As much as I enjoy working with Japanese papers, when it comes to the books I use at work I like a workhorse — something I can toss in my backpack without worrying about it. I like a paper with a good tooth; a spine I can open wide (if not flat); and not too many pages, because I like to use one book per project.

For this set I used slate-colored Iris bookcloth I purchased ages ago from Talas, both for the covers and for the paste-down inside. The paper is Mohawk Superfine, and in a soft white eggshell finish around 118gsm. I only had 10 sheets so each book has 5 sections with 4 folios each, for 80 pages; each book is around 6-1/4″ wide by 9-3/4″ high.

I remember now that I had bought more than usual of the bookcloth with the idea of Gocco-ing or block printing something on the covers. For this batch I’m happy with the pristine gray, but I might experiment more with that idea later.

A few years ago I had a 19-year-old coworker who had an appreciation for the handmade, and was building his own electric car. In exchange for two large photo albums, he made me these excellent steel weights. The larger one is 8″ by 5″ by 1″ thick, and weighs about 12 pounds. The smaller one is 6″ by 3″ by 1″ thick, and weighs about 7 pounds.

I got along for a long time just weighting things down with stacks of heavy books, but the steel weights are so much easier to deal with and look so good, they are probably my favorite tools. I wish I had another set!

OK, bookbinders: what’s your favorite tool?

For those who are curious, this is my setup for photographing books and other small items. Our condo has south-facing windows with wide sills, so I tape a sheet of cardstock to the wall, drape it onto a cardboard box, then drape a second sheet of cardstock to the sill. The box raises the book to a level height with the tripod (which is a small, table-top version):

Often the light is diffused nicely by fog in the morning, and very little post-processing work in Photoshop is required — occasionally I need to add a curve layer to lighten things up. But I have a short window of time in which to get set up and shoot before the fog burns off and the sun comes through.

Maybe some of you despaired that this day would ever come, but fear not: I haven’t given up on bookbinding. It was just a hiatus.

I had cut out all the pieces for this book (and several others) some time ago — probably near the end of 2009 — and then never assembled them. It was so long ago that I forgot what I had planned to do with each set of pieces, and I’d forgotten some of the processes that used to come naturally. So this book was a big relearning experience.

The sewing is an old standby, the long stitch and link stitch binding from Keith Smith’s Non-Adhesive Bindings Volume 1. This was actually my first oops moment: I drilled the holes, then realized I had meant this to be a photo album with only four sections — the sewing uses two sections per each set of stations. Fortunately I had more Mohawk Bristol Drawing paper and was able to come up with four more sections. So now it’s a sketch book instead of a photo album. Sometimes you just have to roll with things.

The final size is 9-1/2″ wide by 7-1/2″ high by 1-1/2″ thick, with 96 pages. The cover is a matte Chiyogami paper from The Paper Place, with Asahi bookcloth on the spine.

To finish up Case Bound Book Week—and January! already!—I have an old classic. I first paired this paper and bookcloth on wedding photo album for a coworker several years ago, and since then it’s been a favorite of mine.

The book is 5-1/2″ wide and 8-1/2″ high and about 5/8″ thick, with six sections of Mohawk Superfine 100lb paper (4 folios per section) for a total of 96 pages.

When The Paper Place came online last year, I was in paper heaven. It took a lot of restraint for me not to order everything. But I succumbed to a lot anyway. (This one is Chiyogami 647.)

The book is 5-1/2″ wide and 8-1/2″ high and about 5/8″ thick, with six sections of Mohawk Superfine 100lb paper (4 folios per section) for a total of 96 pages.

This one is a bit different for me. I originally bought the Chiyogami paper intending it for use as the inside of book covers, but with the red it reminded me of an old book so I went for it on the cover instead.

The book is 5-1/2″ wide and 8-1/2″ high and about 5/8″ thick, with six sections of Mohawk Superfine 100lb paper (4 folios per section) for a total of 96 pages.

I bought three full sheets of this paper several years ago at Kozo Arts, but no one ever seems to like it as much as I did. I still like it though. Playful and handsome at the same time.

Kozo Arts was a store on Union Street that sold handmade photo albums and journals and a selection of Chiyogami papers. They expanded to a second store in the Westfield Mall when it first opened, after we moved here, which was awesome because it was a lot easier to get to than the Union Street store—but I don’t think it was open for even a year. Last year they finally expanded to sell online, and I actually ordered paper from them rather than take the bus out there, but when I went to get the link for this blog post I saw the notice that they’ve closed the store. Disappointing.

The book is 5-1/2″ wide and 8-1/2″ high and about 5/8″ thick, with six sections of Mohawk Superfine 100lb paper (4 folios per section) for a total of 96 pages.

Book number three is using another new geometric paper. Next to the teal one, this is probably my favorite. If I filled more than one journal every two years, I’d keep it!

The book is 5-1/2″ wide and 8-1/2″ high and about 5/8″ thick, with six sections of Mohawk Superfine 100lb paper (4 folios per section) for a total of 96 pages.

Book number two is covered with an old favorit a calligraphic script, also from The Paper Place. I’ve used this a number of times for photo albums and I like its elegance. It’s a pretty good “Man Paper” (because my boss sometimes chides me for having too many flowery papers).

The book is 5-1/2″ wide and 8-1/2″ high and about 5/8″ thick, with six sections of Mohawk Superfine 100lb paper (4 folios per section) for a total of 96 pages.