Cover for Spiral Bound Manual

[gretencord]

Hello,

The boys for our scouting organization have a spiral bound field manual that they use for their entire career with the troops which could be 12 years at the most. The problem is the covers are ripping off with wear and tear. One of the achievement courses in their manual is leather working so I thought it would be a great project to create a book cover for their manuals. Most patterns and kits I find however are made to slide the notebook covers into pockets.

Any alternative ideas?

Thanks!

[YinTx]

Punch a bunch of holes in a piece of leather, and spin that spiral on?  Use a pippin punch to punch a row of holes, press it into the spiral?

YinTx

[battlemunky]

48 minutes ago, YinTx said:

Punch a bunch of holes in a piece of leather, and spin that spiral on?  Use a pippin punch to punch a row of holes, press it into the spiral?

YinTx

This^^^ You could have the boys do some stamping or carving to personalize it.

[Rahere]

It would likely tear out. The way I see it, those holes are ready-drilled to go in the direction of proper bookbinding, sewing with linen thread into 20-sheet signatures, then dipping in glue to consolidate the weak point between the holes, then secured onto linen strip as the inner spine with end boards, finally bound in leather and tooled.

[gretencord]

@YinTx, @battlemunky: That idea sounds like it might be a good first attempt for the boys to cut their teeth on and we'll see if it holds.

@Rahere, that sounds like a solid, long-term solution. Do you have a recommended resource to learn more about this particular bookbinding process?

Thank you all for your suggestions!

[stelmackr]

8 hours ago, gretencord said:

Do you have a recommended resource to learn more about this particular bookbinding process?

The following show How-To-Do several ways to bind pages.

Creative Bookbindinghttps://www.amazon.com/Creative-Bookbinding-Pauline-Johnson/dp/048626307X
Hand Bookbinding: A Manual of Instructionhttps://www.amazon.com/Hand-Bookbinding-Instruction-Aldren-Watson/dp/048629157X/ref=asc_df_048629157X/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312176357204&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14954732258929900233&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9033822&hvtargid=pla-494665099148&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=60258871857&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=312176357204&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14954732258929900233&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9033822&hvtargid=pla-494665099148

 

Edited September 3, 2020 by stelmackr
tried to format

[Rahere]

@stelmackr many thanks - my experience was hands-on in the days when hot lead was the norm.

[Rahere]

Reminds me of the limits to folding. The original signature concept was caused by printing on both sides of a really large sheet of paper, which would be folded in falf four times, and finally sewn down the middle of the last fold, to make a signature. Then they'd be tied together - bound - with the rest of the book, and only then guillotined to free the pages. In fact, the guillotine cut wasn't always done, so you once in a while might come across a book with the pages still needing separating. Rare, but not unknown.

Which brings me to the point. You can't fold paper in half more than six times. Don't tell them that, just watch they try!

[gretencord]

@stelmackr thank you for the resources and they are both at my library!

[Rahere]

If full binding is overkill, there are simpler bindings here:

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TheSiamBindery?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=772298742