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Crafts Printing a custom bible

Serving Zion

Serving Zion

Member
Since my bible was stolen last year, I've had a constant chore to replace it. Well today is a very special day! Today I printed the third revision on my own printer and it is ready for sewing:

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I was really excited yesterday because I had just set up my guillotines but today's the day I get to show them off ?

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Now I just have to find the right thread so I can get to work stitching it up... Good fun! ?
 
Barbarian said:
Wow. Then all you need to do is learn bindery and build covers. I'm impressed.
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I'm looking forward to it! (https://www.youtube.com/c/BookbindersChronicle) although I'm still trying to work out what to do about the cover as you say, which I haven't found any help for specifically. I'm wanting to finish it with a nice soft cover (flexible) and it has to be vegan - I won't be using leather. So I'll be visiting the Emporium soon :)
 
Avoid anything with polyurethane; it looks very nice, but in a decade or two, it ages badly. What you're making is potentially an heirloom. It deserves better.

Zoa bioleather is a material made from a form of yeast that produces collagen (the fibers that make leather tough and flexible) It's completely vegan. There are other alternatives as well. Can't speak for any of them, but I do know that polyurethane often cracks and deteriorates.
 
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Barbarian said:
Avoid anything with polyurethane; it looks very nice, but in a decade or two, it ages badly. What you're making is potentially an heirloom. It deserves better.

Zoa bioleather is a material made from a form of yeast that produces collagen (the fibers that make leather tough and flexible) It's completely vegan. There are other alternatives as well. Can't speak for any of them, but I do know that polyurethane often cracks and deteriorates.
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I think I found what you mean:

That looks like polyurethane to me and I've seen books like that, they don't last long at all. I also found a sort of polyvinyl fake leather getting all tatty on the folds:

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I was thinking of the idea of reusing a folder, and so I bought that burgundy one you see because it is leather but it is quite untidy I think nobody would want it, so it's a way of making the most of it. I still wouldn't want to be showing off with leather though, so I am tending toward this scrap of (polyurethane?) Threaded cloth that I got from a factory that makes shade sails:

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I think it's quite nice and the idea I have is to use some thin cork instead of a rigid board and that way to have a flexible, soft cover.
 
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Barbarian said:
That might be a good way to go. We'll be expecting pictures of your progress.
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Progress would have been much quicker if the shops had not run out of awls! .. three days later I have had to make my own:
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So, I am ready to stitch it up now! ?

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Back to basics...

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I was hoping the electronic paper cutter would do the job. Turns out it's too thick for it. Still surprised its' actually quite a good result!

 
This thread saddens me. My mother was a professional bookbinder who passed away 18 years ago. She did beautiful work using the finest leather, end papers, and gold leaf; quite a few of her bindings are in museums, including MOMA. One of my favorite possessions is a Bible that she bound for me a number of years ago. I also have her antique book press in my office, with a binding-in-progress of "Notes on Joseph Conrad" by Josef Symons, as well as a few of her tools.
 
jaybo said:
This thread saddens me. My mother was a professional bookbinder who passed away 18 years ago. She did beautiful work using the finest leather, end papers, and gold leaf; quite a few of her bindings are in museums, including MOMA. One of my favorite possessions is a Bible that she bound for me a number of years ago. I also have her antique book press in my office, with a binding-in-progress of "Notes on Joseph Conrad" by Josef Symons, as well as a few of her tools.
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I am sorry to bring up those memories jaybo. There is nothing that can make up for a mother's love lost.


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Truthfrees said:
very interesting - thanks for sharing - you said your bible - do you mean your translation/version?
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It's the Lexham English version with some alterations. I have replaced every instance of "Yahweh" with "Adonai" and a few minor tweaks to the punctuation and grammar mostly. One or two relatively major changes, but overall I have found it to be quite reliable.
 
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It's a bit unconventional to have black edges, but I wasn't sure what colour would go well with the grey cover material ☺️

Bibles are usually treated with gold or silver leaf foil, and the process is extremely delicate because the gold leaf is so thin it is nearly as light as air. The purpose of foiling is to prevent moisture getting into the paper through the edges and causing the pages to buckle over time. The cheaper and easier way to seal the edges is to paint them, and I had four choices of paint in my cupboards: gloss black spray paint, gloss white spray paint, gloss clear spray paint or red brush on water based paint.

Can't wait to see if the pages will actually open up after this! ???
 
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Wish I'd been just a little bit more careful about the overspray!

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Note for future reference: glue the end sheets before trimming!

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The "Tower of Bible"! ☺️
 
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