How To Bind Magazines
How to Bind Magazines
Originally Published In:
Popular Mechanics November 1911
Page 766-767
A great many readers of Popular Mechanics Magazine save their copies and have them bound in book form and some keep them without binding. The bound volumes make an attractive library and will always be valuable works of reference along mechanical lines. I bind my magazines at home evenings, with good results. Six issues make a well proportioned book, which gives two bound volumes each year.
The covers of the magazines are removed, the wire binders pulled out with a pair of pliers and the advertising pages removed from both sides, after which it will be found that the remainder is in sections, each section containing four double leaves or sixteen pages. These sections are each removed in turn from the others, using a pocket knife to separate them if they stick,, and each section is placed as they were in the magazine upon each preceding one until all six numbers have been prepared. If started with the January or the July issue, the pages will be numbered consecutively through the entire pages of the six issues.
The sections are then prepared for sewing. They are evened up on the edges by jarring on a flat surface. They are then placed between two pieces of board and all clamped in a vise. Five cuts, % in. deep, are made with a saw across the back of the sections, as shown in Fig. 1. Heavy plain paper is used for the flyleaves. The paper is cut double the same as the leaves comprising the sections, making either one or two double sections for each side as desired.
A frame for sewing will have to be made as shown in Fig. 2 before the work can be continued on the book. The frame is easily made of four pieces of wood. The bottom piece A should be a little larger than the book. The two upright pieces B are nailed to the outside edge, and a third piece, C\ is nailed across the top. Small nails are driven part way into the base C to correspond to the saw cuts in the sections. A piece of soft fiber string is stretched from each nail to the cross-piece C and tied.
Coarse white thread, size 16 or larger, is used for the sewing material. Start with the front of the book. Be sure that all sections are in their right places and that the flyleaves are provided in the front and back. Take the sections of the flyleaves on top, which should be notched the same as the saw cuts in the book sections, and place them against the strings in the frame. Place the left hand on the inside of the leaves where they are folded and start a blunt needle, threaded double, through the notch on the left side of the string No. 1 in Fig, 2. Take hold of the needle with the right hand and pass it to the left around the string No. 1, then back through the notch on the right side. Fasten the thread by tying or making a knot in the end and passing the needle through it After drawing the thread tightly, pass the needle through the notch on the left side of the string No. 2, passing it around the string and tying in the same manner as for No. 1* Each section is fastened to the five strings in the same manner, the thread being carried across from each tie from No. I to 2 then to 3 and so on and mark around each one. Spread a thin coat of glue on the surface of each and lay them on by the marks made. Cut a notch out of the covering so it will fold in, and, after gluing until ail strings are tied. The string No. 5 is treated in the same manner only that the needle is run through on the left side of the string a second time, leaving the needle on the outside in position for the next section, which is fastened the same as the first, the needle being passed through the notch on theright side of the string No. 5, and then to string No. 4, passing around on the right side and back on the left and so on. Keep the thread drawn up tightly all the time.
After the sewing is completed cut the strings, allowing about 2 in, of the ends extending on each side. The fibers of these ends are separated and combed out so that they can be glued to the covers to serve as a hinge, A piece of cheesecloth is cut to the size of the hack and glued to it. Ordinary liquid glue is the best adhesive to use.
Procure heavy cardboard for the covers and cut two pieces Vs in, longer and just the same width as the magazine pages. The covering can be of cloth, leather or paper according to the taste and resources of the maker. The covering should be cut out 1 in, larger on all edges than both covers and space on the back. Place the cardboard covers on the book, allowing a margin of *4 in, on all edges except the back, and measure the distance between the back edges of the covers across the back of the book. Place the cardboard covers on the back of the covering the proper dis-tance apart as measured for the back, a strip of paper to the covering between the covers to strengthen the back, fold over the outside edges of the covering and glue it down all around.
Place the cover on the book in the right position, glue the hinges fast to the inside of the covers, then glue the first flyleaf to the inside of the cover on both front and back and place the whole under a weight until dry.
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Contributed by Clyde E. Divine, College View, Nebr.
