Tuesday, January 29, 2013

DIY Book Press

Tomes are some of the most difficult Lovecraftian props because of the sheer amount of work required to craft even a small one. First you have to gather or create all the artwork and text. Then you have to do the hard part- bind it. If you've ever tried mounting a text block you'll appreciate this amazingly clever tutorial from "SeaLemonDIY" for making a quick and dirty book press. Given the prices of even small professional presses it's a real bargain for anyone looking to experiment with bookbinding.

It's also a particularly useful tool for propmakers. The only way to realistically age the edge of a text block is to clamp it down and then physically weather the pages as a whole. Weathering each page individually and then binding them together isn't nearly as effective. The first approach gives you even, realistic usage wear. The second invariably looks like a stack of deckled paper because of the uneven, ragged pages.

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