[Wilshire]

I love leatherbound books. There is nothing quite like having your favorite book re-cased in a nice leather binding with fancy foil stamped letters. Unfortunately, it proves to be an expensive endeavor, or at least getting it done professionally is. I've had a few books done, for myself and as gifts, but to get all 10+ of Malazan would be more than I could ever hope to afford. So, with that, I decided I'd look into cheaper alternatives. As it turns out, the rebinding process, especially for books that started out as hardcover, is pretty simple. Just a bit of cutting and glueing, with some know-how, will get you to where you want to be at a fraction of the cost.

However, there is still one cost I have yet to find a work-around for, and that is the hot-stamping process of pressing the letters into the cover. I have a local bindery in my area that would let me use their machine for an acceptable fee, but the process making the stamp (aka the 'die') is still more expensive than I'd like.

I'm wondering if anyone is aware of a cheaper way to make the die. Currently, I'd have to find a company and pay them to machine a die out of some kind of metal (likely magnesium). I was hoping that there was an even cheaper material that could be used to stamp so few copies (i.e. 1, for myself), since the magnesium plate is really meant for short-run applications which entail about 1000-3000 prints.

If anyone has any idea what I'm talking about and could offer any advice, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

[Nicodimas]

No knowledge on this subject, just wanted to add how cool this sounds!!

[Wolfdrop]

I considered this once for malazan/second apocalypse, contacted a few bookbinders but never followed it up.

Many libraries and universities have access to a whole bunch of contacts about these things. From fancy thesis/dissertation covers and and bindings to full leather covers and restorations of old books, I'm sure you could get some good information from them. Buckram may be a cheaper option if you're intent on the foil writing.

Contacting a local/university library might not be a bad idea regarding 1 off stamping, no doubt they have this done when rebinding old books etc. Perhaps they'd let you add yours in with their next batch for a fee? You never know until you ask.


Here's the link to the bookbinders nearest me, their websites got a lot of information, hopefully you'll find something of use!


www.dadbookbinders.com

This post has been edited by Wolfdrop: 21 December 2014 - 09:20 PM

[Wilshire]

Thats a good idea. I'll do some searching. We have some prestigious universities around here that have some awesome public workshops available, so they may be willing to help me out.

If I were entirely honest, I would have said that I was trying to do the PoN trilogy as well, and that the stamp in question was the original Rankine cover art (with the english text removed). However, if I can get TDTCB done, everything else I attempt should be easy.


For the Malazan series, I would probably have a friend of my calligraphy (calligraph?) the titles of the Malazan series, and have that stamped onto each cover of each. But I'm still open for suggestions .

[Wolfdrop]

That sounds awesome!

The Rankine cover art is the editions I have in paperback, great style for the series, gives the impression of a foreign scripture of some sort!

[cerveza_fiesta]

Wilshire, on 21 December 2014 - 08:35 PM, said:

I love leatherbound books. There is nothing quite like having your favorite book re-cased in a nice leather binding with fancy foil stamped letters. Unfortunately, it proves to be an expensive endeavor, or at least getting it done professionally is. I've had a few books done, for myself and as gifts, but to get all 10+ of Malazan would be more than I could ever hope to afford. So, with that, I decided I'd look into cheaper alternatives. As it turns out, the rebinding process, especially for books that started out as hardcover, is pretty simple. Just a bit of cutting and glueing, with some know-how, will get you to where you want to be at a fraction of the cost.

However, there is still one cost I have yet to find a work-around for, and that is the hot-stamping process of pressing the letters into the cover. I have a local bindery in my area that would let me use their machine for an acceptable fee, but the process making the stamp (aka the 'die') is still more expensive than I'd like.

I'm wondering if anyone is aware of a cheaper way to make the die. Currently, I'd have to find a company and pay them to machine a die out of some kind of metal (likely magnesium). I was hoping that there was an even cheaper material that could be used to stamp so few copies (i.e. 1, for myself), since the magnesium plate is really meant for short-run applications which entail about 1000-3000 prints.

If anyone has any idea what I'm talking about and could offer any advice, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

for low repetition use, you could probably get away with any acceptably hard metal. Maybe one of the various tool steels? W1, O1 steel come annealed and precision ground to various dimensions that would suit die making (onlinemetals.com). The annealed tool steel can be easily machined and then hardened / tempered after machining before you put it in the press.

An alternative to tool steel if precision grind is not required is to just hit up your local truck spring repair shop. Flat-springs are a nice dimension to work from (usually 3 inch wide by 3/8 thick) and has a lot of carbon in it, meaning it can be annealed / tempered in much the same way as tool steel. An all-time favourite of blade makers, and they'll probably give you a few chunks of broken springs for free.

If you want intricate designs, you'll probably need a shop that has CNC machines and a drafting staff to take your drawings and convert to tool-paths for the CNC to follow.

[Shiara]

Have you considered getting a die 3D printed, eg. Shapeways.com?

[cerveza_fiesta]

3D printing makes plastic stuff -- not sure if that would be hard enough for the application.

[The Unfound]

cerveza_fiesta, on 14 January 2015 - 07:12 PM, said:

Wilshire, on 21 December 2014 - 08:35 PM, said:

I love leatherbound books. There is nothing quite like having your favorite book re-cased in a nice leather binding with fancy foil stamped letters. Unfortunately, it proves to be an expensive endeavor, or at least getting it done professionally is. I've had a few books done, for myself and as gifts, but to get all 10+ of Malazan would be more than I could ever hope to afford. So, with that, I decided I'd look into cheaper alternatives. As it turns out, the rebinding process, especially for books that started out as hardcover, is pretty simple. Just a bit of cutting and glueing, with some know-how, will get you to where you want to be at a fraction of the cost.

