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veluigi · 8 hours ago

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Tiny Book? Tiny Book. Pt2.

Alrighty so we've progressed from daydreaming about tiny books to holding the beginning of the bones. In this one we'll cover as much as we l can before I run into the 30 image limit again.

Tiny books part 1; Tiny books part 3

Just like with regular ficbinding, there are layers, and they are:

1 - Typesetting and Imposing 2 - Printing 3 - Cutting, Folding, and Sewing 4 - Gluing, Rounding/Backing, Endbands 5 - Building the Case and Casing In 6 - BOOK

In this part we will be focusing on step 3 and partially step 4, since I ran out of picture space. Please feel free to skip to the area you're interested in most.

3 - Cutting, Folding, and Sewing

I've combined all these steps into one as they mostly happen in tandem with each other, and they aren't separately complicated enough to be an issue. Tools you will need are--

A cutting mat

A metal ruler

Any precision knife, I'm using a utility knife (for specific reasons I explain later on)

A bone folder, or some other means of creasing your folds

Paper clip(s)

Now, you may be looking at your printed sheets of little pages and feeling overwhelmed. We've all been there. But here is how they are broken down.

Each red line is where you will cut away the pages of the tiny book from the excess paper, and each green number is a signature. If you compare this to your actual printed sheet, see the cut lines are all solid, whereas the fold lines are dashed. Remember they are in a 3/3/4 folio configuration, and you'll notice that even though we are bisecting our 3rd signature, the pieces will still fold into one 4 folio sig, so try your best to keep them together. And if you auto duplexed your pages, this is the soonest step where you'll realize why the printer skew is pretty impactful on these tiny books. Anyway, go ahead and trim your pages, from this to this:

These pieces will fold in an accordion style, meaning they are imposed so that a back-and-forth fold will orient the pages in the correct reading order. If this is hard to conceptualize, check back to the Little option on the Renegade imposer. Underneath is a toggle for Instructions, with a static image to guide you.

Each Wacky Layout option has it's own folding configuration that the pages must be folded in to give you the correct reading order. If this is still confusing, don't let it stop you--you can also cut each individual pair of pages free, order them by page number, and then fold. So long as they are kept in the 3/3/4 folio and the page numbers ascend correctly, then you did it right.

So I'm going to look at my segment for signature 1 from my example image. I'm going to look for sequential page numbers as my clue for which direction to fold, because I was not paying attention as I cut and I included page numbers in my typeset.

We see page 12 circled in green. However, maybe not as helpful, considering the page directly beneath it is unnumbered. I know from my memory of my typeset though that this is page 9, because I typeset my text to begin on page 9. 9 and 12 are not sequential numbers. So we flip it over.

Ah-hah--sequential numbers, 10 and 11. As you'll notice by the dashed lines separating the pages, this segment will be folded to make up your 3 folio signature. The top portion, marked by 11, will fold along the dashed line over the second portion, marked by 10. The bottom portion folds along the dashed line in the opposite direction. Here is what that looks like--

--this! And now you have a little signature. You will repeat this step for the second 3-folio segment, creasing the folds with your bone folder. The 4-folio segment has a slightly different configuration but the same concept applies, so I will not be taking a photo example of that. Just make sure your page numbers are sequential, and you're alright. Do not fold these signature down the middle yet, leave them as they are, because--

You'll notice now that should this be immediately sewn into a book you would not be able to turn the pages, as they are still connected at the tops and bottoms. Did you know this is how books used to be sold? And is why we have deckle edges on modern books? It's just aesthetics now, but back in the day it was a product of reading the fucking book, because you would cut them apart as you went. They were yet another point of ego for some people; look how many of my books have been cut, aren't I smart for reading so many?

Anyway for our purposes I recommend the use of a utility knife over Xacto knives or a letter opener. With a utility knife you can extend the blade and cut each seam easier, as it's longer than an Xacto and sharper than a letter opener. That's not to say you can't use other precision knifes, just be careful regardless of what you do since I'm not responsible for your fingertips.

I find this method faster and as accurate as using a ruler. The blade goes in between the folded pages, and using the tension against the blade, I'm forcing the paper to the ultimate edge of the fold. To me this is different than CUTTING the paper, as I'm not doing any motions with the knife. This is forcing the paper to split against the edge of the knife. Again you might find this intimidating, and again, please don't risk yourself. You will get the same results if you take your time and cut out each page using a ruler. Regardless, you'll wind up with:

Your tiny book pages!! Now that they've all be cut, folded, and cut again, I can fold them down the center to create my individual signatures. This is when I begin using my paperclips, to hold the sigs together in one place before I punch the holes. Try not to put more than 3 sigs in one paper clip, this could leave indentations on your pages.

