Producing Casebound Books

The sequence of steps in binding hardcover books is shown in Figure 6-1. These steps remain the same whether books are bound by hand or by machine.

FOLDING SIGNATURES AND ENDSHEETS. Large printed sheets are first folded to form signatures. A signature is a single sheet of paper folded to a certain number of pages. For example, one signature may yield 8, 16, or 32 individual pages when it is trimmed on three sides later in the binding process.

Tow endsheets must also be folded for each book. An endsheet is a strong piece of paper that has been folded in half to make four pages. The size of each folded endsheet is the same as the book's signatures.

Endsheets are glued to the front of the first signature and to the back of the last signature. This process is called tipping and should be done after the signatures have been gathered and sewn.

GATHERING SIGNATURES. Assembling signatures in proper sequence for binding is called gathering. Gathering signatures can be done by hand or with a gathering machine. The basic operation of a swing arm gathering machine is shown in Figure 6-2.

SEWING. Fastening the assembled signatures together with thread is the next step in binding. Two basic sewing techniques are center (Smythe.) sewing and side-sewing. The center-sewing technique is used to saddle sew individual signatures and fasten these signatures together. Loose sheets of paper are generally bound together by side-sewing.

Center Sewing. Signatures can be center-sewn by hand or by machine. To center-sew by hand place a piece of plywood on each side of the gathered signatures. Jog the assembly so that the center folds of all signatures are at the same level and flush with the top edges of the plywood sheets. Insert the assembly into a vise. The center folds should protrude about one-half inch above the jaws of the vise.

Measure and mark lines for positioning three sewing tapes on the back of the signatures, Figure 6-3. Make each pair of lines the same width as the sewing tape to be used.

With a backsaw or a dovetail saw, cut into the back of the book. Carefully follow along the marked lines until the saw just begins to enter the inner part of each signature. Do not cut too deeply.

Remove the signatures from the vise and positon them on a sewing frame. Then fasten three pieces of sewing tape to the frame with thumbtacks as shown in Figure 6-4.

Now remove all but the last signature from the frame and begin sewing the last signature. The movement of the needle in and out of the signature is shown in Figure 6-5. Pass the needle through the back of the signature and into the center fold at hole 1. Exit at hole 2 and enter again at hole3, Exit at hole 4and enter at hole 5. Repeat this again at holes 6 and 7. The needle and thread finally exit the signature hole 8.

Place the next-to-last signature on top of the signature already on the frame. Reverse the sewing procedure to pass the needle and thread back to the right side of the frame. This time, however, when the needle exits alongside a tape, loop the thread around the thread of the previous signature before re-entering the signature being sewn. Looping fastens each signature to the previous one, Figure 6-6. Tie the two signatures together at the right end.

Repeat the procedure until all signatures are fastened together. Additional thread may be tied to the original length of thread if required. Each time your thread exits at the right, be sure to tie the end of the thread securely to the previous signature.

Finally, remove the sewn signatures from the sewing frame. Cut both ends of each tape so that they extend approximately one inch on each side of the bound signatures.

Side-sewing. Loose sheets of paper may be bound together by side-sewing. Again, either hand or machine methods can be used.