Does this paper look familiar?
This is my first half-bound book, which just means cloth back and corners and paper sides. I never like to waste materials, so I used the red cloth and Good Chop paper on hand. The end paper is off-white and the headbands are brown and cream. I left the head and tail uncut.
This book was a lot of math, which has never been my strong suit, but I did just fine. This project also settled a question I’ve had about determining a measurement for the hinge gap. Skip the next paragraph if you could care less.
I’ve figured out that I should use 1/8″ for a tight joint and 1/4″ for French grooves. To then create the desirable 1/8″ board overhang (or square), I should add 1/8″ to the board width for a tight joint; for French grooves, the same overhang is achieved by the additional 1/8″ pushing the board over the edge. It seems straightforward after the fact, but I was getting different directions from different sources. (Keep in mind that this is for 0.098 thick board; the rule for French grooves is board thickness x 1.5, so really I should be using 3/16″, but my measurements result in the square I want.) This may not work for your process, so you do you.
So there you have it: an attractive first half binding. I was also playing with the amount of paper and swell, so this is a thick book but not as thick as the quarter-bound McAlister Deli book (otherwise, same dimensions). Don’t they look cute together?
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