However, there is still one cost I have yet to find a work-around for, and that is the hot-stamping process of pressing the letters into the cover. I have a local bindery in my area that would let me use their machine for an acceptable fee, but the process making the stamp (aka the 'die') is still more expensive than I'd like.

I'm wondering if anyone is aware of a cheaper way to make the die. Currently, I'd have to find a company and pay them to machine a die out of some kind of metal (likely magnesium). I was hoping that there was an even cheaper material that could be used to stamp so few copies (i.e. 1, for myself), since the magnesium plate is really meant for short-run applications which entail about 1000-3000 prints.

If anyone has any idea what I'm talking about and could offer any advice, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

for low repetition use, you could probably get away with any acceptably hard metal. Maybe one of the various tool steels? W1, O1 steel come annealed and precision ground to various dimensions that would suit die making (onlinemetals.com). The annealed tool steel can be easily machined and then hardened / tempered after machining before you put it in the press.

An alternative to tool steel if precision grind is not required is to just hit up your local truck spring repair shop. Flat-springs are a nice dimension to work from (usually 3 inch wide by 3/8 thick) and has a lot of carbon in it, meaning it can be annealed / tempered in much the same way as tool steel. An all-time favourite of blade makers, and they'll probably give you a few chunks of broken springs for free.

If you want intricate designs, you'll probably need a shop that has CNC machines and a drafting staff to take your drawings and convert to tool-paths for the CNC to follow.

If the shop has Solidworks and a program called Esprit it would take long at all to generate the program

[Wilshire]

Wow, thanks for the responses. Missed the conversation I need to spend some time checking out all the links.

The tool steel seems like an interesting idea, but I'm not sure how or where to go about getting it machined and then annealed once its done. I'm certainly open to the idea, but would love some direction...
I'm not sure what pressures are required, but the temperature range is something like 250-350F.

3D printing likely won't work, since I doubt the plastics would be able to withstand the heat, and event then might not have the same heat dispersion properties as metals.

A CNC shop would certainly be required, the artwork is pretty complex and precision is extremely important to me.
I have no idea how I might go about finding such a place. Any ideas that might send me in the right direction?


I have spent a decent amount of time looking at dedicated die makers, and have found that the cheapest quotes to be around $100 for a 1/4 inch thick, 8x5 inch, deep-etched, magnesium die. That would be the total price after everything was said and done.
Would anything that was suggest above come in under that price?

[Raizen]

cerveza_fiesta, on 14 January 2015 - 07:12 PM, said:

Wilshire, on 21 December 2014 - 08:35 PM, said:

I love leatherbound books. There is nothing quite like having your favorite book re-cased in a nice leather binding with fancy foil stamped letters. Unfortunately, it proves to be an expensive endeavor, or at least getting it done professionally is. I've had a few books done, for myself and as gifts, but to get all 10+ of Malazan would be more than I could ever hope to afford. So, with that, I decided I'd look into cheaper alternatives. As it turns out, the rebinding process, especially for books that started out as hardcover, is pretty simple. Just a bit of cutting and glueing, with some know-how, will get you to where you want to be at a fraction of the cost.

However, there is still one cost I have yet to find a work-around for, and that is the hot-stamping process of pressing the letters into the cover. I have a local bindery in my area that would let me use their machine for an acceptable fee, but the process making the stamp (aka the 'die') is still more expensive than I'd like.

I'm wondering if anyone is aware of a cheaper way to make the die. Currently, I'd have to find a company and pay them to machine a die out of some kind of metal (likely magnesium). I was hoping that there was an even cheaper material that could be used to stamp so few copies (i.e. 1, for myself), since the magnesium plate is really meant for short-run applications which entail about 1000-3000 prints.

If anyone has any idea what I'm talking about and could offer any advice, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

for low repetition use, you could probably get away with any acceptably hard metal. Maybe one of the various tool steels? W1, O1 steel come annealed and precision ground to various dimensions that would suit die making (onlinemetals.com). The annealed tool steel can be easily machined and then hardened / tempered after machining before you put it in the press.

An alternative to tool steel if precision grind is not required is to just hit up your local truck spring repair shop. Flat-springs are a nice dimension to work from (usually 3 inch wide by 3/8 thick) and has a lot of carbon in it, meaning it can be annealed / tempered in much the same way as tool steel. An all-time favourite of blade makers, and they'll probably give you a few chunks of broken springs for free.

If you want intricate designs, you'll probably need a shop that has CNC machines and a drafting staff to take your drawings and convert to tool-paths for the CNC to follow.

I wonder if hard metal like that would work properly if the standard metals used in stamping are copper and magnesium?

[Wilshire]

Looks like a post I thought I made didn't make it through.

To sum it up:

Standard materials typically used in hot-foil stamping are: magnesium, copper, brass, and tool steel (and maybe some silicons but I don't know anything about that).

Magnesium is said to be cheaper and it only lasts about 1000 imprints

Copper is about 8x

Steel about 15x

brass is somewhere between cobber and steel

[Wilshire]

Anyone located in, or near, Northamptonshire England? It would seem that some of the best quality goatskin leather comes from Harmatan Leather, located in the above mentioned area. Wondering if anyone could perchance scope out the place, see if they are charging less in-store or upcharging a ton for shipping. I'd pay, say, 1/2 the difference in cost to you if it ends up being cheaper

This post has been edited by Wilshire: 28 January 2015 - 09:05 PM