just don't know that the same thing is often available from other sources, just marketed for different purposes.

I can't help you on the hot foil stamping, sorry.

[Wilshire]

It doesn't look like they are currently selling it in a color that I would prefer, but thanks for the heads up.

Are their specific search terms you might look for when seeking leather for bookbinding when looking around non-bookbinding sites or locations? I'm curious if its just named differently from one place to the next.