Introduction: How to Bind Your Own Hardback Book - My Results!!

Here are my results of going through the How to bind your own Hardback Book instructable. I'm surprised at how well it turned out!

This instructable is simply a way for me to note the differences between what the original instructable suggested and what I actually did. Also, I hope it will show that their instructable does really turn out very nice..

Step 1: I Used Single Sheets Folded Over

I don't have a long arm stapler so I chose to use single sheets of paper folded once. That way I didn't need to staple any sheets together and I didn't need to trim any excess or misaligned folio edges (as in their step 6) because there isn't a sizing issue when folding only one sheet.

Step 2: Gluing the Pages Together

I didn't like the idea of using weak little paper clips to hold my pages together, so I got out one of my woodworking clamps. Also, I thought it would be much easier to glue the pages together - then after it dried, glue them to the spine fabric (their step 5).

Step 3: Trimming Excess Glue From Spine Fabric

Here I glued the newly bound pages to the piece of spine fabric. I used my XACTO knife to trim off the excess hot glue. I got a bit of paper in a few places.

Step 4: Creating Cover Boards

I found some Elmer's Display Boards at the store. I chose the smallest one, because it has thinner cardboard but still felt strong enough.

Step 5: Finishing Cover Boards and Spine

Here I'm sizing up the cover fabric and gluing the cover and spine boards into place.

Make sure the glue is VERY thin. Notice the first picture of the completed cover? See the glue streaks that seeped through. After seeing that, I made sure I used much less glue on the other side.

Step 6: Gluing the Pages and Lining Onto the Cover

Here I'm gluing the pages onto the cover and gluing on the lining. I redid the top and bottom edges several times (adding lots more glue) because of the stress those spots were getting (compared to the rest of it).

I used standard construction paper for the lining. I cut it to size and folded it in half. I glued one side onto the paper first. When that dried, I glued the other side to the cover board.

I inserted four blank sheets of paper into the book before and after the first and last pages just in case any glue seeped through. Then, I let it sit under a nice stack of books for an hour or so to make sure the lining and spine fabric glue sets really well.

Step 7: Completed Book

Here are a couple of shots of the completed book.

I also uploaded a video to YouTube that shows the completed book. It is located here.