DIY Book Forum

So I've been really stoked about getting into DIY bookbinding. I am working on putting together my binding jig, and I worked out getting my signatures printed it out how I want them. my biggest concern is getting the paper folded. I'm HORRIBLE at making a straight clean fold. I also don't want to spend a small fortune in buying a machine to do it. From what I'm reading, the lower priced machines aren't that great in consistency or speed. So if it's going to take me a while either way, I want it to be something that's either a) extremely cheap and/or b) homemade.

One idea I've had is a simple board with a backstop on one side and a hinged straight edge (was thinking thin metal ruler), that can be clamped at the other end to hold it down, on the other side. Slide the paper in till it hits the backstop, then fold the straight edge down, lock in place (locking the paper in place as well), and simply fold the free end over. Then unlock straight edge and remove folded paper.

With that I know I would get a good straight, even fold. My problem comes in low volume and long time to fold. I'm trying to come up with something that I can rig up that will speed that up more. Something where I can just slide the paper in, pull the lever and it will do the clamping and folding, then release the lever to unlock the paper. Any ideas or know of any sites where I could find something like that?

This site has been exactly what I've been needing. I've gotten tons of ebooks and lengthy reports that
I've bought or have been sent. I can print cheaply enough, but have held back because I didn't want to lug around thick folders full of paper or 3 ring binders. Now I can just print, fold, bind and voila! my own book/booklet to read at my leisure whenever, where ever! Thank you so much for this site!!!

A bit late to the party, but a club for which I used to publish a monthly 40-page 5.5"x8.5" newsletter had a hinged wooden gadget that worked beautifully for folding a 20-sheet stack of paper. No clamps, just two planks of wood joined by a piano hinge, with stops around the edges to keep the sheets square in the thing. The stops were offset so that they didn't interfere with one another when it was closed.

I'll see if the current editor will send me a couple of photos, but it shouldn't be difficult to reverse-engineer one.

Thanks, Andrew. :-)

The current editor sent me several photos, which you can find here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/chthulhu/BookletFolder?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOmb6uzClvLg-gE&feat=directlink

The images are quite large so you can zoom in nicely. The taped-on strips and the chunk of what looks like door skin are there to accommodate a thinner booklet than the thing was designed for, and you can see that the aluminum channels are set flush into the plywood. Closed, there's about 1/8 inch between the boards at the hinge, minus the thickness of the shims. It doesn't close completely flat due to the channels, but it made a nice, tight fold in a booklet of ten sheets of 24 lb printer/copy paper, stitched or unstitched.

Sorry about that: I had the album set to "Private" by mistake. You should be able to see it now. You're not far off: the stops are pieces of extruded aluminum J-channel of the kind used to mount mirrors. The rest is 1/2-inch plywood, piano hinge, and a cabinet knob, plus some bits of cardboard and wood veneer for shims. :-)

Andrew,

I reset the "Secret Link" to:

https://picasaweb.google.com/chthulhu/BookletFolder?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOmb6uzClvLg-gE&feat=directlink

I edited my previous post with the new link as well.

The sedan chair is a fairly straightforward project; if she's used to working with paper, glue, and sharp cutting tools, she should be fine with it. I don't put difficulty ratings on my designs, but you can get a pretty good notion just by looking at them. :-)

Mike

"Happy to be of service." :-)

Hamish,

Thanks for sharing your folding solution - I'd love to see one of the boxes you started making.

I purchased a CARL 12"/A4 Rotary Trimmer that has an optional creasing wheel that can be swapped out for the cutting wheel. Most times I only use it for scoring covers, but it would be very easy to rig up a backstop to register the pages to score for folding.

Mine came from an office supply store, but, scrap booking suppliers are a great resource for DIY bookbinding tools.

Andrew