FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

What kind of paper is suitable for endsheet stock?

Endsheets help attach the text to the case or cover of a hard cover book. Since one side of each endsheet will be covered with a water-based glue, the paper needs to withstand the swelling and wrinkling this tends to cause. Endsheet stock should be 70 lb. or heavier, uncoated, with the grain running parallel to the fold; 80 lb. is ideal. Grain direction is critical. We have used stocks outside this range before, for example an 80 lb. Karma seems to be fine, but please check with your binding. Endsheets may be colored stock or printed, but do not forget which sides will glue to the cover boards and therefore disappear from view.

Which folds should I perf?

Signatures will normally be perfed at every fold where it is practical to do so. Perfs weaken the paper at the fold; this encourages the sheet to fold in exactly the desired spot. Perfs also allow air to escape from within the signature as it passes through the folding machine, thus preventing wrinkles. It is critically important, however, to perf only those folds that will be trimmed or ground off. Specifically, never perf the spine fold of any signature that will be smyth sewn.

Should I send my job in collated or uncollated?

Depends. For casebound work, the first step in the process to occur after folding the signatures is tipping (gluing) the endsheets on. At Cardoza-James we use a machine that tips all of the front endsheets to the front of signature #1, and all of the back endsheets to the back of the last signature. If we are to do the tipping, we must therefore receive the signatures uncollated. If endsheets are to arrive already tipped on, signatures may come either collated or uncollated.

What is the minimum thickness of a case bound book? What is the maximum?

With casebound books, there is no real "minimum" thickness per se, but there are certain limits. No matter how thin the text of a casebound book is, the board used to create the spine will generally not be less than 1/4" wide. This reflects not only the limits of our machinery, but is a practical minimum as well since the spine board must be as wide as the boards making up the front and back covers are thick. Smyth sewing requires at least two signatures to sew to each other, and even on a heavy stock the minimum size signature we can handle is an 8-page. Therefore, the smallest casebound book we can produce is 16 pages, plus endsheets. Our case binding machinery can handle books up to 3" thick, maximum. When binding by hand we can deal with thicker books, but anything over about 3" will be difficult for the reader to use.

What kinds of cover materials are available for my casebound book?

There are literally hundreds of different materials that a book's "case" can be made from. They can be broken down into several categories.

• Printable: If you need 4-color or other lithography on your cover, there are two basic options: print on a special material designed both for "turned-edge" work and lithography, or print on an 80 or 100 lb. coated book weight paper, then film laminate the outside with a gluable film
• Colored, non-woven: There are a number of inexpensive, paper-based materials for case binding. These come in a huge variety of colors and embosses, from smooth to fabric-like to imitation leather. These materials, like those below, require foil stamping, blind stamping, and/or silk screening to decorate.
• Colored, woven: Here again there is a vast range to choose from. B grade cloths and buckrams are fabrics impregnated with Pyroxylin or some other material to size them and prevent them from decaying over time. Imitation leathers are fabrics coated with a thick layer of colored material which is then embossed to make it look more or less like leather. There are also paper-backed rayons and other fabrics for fine work, and very inexpensive starch-filled fabrics. Bonded leather is made from pulped leather fibers, calendared and colored to a uniform thickness and appearance. Bonded leather smells like leather but has the advantage of running well through modern machinery.
• Genuine leather: For the finest work, books can be bound or partially bound in genuine leather. Leather is unmatched for a rich feel and smell, but is expensive and requires careful hand treatment.

I have an old book that is falling apart. Can it be re-bound?

Yes, but it is almost always less expensive to replace the book. If the book is still available, buying a new book would usually cost less than rebinding your old one. If you can't find a new one in the bookstores, check the web for on-line booksellers.