Yuku free message boards

kgforce wrote:

---

James Friel wrote:

---

I don't. They're not worth it to me. If I did it, I could only bind three quarters as many books for the same money, and while five bucks may not be much, when you look at it as a one-third increase in price...nope.
Same goes for pretty much all of the other bells and whistles, except for books that are special in some way to me.

The aesthetic side of me really likes the headbands, but the tightwad side of me hates the thought of spending $5 for them!

Headbands? We don't need no stinking headbands! Funny this topic should come up since I had been thinking about it for a while and finally addressed it this evening.

I probably fall into the same camp as James and kgforce. $4 doesn't seem like much but if you do that for every book spread over 100+ books-- yikes! I would much rather use that $ to bind more books. I love seeing people who spring for all these extras but for me, I just want to bind the comics so I can read them.

That said, head/tail bands are nice at covering up the ugly gap between the book block and spine. Since I tend to favor thicker books, that space can get even uglier:



Yuck!

When I started looking into self-binding (books, not me!), I learned that true headbands are classically sewn into the book block to both strengthen the spine as well as for decoration. However, the vast majority of headbands are commercially-made strips that are glued onto the book block solely for ornamental purposes. So I started looking around online. On their website, LBC suggests ganebrothers for bookbinding supplies, but there are plenty of other online suppliers to choose from. For those interested, I went with hollanders.com. They had a small variety of headbands available in 12" lengths. I didn't want to place an order for yards of material and not have it work out. I also ended up ordering a small bottle of PVA glue although I suppose you could use anything as long as it works with cloth/paper and is fast-drying.

Headband strips of different colors:



PVA glue with cheap brush:



Basically, all I did was place the 12" strip against the width of the book to get a rough estimate, cut 2 equal pieces (for head and tail bands) and applied some PVA glue to one side. With the book standing up, I cracked it open so that the spine space was widened and inserted the strip along the edge of the bookblock spine. To help adhere the strip, I just used the handle of a spoon and ran it down the spine/band. Close the book to check placement and press firmly. Repeat the step for the tailband. I also placed the book spine down to dry. Make sure the headband is completely flush along the edge of the spine as it will sometimes bow up-- I just re-open the book one last time and reconfirm placement, applying a little downward pressure if necessary-- before you let it completely dry. And ta-da, no ugly space!



Of course, I didn't stop there. I started thinking how it would be nice to have bookmarks especially for my Omnibi so that I could remember where I stopped reading. What's a bookmark but a small cloth ribbon? So off I went to Jo-Ann's/Michael's craft stores and picked up some spools of 3/8" ribbon in different colors. You can get them in plain satin or polyester grosgrain (ribbed like the top spool in the picture below) if you like. I measured out an appropriate length (I chose 14-15") taking into account 1/2" will be glued into the spine to secure it. You can choose however long you want the ribbon to extend past your book.



I applied the same principles to attaching the ribbon marker. In this case, I applied the ribbon marker first then the headband since it looks better that way (rather than headband then bookmark). Plus, the headband will further help to secure the ribbon in place since it will be glued over the ribbon. Be sure to place the ribbon on the correct end. I almost glued it to the bottom when I had a book upside-down. And ta-da! Even better!



Ooh, pretty colors!



Surprisingly, it didn't take too long to do 10 books. Granted this isn't perfect since most headbands and ribbons are placed on the book block before it is attached to the buckram cover but this DIY method isn't too shabby IMO.

Of course, this discussion would be moot if it cost me an arm and a leg, but it didn't. A 12" headband strip cost $1.25-$1.75. Some online places sell it by the yard so it's even cheaper. Each strip was good for about 3 books (consider a 2" thick book, 2 strips for head/tail bands so 4" for a book). I bought the ribbon spools for $2 for 18 feet of ribbon which should be good for ~15 books. The 16oz bottle of glue cost $10 but you can get larger bottles-- besides it will last a LOOONG time. Factor in shipping obviously. But from a material standpoint, it's probably 75cents-$1 to make your own head/tailbands and ribbons versus $8. That's something that I can definitely live with.

Then again, that means I have ANOTHER task to do besides prepping books.

dskrek wrote:

---

I think that the ribbon has a negative effect on the closing of the book. I'd rather use a regular book mark, if I use one at all. I think the ribbon will stretch the spine a little and prevent the book from closing normally. However, I recognize that this abnormality is minimal and might not annoy you as much as it does me.

I'm not sure if there are any long-term problems with ribbons. After all, most high-end books have them. But I can see how that might irk you. For books not being read, the ribbon could be placed between the endpage and cover or just left draped over the spine as an alternative.

kgforce wrote:
That does it -- I will be skipping the headbands and do them myself sometime later!

Thanks for taking the time to share those tips and excellent photos!

Thanks! Like I said, it was funny that you asked this question because I finally got around to working on my books today after ordering all the supplies earlier. Coming from someone who doesn't like to complicate things too much-- no scanning/reprinting or making fancy dustjackets/content pages (although I do love looking at other people's work!) for me-- I was surprised how simple and quick it was. Had it been less costly but labor-intensive, I wouldn't have offered it as an alternative. Cheap and easy works for me!