Making an Epic Medieval Tome from Scratch

Today we're bookbinding an epic leatherbound spellbook!

MUSIC:
EpidemicSound

PARTS USED:
- Real leather (preferrably 0.5 mm thick or less - in this video: 2-2.5 mm)
- 52 sheets A3 sized paper (110 gsm)
- 2 sheets A3 black paper as end sheets (140 gsm)
- Black tea / coffee
- Linen cloth for burnishing and covering the spine
- Leather dye
- Greaseproof baking paper
- 4 mm plywood covers

TOOLS:
- Book press
- Stitching jig (or a suitable chair)
- White PVA glue (wood glue)
- Contact glue
- Thick needle
- Scissors & x-acto knife
- Stapler & hammer
- Wax for leather

Today we're making a DIY huge, leatherbound spellbook - using real leather and traditional bookbinding techniques. By using tea to stain the pages, sewing headbands and carving patterns on the cover, it really ends up looking like an "ancient", mystical fantasy book!

FOLLOW:

[julietfischer]

And this is why books were rare and expensive until mechanized binding processes were developed.

[daddyleon]

Book is made with:
- 3 parts paper
- 1 part plywood
- 1 part tea
- 1 part leather
- 20 parts glue.

[wolfheart]

"I could cook two pieces of paper at a time"
Sentences I never thought I'd hear.

[marabuora]

My mother came to me saying "I wish I could bind my own sketchbook, the ones you can buy never have the right paper I want... " Me"mum... I have something to show you"
We just finished glueing the cords and it's now resting under five dictionaries because we don't have a press. Wish me luck😂

[PuffleBuns]

That spell book is probably heavy enough to be a decent melee weapon too.

[zeldadynasty]

Mom: What are you doing?
Me: Drenching paper in tea an then baking it.
Mom: Suit yourself.

[zachhood]

*slaps spellbook*
"You can cast so many Magic Missiles with this bad boy."

[elijahmacfarland]

NerdForge sewing the headbands with the cat in her lap was absolutely adorable. I loved seeing her pause and pet her cat every few seconds.

[Layla-tdpl]

Your books could be used in movies and tv for props because they are so pretty and authentic looking!! 🤗

[mattquick]

1, I freaked out that YouTube knew I would like this despite having never watched anything like this.
2, much like a food commercial, this video makes me want to make a book. Despite knowing how horrible of an idea that is.

[ThatRandomPerson-lrgr]

Me: and how much glue do you think i will need to buy?
Nerdforge: Yes

[HoneyLemonZest]

Man, its so nice to see how her skills have improved since this video. And even in just a little over a year, she's gotten so GOOD at all her book making! Man, I just love watching and seeing her progress like this, its so awesome.

[scottboyer]

YouTube: Been looking at Skyrim videos for mages huh?
Me: Yes.
YouTube: Check out this real life spell book. Fit for any Dragonborn.

[TexasGTO]

Now find some youtubers that would be willing to pick a few pages each and decorate the pages with art. I think it would be cool to see what different "spells" and stories along with artistic drawings people would do.

[sylvie_on]

Me: *runs downstairs*
My mom: “need something?”
Me: *”I need to know how to make books”*
My mom: _”Aww, shit. Here we go again.”_

[andrewprahst]

Everyone's talking about how she soaked it in tea
No ones talking about how she sprayed it with coffee

[nicolegomez]

Not sure why this was in my recommended but GODDAMN well done YouTube, excelent choice

[trentt]

YouTube really had to take it’s sweet time to show you in my recommended, but I am OH SO GLAD IT DID.

[mvozzo]

My friends, let us have a moment of silence to honor all the brave and selfless tea bags that sacrificed themselves to bring us this book.

[GriddlockCosplay]

Hey, thanks for this tutorial. I am half-way through my first attempt, and it is going great. I am even using a chair for my jig for stitching the signatures together, too!

For reference, I soaked each piece of paper individually in the tea for 4 minutes, then baked for 8 minutes at 210F. This allowed for two in the oven and one in the tea at the same time, then I rotated them every 4 minutes; took out the dried paper, shifted the half-dried one over, and added the new one. Took only 2 hours for the 30 pieces I'm using.