r/bookbinding • u/agbevan • 1d ago
Practising Endbands - tips/tricks??
attempts 1&2
attempts 3&4
attemps 5&6
looking to practise endbands
I took an old paperback (silence of the lambs) and sliced off each effort. Using what i have lying around i tried some Mouline embroidery floss and some Guterman Poly Thread. with cores of leather, doubled leather, string (waxed) and 3d printer filament.
happy with my efforts so far, lots more practice needed before attempting on a proper project.
I was curious if anyone had other ways of practicing that didn't involve hacking up old books? (not that i mind too much doing that).
5
u/soggyhuman I love headbands 1d ago
Judging from the 6th one, the one thing that continues being a problem is that you're not pushing the threads together. You can stil see some of the core behind the threads.
But it's way better than your previous ones.
As for practice, I've only ever practiced while binding books. I don't mind the imperfections that come from learning. But if it's a problem for you, the other comments have great suggestions.
1
u/agbevan 15h ago
Yes, I found, especially with the thin embroidery thread and the floppy leather, keeping the loops together very difficult, switching to a thicker thread and stiffer cords helped a lot.
1
u/soggyhuman I love headbands 5h ago
I don't think the solution you should be looking for is looking for thicker thread. Some very good silk thread for headbands are very thin, and they look great.
This is just my opinion, of course, but I think any thicker than the one on your last images look kinda bulky and a bit ugly. But that's a matter of taste. The other problem with thick thread is that it gets very hard or even impossible to do other types of headbands, such as a french double core or a italian renaissance headband.
3
u/Impressive-Bricks 1d ago
Those are getting nice! And hacking up old books is a very sensible way to go about it. Though when you are ready to give it an earnest spin i'd strongly recommend a hand stitched block because your threads down into the block won't bite well with a glued block. Also I found german capitals easy to place (I don't know if this translates well lol) - you get a strip of leather similar to your final image, but you put a 45°ish edge on top, the spineward side being the long one. Then you glue the spineward side onto a strip of 50g paper, upper edge flush, 3-5cm of paper below. Glue that to your spine so your leather strip lies on top of your block and the band won't be escaping. Do that with a hand-stitched block and you got a really solid headband.
5
u/brigitvanloggem 1d ago edited 1d ago
A traditional way to learn is to create standalone endbands, which you then glue on just like shop-bought ones. And I know binders with decades of experience who still do that, not to practise but for real.
Your base is simply a short strip of mull with a piece of string glued on with PVA: fold the mull over the string and work tight with your fingernail and/or bone folder and hey presto: a core. Use tape to attach it to a wooden book block or use a tiny table vise as I showed in a recent post here.
2
u/MeepTheChangeling 22h ago
I've been making mine by taking a piece of jute cord and using that as the core, making use of the two-needles method to sew it on using the existing binding holes, and using the previous stitch into the paper as a "anchor" of sorts to make the next stitch pull the band to the spine.
As for practicing them... I just accepted my first few books will have slightly wonk headbands. After 4 books, I've gotten good enough at it where I doubt anyone would think anything other than "oh cool, that's hand made."
That said, if you DO want to practice, you could do a service to school children everywhere and practice exclusively on copies of the Great Gatsby.
14
u/TremulousHand 1d ago
A friend took a workshop where they used pieces of bookboard. Use a thick awl to poke a tight series of evenly spaced holes a half inch from the top of the book board. Then just sew your endbands across the top of the board as if it is the spine of your book.