February 2015 Week 4 (technically week 5) - Construction

This was a very challenging book to finish in a month.  I'm very happy with the finished result but I did run in to a few problems along the way.

My first problem (which I had thought might be the case) was sturdiness of the cut pages.

The delicate curving line and the thick diamond circle shape attached to the end of it, needed to have support.  So I attached to the back of all the coloured shape pages .005 clear acetate sheets.

After that I did put the pages under weights for a couple of days to flatten them out as much as possible.  The paper wasn't as cooperative as I would have liked it to be, and had I had more time I would have weighted all the pages for at least a couple of weeks.

But once that was done, I began constructing the book.

Materials Used:

Tunnel Block -

8 tunnel pages - 8 1/2" x 10", 1/2" fold on each side so final dimension of page is 8 1/2" x 9"

2 concertina sides - 8 1/2" x 18"

Cover

2 mat board - 8 3/4" x 9 1/4"
1 cover paper - 10" x 16"
1 end paper - 8 1/2" x 9"

Spine

1 mat board - 8 3/4" x 2 1/2"
1 cover paper - 8 3/4" x 5"

Construction:

I started with the two concertina sides.   I scored and folded two 8 1/2" x 18" sheets, mountain, valley, mountain.

Next, I attached 1/2 inch folds of each page to the concertinas, working from back to front:

I found it easiest to glue and paste one side of a page at a time, instead gluing both sides at the same time.  And although I stood the form up for the pictures, I found it very helpful to lay it flat on the table to attach the pages.

Then I continued gluing the pages into place.

Make sure you consistently space, place and glue the pages to the concertina sides evenly.

The thick paper needed to be manipulated into place.

Once I finished gluing all the pages, I cut off the excess I had on the concertina sides.  I did leave a one inch strip on each, so that I could attach a top page.

The top page is not necessary, but I felt the image needed it.

It was at this point that I did realize my error in gluing the page edges forward and not backward to the front.  So I created a fold between the purple layer and the first page.  Technically not right, but I got it to work.  If I create this book form again, I will keep that in mind.

Next I tackled the cover.  First, I measured the concertina block, to see how much I would need for the spine, 2 1/2".  (Once again, the paper was not cooperative, so it took a bit of work to get a proper measurement.)  Then I cut an additional piece of mat board, 8 3/4" x 2 1/2" for the spine.

I placed and glued the two mat board pieces and the spine on my cover paper, leaving approximately 1/8" between the pieces.

After that had a day to dry, I glued the end paper, which contains my story and the cover paper for the spine.

I also let those dry a day or so under weights, before I glued the tunnel block in place.

And here's the finished result:

The hardest part about making this book was waiting for various parts to dry.  The actual construction was not difficult.

The only thing left to do is to put the whole book under weights to help flatten out.

Tomorrow, I will be posting about the next project ' "Hedi Kyle's Diagonal Pocket Fold Book".

Till then, Happy Book Binding!

Sheila