stiffener ideas?

[MatthewD]

I was wondering what everyone uses to make the cover of a notebook stiff. I was planning on using something like poster board or another type of cardboard.. would this be a good solution?

[candyleather]

I always use a thin plastic sheet. I never use wood or cardboard. If you use a very hard wood, then could use a thin board. If the leather is vegetable tanned you can use a thin metal's sheet of aluminium.

[MatthewD]

Where would I get one of the thin plastic sheets?

[Dale]

I have used cardboard (or illustration board), x-ray film, sheet metal (aluminum), plexiglass, and nothing at all. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. The most notable tradeoff is between rigidity and weight. The more rigid the notebook is, the more it weighs. The first thing to ask yourself is why you want it stiff in the first place.

Dale

[candyleather]

sorry, I don't know North Alabama but I would like it. I think that you can get it in a photocopy store because they use the plastic sheets for binding. You can look for in a plastics store, I suppose.

[MatthewD]

Well it is for my wife and she is going to be carrying it with her when she keeps score for our quizbowl team at different tournaments.

[bruce johnson]

Matthew,

I use a notebook. I buy a good quality notebook from the office suppliers and drill out the rivets and use the binder clip. I cut the plastic cover off the stiffeners and reuse them for my notebooks. You can sand or bevel the edges slightly so they don't leave a stair-step bump at the edges.

[MatthewD]

Now that is an idea I hadn't thought of

[The Major]

You can also use binders board. But the cheapest way is like Bruce said is take an old binder, or get a new one and take it apart. Keep an eye out at the dollar stores. Especially this time of year with the back to school inventories.

[sheowahya]

I tried using 1/8" plexi for the binder I made. It worked ok for the front and back covers, but as it was a ring binder, I could not set the rivets to hold the rings to the center section without breaking the plexi; so I ended up using a piece of 1/8" masonite for that part. It worked great.

[Rahere]

I've fretted over this for some time, because leather is not without its issues. As skin, it contains high water-content flesh, yet repels rain. It is renewed from within, by the blood supply.

When we cure it, we remove the bio-degradable material, replacing it with bacterial and fungus-resistant products such as tannins. These are mostly vegetal, producing a workable leather, at the expense of porosity, opening the door to biological attack, or chrome-based, producing thinner, therefore flexible, strong leathers. Other methods exist, including the use of organic plastics, and hybrids such as latigo.

Historically, in addition to wood, hardening methods existed, summarised here: https://medium.com/@jasontimmermans/a-comparative-study-of-leather-hardening-techniques-16-methods-tested-and-novel-approaches-8574e571f619. Also, wood, metal and stone could be used.

However, some cop-outs also happened. From my growing interest in shoemaking, I've become increasingly interested in the use of skived materials, where essential centre strength in thickness is camouflaged by thinner edges, and this may be what you're looking at here. Historically, two classes of writing material attracted covers once the production became comfortable enough to become standardised page rectangles, namely papyrus and vellum. Paper was a side-effect of mechanised weaving, as waste and worn-out textiles were initially used, until a method using wood-pulp was invented in 1847. The first recorded use of the term cardboard is 1848.

When we look at the oldest books, we find thin wooden boards as stiffeners, often coated in leather, which interfaced better with a linen spine the signatures were sewn to. Later, as cardboard became more normal, this replaced the board, and cloth the leather.

To me, the use of other materials accelerates wear on the softer, and should therefore be avoided. But please note, these are only a grab-bag of ideas, not determined suggestions, as there's a number of traditions to work in, and I'm not out to force your hand, but open the door to wider thinking. At the same time, I suggested a purist approach:

Therefore, we might revert, being leather workers, to turning the sides after skiving them, or to edge-finishing them. We might consider a softer lining, too.