When it comes to punching the sewing holes on tiny books, there is the same key difference--the structure of the tiny book is not load-bearing. For this reason we can be a bit cavalier with this step. We don't have to use premium linen thread, we don't have to punch the holes equidistant, we don't have to use tapes, we don't have to love Steve like he's our real dad. Four holes per signature is adequate--one entrance hole, two to support the center, and one exit hole--and for my part I sew tiny books with regular cotton sewing thread and a regular ole sewing needle.

Sewn, my tiny spines looks like this, compared to a regular sized textblock:

On the left we have a tiny book, sewn through only 4 punched holes per signature, with black cotton sewing thread. On the right is a B6 book with the traditional french link method sewn over tapes, with carefully measured distances to account for load distribution and security.

For this part, first make the decision as to whether or not you will trim the edges of your tiny textblock when you're done. As with regular books, use this decision to gauge how far your entrance and exit holes will be from the top/bottom of your text block so that your holes are not dangerously close to the edge after trimmed. For the middle holes, find the center point of your spine. Punch two holes on either side of this middle, let's say, 7mm away. You likely aren't a stranger to this process, so it is hopefully simple to picture. Like this:

This isn't a science by any means. Use your better judgement. To keep things exciting I stuck with 7mm. My entrance and exit holes are 7mm away from the ends, as I'll only be trimming off maybe 1mm. I found my middle, then put a hole on either side 7mm away. They are not the most even or mathematical, but we don't have to fucks with that baybeeee. On full-size books I will use my finishing press to hold the signatures in place and saw along the spine with a hacksaw, like this. That's more troublesome than helpful on these tiny book in my experience, so I use a jig I've cut out of spare bookboard, since all my tiny books are the same size. However you decide to create your sewing holes, go ahead and do so now.

Like I mentioned already I will be using regular cotton sewing thread, doubled up, and a regular sewing needle. That looks like this:

Notice in the first picture the labeled loop--for me that is intentional and functional. Rather than tying a knot, when I sew on the next signature I pass my working thread through the loop, then tighten the thread, cinching my working thread. Not tightly, but enough so things aren't flopping around. In the third picture you can see how I hold the textblock and signature open with one hand, and sew with the other. This lets me hold it up to my face, rather than my face down to my work area. The french link isn't for anything structural, since in this case you don't NEED the extra support, I just like it :3

And then you're sewn baybee!! If the book is long enough it will also curl backwards on itself and make a little book sphincter.

Your thread is the reason your textblocks swell while you sew, and one thing to note about sewing your tiny book is that the swell is a bit of a different beast. The thickness of the thread + number of signatures = your swell. You can normally augment the amount of swell by using a thinner thread, but that risks the integrity of your book, OR you can make a typesetting with fewer pages, OR you change the folios of your signatures, thus making more or fewer signatures, thus influencing how many passes of thread will be in the final product. To spell it out,

A 20 signature textblock has 20 passes of thread, giving you 20 increases of volume. But let's say you don't want to do the added construction of rounding and backing, etc etc. So you change your 6 folio signatures to 8 folios, and have 5 fewer signatures as an end result.

Thus, your 15 signature textblock now has 15 passes of thread, giving you 15 increases of volume. This is less swell than 20 signatures, we can agree.

This is not a possibility with this tiny book configuration. If after you sew your tiny textblock you feel there is too much swell for your tastes, and would like to change that somehow--you can't. At least, not in the capacity we can with a regular book. The 3/3/4 folio Little layout of the Renegade imposer is immutable. The only way to influence your spine swell with making tiny books with this method is to use a thinner thread (one option is not doubling your thread, as I do), or have fewer pages in your typeset. But really truly, with using cotton sewing thread the swell is nigh negligible. It isn't noticeable at all until you're crossing the 150-age mark, in my experience.

Okay I'm up to 22 pictures. Let's see if we can cover step 4 in 9 pictures or fewer.

4, pt. 1- Gluing, and Rounding/Backing

The laws of gluing a tiny book are few.

1 - You glue it. 2 - Don't forget your endpages.

Here I am doing it at work with binder clips and sticky note pads for support.

To your discretion, feel free to omit or add mull along the spine as you feel comfortable. There may be times where your tiny book is weighty enough that you worry it will still tear at your endpages. As these tiny books aren't going to be read so regularly or vigorously, this is less likely to happen, but not impossible, I suppose. I like to add it regardless of the weight of my textblock because it makes me feel fancy, and like the book is wearing tiny underwear. Although since it's more of a specialized support garment, maybe we call it tiny jockstraps. The good news is you can save the mull offcuts from your regular books and use them here on your tiny ones.

