UNUSUAL BINDING STYLES

Early "books" were simply of stacks of loose palm leaves or papyrus, laid between a pair of boards of some description and wrapped with a cloth to keep them together. Books in this style can still be seen in use in Tibet, but most of us these days prefer a binding that keeps the pages in order, and isn't so problematic in the wind. There are many ways of holding sheets of paper together, including stapled brochures and glued "perfect-bound" books; even within the more specialized realm of hard cover books, however, there is a surprising variety of styles to choose from. The few binding styles that dominate the hard cover market today are usually simple and efficient to produce. Manufacturers of binding equipment have concentrated on these popular styles, and as a result the more "exotic" types are virtually all produced by hand. While all of the binding styles described below are relatively expensive compared to saddle-stitching and perfect binding, at low quantities several of these methods would be comparably priced to, or even less expensive than, other common hard cover bindings. These unusual styles tend to be "mechanical" bindings rather than glue bindings, though glue is used in nearly all of the constructions described.

CHICAGO SCREW BINDINGS

If pages of a book need to be added or removed after the binding is made, or if the exact number of pages to go in the book has not yet been determined, a good solution is any of several types of "Chicago screw" binding. A Chicago screw consists of an aluminum "screw post" of any of various lengths with a "cap" at one end, and a screw that threads into it at the other. Both the screw post and the screw have large flat heads to hold the pages when the two parts are screwed together. Text and cover are simply drilled, as with 3-ring binder stock, and screwed together. Chicago screw covers are typically the "turned-edge" variety, similar to those found on hard cover books, involving cloth or paper glued over thick binder's board. These can be one, two, or three piece covers, and can be designed to hide the screws or leave them exposed, depending on the needs of the client and the intended end use of the book. We often produce large-format Chicago screw bindings for real estate developers, which they use to display architectural renderings and floor plans. We also make them for city and county governments to hold tax records for public viewing. They are excellent for sales or cost reports, self-promotions pieces, and portfolios that must be protected in a sturdy hard cover, but whose contents may change over time. Some designers these days like the industrial look, and we have made many books with the exposed Chicago screws featured as part of the design esthetic. We have also left binders board exposed, or partly exposed.

CUSTOM RING BINDERS

For quick access to individual sheets in the binding, a custom ring binder can be made to just about any size or orientation. Many variations exist: easels, turned-edge hard cover binders, exposed or hidden rivets, square or round spine, round rings, "D" rings, locking binders, square or round corners, etc.... We have produced everything from tiny address book binders to huge map binders for electrical utilities. Ring binders can be printed, foil stamped, silk screened, anything you can imagine on a book cover is possible.

CASES OR BOARDS FOR SPIRAL (WIRE-O) BINDING

Other mechanical bindings commonly seen are double-loop (usually called "wire-o") or spiral wire binding. These simple, inexpensive bindings can be jazzed up and made more durable by using turned-edge boards as front and back covers, rather than simply heavy cover-weight paper. The wraps and linings for these boards can be printed or foil stamped as with case bound books, then punched and bound up with the text. It is also possible to bind spiral or wire-o books beautifully by making a hard cover with an inside pocket. The back cover of the wire bound text then slips into this pocket and holds the book in place; the text can also be glued in. This method works very well for cookbooks or technical manuals where it is important that the text lay flat for hands-free reading. Appointment calendars can be wire bound and tucked into the pocket of a fine leather cover using this method, then changed next year without the expense of a new cover.

JAPANESE-STYLE STRING SEWING

While Chicago screws are functional and can be fashionably industrial, Japanese-style string sewing looks timelessly elegant. A series of very small holes are drilled along the binding edge of a stack of single sheets of stock, including front and back covers. The bookbinder snakes a strong thread through one of the holes, then across to the adjacent hole, and from there around the spine of the book. A series of T-shaped stitches linked together at the drilled holes is the result, with the knot in the thread either being hidden or left exposed as a rustic feature. This is by no means an industrial strength binding, but very refined. Interesting thread can be chosen to accent the colors or textures of the cover and text stock.

PORTFOLIO CASES AND SLIPCASES

Artists, ad agencies, photographers, designers, and salespeople often want custom portfolios produced, either because they need a very specific size, or because they simply want a presentation vehicle for their work that is utterly individual, unique from start to finish. Portfolios can be made in many different styles including clamshell, or folding panels; we can use exotic fabrics, leathers, and stamping effects. They can contain pockets for loose data sheets or cards; or trays to hold matted art, video cassettes, or wine bottles, the possibilities are nearly endless.

UNUSUAL TREATMENTS OF CASE-BOUND BOOKS

Standard case bound style books can also be made visually interesting or adapted for a specific purpose in any number of ways. For example, we have produced several editions of a relatively simple case bound book for a large local laboratory, then drilled a large hole through the entire book, cloth, boards and all, and added grommets through which the lab passed a chain. This secured the book from being lost or tampered with. Fancy classically-styled books are also possible with leather spines and corners, ink-spattered edges, rounded corners, padded cases soft flexible boards, decorative, protective metal corners, etc.