Small booklet stapler

Based on a simular one seen in my fathers printing workshop (made of cast iron) have I intented to make one for my daughter. She like to make and drawing in small booklets. It is made from part from an on the shelf stampler, aluminium tubes, some 3D printed parts and a stick of wood.

It is cabable of stapl booklets made of paper sheets up to the size of A3

The outcome ended up looking as seen below:

Looks good, no need to redesign something that works when you can just use different materials and modern manufacturing methods.

I have never had enough need for something like this so I use the felt method. Place the sheets down on a thick enough layer of strong felt, open the stapler out and use it to put the staples through the fold and into the felt. This does not fold the ends over so you just do that part by hand with a steel rule. Some carpet types also work instead of felt. Not good enough for professional results but fine for the odd personal job.

Martin C

I bought a Sparco Long Reach Stapler (Amazon have them **) years ago to go with a booklet printer (ClickBook) that lets me print documents double-sided, 4 pages to a sheet and fold over to make the booklet. Amongst many other formats.

The stapler will actually go to (up to) the centre of a 24" sheet.

More power to Soee for making his own. These devices can be very handy at times.

** I initially included the link to the Amazon listing but it included a lot of undecipherable data and I was afraid (since I have an Amazon account) that it might have included my account data. Gotta watch this stuff.

Edited By Peter Greene 🇨🇦 on 18/02/2023 17:23:22

The Sparco Long Reach Stapler suggested by Peter doesn't seem too be sold in the UK.

Google finds several breeds and suppliers, priced from £5 to £40 (ish) catering from around 10 to around 50 sheets. Need to make sure you can easily get the right size staples if you indulge in one tho'.

Being made to work with the booklet flat they won't work well as the professional cast iron one Soee copied or as well as his lighter duty version.

It's rather harder to get things properly aligned for folding when stapled flat. Pre-folded sheets laid on a Vee are easier to align. Pre folding is essential if thicker booklets are to work well. 10 sheets are about as many as can easily be assembled on the flat and folded after stapling. 15 is possible but likely to need practice. I'm told more can be done neatly by the seriously skilled. I managed 15 when I had access to a long reach one but it all came out a bit messy.

For my own, very rare purposes, I use Martins felt method with an ordinary stapler opened out. Had I realised how inexpensive these things have gotten I'd have splurged a fiver or two. Back in the day when only pukka office suppliers had them they weren't cheap!

Clive

We used to use these in school they were supplied via the approved schools supplier ESPO

Hi, like Peter Greene, I bought a long reach one some twenty years or so ago, where from? well Staples of course.

They still sell them, albeit a different model, but mine does the same amount of pages. Log Arm Stapler

I can see the advantage of the one above with the "V" guides, as like Clive says, it can be tricky to get the staples in the correct place, but mine does have an adjustable back-stop to help.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 18/02/2023 21:32:31

I actually found it on both the Canadian and UK Amazon sites. I originally posted a link to the Amazon.co.uk listing but as I said:

" ** I initially included the link to the Amazon listing but it included a lot of undecipherable data and I was afraid (since I have an Amazon account) that it might have included my account data."

Done "properly", do the pages have to get narrower from the middle of the booklet so as to avoid a vee at the edge?

Hi ega, I've found it easier to print the pages on paper wider than needed and then trim them to size after they have been stapled together and folded.

Regards Nick.

ega is correct in saying that the pages have to get narrower towards the middle if the booklet is to have a square edge. One reason why proper bound books are done in several individually bound sections subsequently bound to the spine is to make such cutting easily practical. Simple glued spines, like paperbacks, don't have that issue. But they don't last well.

Cutting the edges to make a neat book after binding, as Nicholas does, is normal practice. But Inspector Meticulous may quibble that the text and picture blocks are not in exactly the same place on all pages. They get closer to the edge as you move towards the centre. The program I have kicking around on my Mac for turning sheet organised pdfs and text into booklets has an optional correction function allegedly able to shift the texts and picture blocks so they are the same distance from the edge on all pages. One of the (many) refinements I've never got working. Like so many simple, just works well enough programs, it got too clever for its own good around the third upgrade!

Clive

Ironic that they are "perfect bound"!

I was donated a long-arm stapler from an office clearout years ago and it is really useful for the odd instruction manual and things like that, to save paper. Elegance of binding not an issue! However, its simple guide is not very effective - tends to slip and does nothing to keep the paper square.

This thread had been useful in prompting me to think about a 3D-printed guide to both clamp to the "long arm" more securely and to act to keep the paper square. Thanks!

Hi, hence two at least of my camera instruction manuals look like the one in the photo below.

Regards Nick.

Nick, it's quite time-consuming but you can turn any perfect-bound book into a section-sewn book if you really want.