That's mostly all there is to say on the matter of gluing your tiny book. Another way to hold the book while gluing is to use a wood clamp, with the textblock sandwiched between some sturdy bookboard for support. Here are some tiny books of mine hanging out in my quick-grip clamps.

Any way that you can hold the textblock in place while the glue dries is the correct method. You likely won't have much luck with your regular pressing methods, being so large in comparison, but any small object of decent weight will work!

When it comes to rounding and backing, the same adage applies--these tiny structures are not load bearing. It is not necessary, but it is sexy! This requires us to talk about a few things in tandem, those being what material you will use for the covers in your tiny case, and your book hammering tools.

Normally, the function of rounding is a means to compensate for the swell of the spine, and the function of backing is to provide support for the rounding by way of 'shoulders'. These shoulders must be the same width as the thickness of the bookboard you are using in your case, so that they may rest on them. It is possible to round the spine without backing, but not advisable--those shoulders you're beating into your textblock are the only thing besides your endpages holding the weight of that textblock up. Without these shoulders, over time, as gravity does its thing, your textblock will sag, and it will tear at the joint of your endpages and you will lose your rounded spine. Double homicide.

As our tiny textblock weigh maybe a few ounces it's not imperative they have shoulders. Rounded the spine to accommodate the swell can be adequate. Gravity will not be so cruel to them, and you likely won't lose your rounded spine or tear at your endpages. But we work full-time at the Too Much Factory, so we're gonna round AND back our tiny books.

The process in practice isn't altogether too different from rounding and backing a regular book. I for one don't really use a hammer to round my regular spines, and they also aren't necessary for tiny books. Just use your hands, our grubby little fingers. For backing, however, I have to take a brief detour and talk about bookboard first, because as with regular books that will determine how thick we make our shoulders.

I have a few photos to show how it will look to use different thicknesses at this scale. On hand I have three different stuffs:

On the left we have two sheets of cereal box cardboard, with the glossy paper sanded off and glued together with PVA. In the middle is 2mm thick chipboard/Davy board (as they are comparable), and on the right I have salvaged 4mm thick Davy board, that I saved from some old encyclopedias. The comparison photo is slightly blurry, it decided to go out of focus literally as I hit the shutter :(

Anyway this is how they look actually used in little books.

As you might be able to tell, the 1mm is plenty, and the 2mm leans towards a little chunky, though I think that one is my personal preference. I haven't been brave enough to experiment with the 4mm board yet, so I don't have an example image, but it might be excessive.

You might come across a particularly tasty piece of board that is very thin and deceptively sturdy, maybe something the bristol board equivalent of a brown board, and you might think, this would make for perfect tiny book material. It's ultra thin, yet feels sturdy. That is the devil talking. Put the thin-ass board down and walk away.

Like, maybe you think that looks fine and you'll be happy with the results? I only bring this up for caution's sake, that I've found it way too thin. The scale might be appropriate but the finished product loses a lot of its definition and novelty appeal, to me. And even heeding the grain direction of the board my corners curled in on themselves pretty badly. So I recommend sticking with the cereal box board or 2mm board.

Anyway we were talking about backing. Decide what you'd like to use as your bookboard, measure the thickness, and get out your finishing press and backing boards. Like you would regularly, fit the tiny book in the backing boards, sticking out from the top juuuuust slightly more than the thickness of your board. Here, rather than using a hammer, I suggest using just your bone folder, and letting the residual tackiness of the glue on the spine do the work. Placing the flat of your bone folder on the spine of your tiny book, run it down the sides, and bend the outermost signatures over the backing boards. This is what would normally be done by the force of your hammer, however I've found the hammer way too large a tool for something this small, and only made mince meat out of my book rather than shoulders. Forming the shoulders with the bone folder in this way was actually quite easy, with these smaller signatures, and didn't take much force as all. Use another layer of glue to solidify the shape and let it dry, preferably overnight, or a few hours at least. You will hopefully arrive at something like this:

(Ignore that this one was sewn on cords and not as I've been describing, this was for a specific project.) Not the most perfect execution of backing a book but we got shoulders baybee! And something this small, this result will be just fine. You can even do some spare manipulation by hand after the fact--you are stronger than this tiny book.

You'll never believe it but I've run out of picture space. The rest of step 4--endbands--will be in the following post, here 💃

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