[tt] [FoRK] Book guillotining - spine removal for amateurs

[Eugen Leitl]

----- Forwarded message from Ken Meltsner <meltsner at alum.mit.edu> -----

From: Ken Meltsner <meltsner at alum.mit.edu>
Date: Sun, 14 Oct 2007 13:19:55 -0500
To: Friends of Rohit Khare <fork at xent.com>
Subject: Re: [FoRK] Book guillotining - spine removal for amateurs
Reply-To: Friends of Rohit Khare <fork at xent.com>

On 10/14/07, Stephen D. Williams <sdw at lig.net> wrote:
> I have only found two solutions: industrial print shop machines that are
> too expensive and large or using a band saw.
> Are there any other reasonable methods?

I liked Vernor Vinge's book shredder/massive computation approach in
Rainbow's End.  It's not practical yet, but he envisioned shredding
entire libraries, and using lots of images of the shreds, along with
appropriate software, to reconstruct the pages.

In the real world, this operation is called "debinding."  I've sent
out books to have this done (a place near DC, although I don't recall
the name).  The giant industrial paper shear is probably the easiest
method, and just about any printer should be able to do it for you,
possibly for a few bucks per book (in bulk).  The shear's best since
there's a massive clamp to hold the book in place, and there's
essentially no kerf loss.

A band saw with a medium blade might work -- the kerf's  (cut
thickness) not too wide unless you get a big green wood resaw blade.
I'd use two "cauls" (clamping bars), possibly 1x2" on edge or steel
box beams*, along with appropriate fasteners to hold the book together
while sawing.  Paper drilling experience leads me to think some sort
of wax might be a good lubricant if you don't think it will cause
problems when scanning.

The other way to debind books uses appropriate chemical or thermal
treatments to get rid of the glue (depends on the book's age and
binding method).   Heat and steam will soften most modern glues.  I
don't know whether anyone used hide glue for books in the old days,
but pure alcohol will crystallize it (or heat should soften it).  Once
the glue is gone, the pages will be loose or you'll have sewn
signatures that can be dissassembled but cutting the threads.

A quick Google search for book debinding found some interesting hits
as well, including:

http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/bookarts/1999/11/msg00156.html

*The beams will tend to bow and won't hold the center very well.  If
you're using wood, you could cut a slight arc or add a thin shim in
the center to balance out the bowing.  If the book's binding margin is
big enough, you could drill a hole in the center for another bolt.



Ken Meltsner
Your helpful book destroying handyman
> Does anyone have experience using a band saw on books?  What type of
> blade works best?  Besides possibly taping the book together, what other
> clamping or similar measures might help?  Am I going to need a certain
> horsepower?
>
> I just need a reasonable edge to allow high volume ADF scanning.  That
> part I have covered.
>
> I'm also wondering about the feasibility of using an OPC laptop as a
> book reader.  The advantage there over something like the Sony Reader is
> search capability, possibly better bookmarking, site management, notes,
> and maybe even collaboration at some point.  The advantage over a normal
> or mini laptop should be toughness, low cost, and extended battery life.
>
> I have a huge library that I need to drastically reduce, and much of it
> I don't really want to just part with if I can help it.
>
> sdw
>
> Stephen D. Williams wrote:
> > ...
> > The idea of guillotining and scanning a book is interesting,
> > especially since I have the perfect scanner and software.  I haven't
> > found a reasonable way to guillotine a book yet.  Perhaps a local
> > print shop will do it cheaply.  There are a bunch of old, marginal
> > books that I could see myself converting that way.
> > ...
> >
> >
>
> --
> swilliams at hpti.com http://www.hpti.com Per: sdw at lig.net http://sdw.st
> Stephen D. Williams 703-371-9362C 703-995-0407Fax 20147 AIM: sdw
>
>
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Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
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