It's done by "guarding" pairs of leaves together in the correct sequence using strips of bank paper or Japanese tissue to make whatever sized sections you've decided on and then sewing these together like an ordinary section sewn book. If you're careful you can space the pairs of leaves on the guards in such a way that when several pairs are folded round into a section the text at the fore-edge all lines up, more or less. Whether you choose to trim after sewing is up to you.

The main difficulty in doing this to a perfect-bound book is reducing "swell" at the spine caused by all the guards being folded on top of one another. You need to avoid a spine profile that is over-round and a fore-edge that is excessively concave.

Before sewing books that have been heavily guarded or have very many thin sections, bookbinders use hammers and then long periods of pressing in a nipping or standing press to reduce swell. More hammering typically takes place after sewing as well.

.

At a guess, this one: **LINK**

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sparco-Stapler-Capacity-Standard-SPR01316/dp/B001B0GWKU

MichaelG.

.

P.S. the undecipherable data typically tells ‘them’ how you reached the page.

Hi Bill Phinn, I've seen that being done on The Repair Shop TV series, but with 194 pages, I don't wish to spend the time and money on a booklet that is used infrequently when it can just be popped into a grip seal poly bag to stop all the loose pages getting lost or creased and torn.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 20/02/2023 08:32:29

For anything thats A4, or close, I buy the cheap transparent punched pockets, shove the pages in and stuff in a ring binder. Last lot of pockets were "5 Star" breed, the thin ones with a rough surface, which were remarkably good value for 5 boxes of 100.

I also use them to double the capacity of ME and MEW binders. Junk the wires and wire holders. Bolt a thin U section to the "spine", U needs to be a couple of mm narrower, and fix three suitable diameter cross tubes to hold the pockets via the round holes. I use kunifer brake pipe 'cos I had most of a roll left over from a car job way back. Self tap the ends by force driving screws in. Got a baccy tin fulls worth of "right size" screws in a bargain box from Mr Whistons famous Cat-a-Log mumble-mumble years ago. Getting low so I need to measure the size before I run out.

I use about 30 pockets per binder, so I have room for indexes and some spares, and call it good.

Complete set of ME since 1970 ish and all the MEW issues in binders need serious shelf space. Even when doubled up. Now I need a good use for all the spare wires!

The punched pockets are great for oily finger proof manuals too. Modern factory "run it on a computer" manuals are a pain out on the drive. Print outs are so much easier to handle. Big tho'. RAVE for my Range Rover P38 needs about a yard of shelf!

The spiral bound, notebook style, pockets are useful for smaller things. Pricy tho'. I picked up a bunch in 20, 30 & 40 pocket sizes when the local W H Smiths had silly price clearance sale. Bought 8 all told, used 3 and more than broke even. The spares will come in. Eventually.

Clive

Thanks, Michael, that's the one. As far as the undecipherable data goes, I couldn't find any way of positively determining whether or not it contains identifying data. It seems that Amazon already "knows me" on every computer in the house (which is quite a few). Scary (the Amazon thing not the number of computers )

Peter,

That stuff is obviously decipherable by those that have the key … but to the world at large, it’s just noise.

If you take my version of the link, and compare it with yours, you should see the point at which the tracking code begins [there is often, but not always, a question-mark] … So if you copy the full URL, and then cut all the dross, you should have the simple address.

Hope that makes sense

MichaelG.

Firstly thanks for some interesting comments!

Regarding repairing or making small series of paperback book.

I remember following from my time working in my fathers printing workshop as teenager in the early to mid 90ties.

Clap the stack of loos paper sheets it is intended to transform into a booklet with what is becoming to be its back, so it has an overhang of approximately 50mm of a table edge.

Bend the overhang down and role with a circular shaped brush bookbinding glue one the back, bend the overhang up and repeat the rolling motion of adding of glue. This will secure that there comes 1 to 2mm of glue in between the searched glued paper sheets!

Bend the stack back to it initial position and glue now a band of gauze to the back.

After the bookbinding glue is dry, trim the gauze so it fits the size of the back and if you are making more books in one go separate them with a knife (do not use a too shape one to avoid that it cuts into the paper sheets instead of separating them)

It is now time to add the cover. Prebend it so it fits the back of the book and add two extra bends in the opposite direction approximately 5mm from these! This will help to get the glue a bit around the corner of the back and help avoiding that the glue is broken when the book is opened by its user!

If something more resilient solution is searched, without going all the way to stitching, a book can also be composed out of a stack of stapled booklets (now we are almost back to where I started 😊). The trick is here to let the staples have its ends outwards and shift there positions so two booklets on top of each other not have their staples directly on top of each other. Your stack of booklets is then clamped and glued in the same way as described above!

PS for the reorganization of pages when a book or book let is searched made; a program such as CutePDF will be a great help! **LINK**

Soee