Finally Found A5 Paper. Now To Bind My Own Paperback Books
A while back, I went looking for A5 paper (about half a "normal" American sheet in size if you didn't know) and came up empty. At the time, pretty much no one had a reasonably priced option. I have a hard time paying $20+ for 250 sheets of ordinary paper.
Anyway, one of the sites that came up as a decent source of A4 paper recently started stocking A5 and dropped me a note. It's still like $8 a ream, but, apparently, that dropped it below my unwillingness threshold because I ordered 3 reams.
They came today, which means that I'm pretty much equipped for the project I wanted the paper for in the first place. An article from back in May detailed how to do your own paperback book binding without the complicated equipment, sewing needles, etc. A similar article shows another simple setup (though with a simple jig instead of the basic clips).
Beyond the fact that I just like the idea of messing with bookbinding because I like books (even if I more aggressively use them than some others do), it's a handy way to put together little reference books, poetry, short stories, etc. I probably won't do any binding until this weekend, but I can think of a few things worth compiling into documents for printing this way.
October 18th, 2006 at 6:36 am
I did some hunting around myself looking for half sheet A5 paper and had about the same experience. My wife is an actress and recommended a solution I hadn't thought of - ask your local copy center to cut down a standard letter size ream. She always has to trim down the paper she uses for resumes so they will staple cleanly to a 8"x10" photo and that is how she does it.
If you buy the paper from the copy center, they will often cut it for free. If not, it costs a couple dollars. (I recently paid $2US per cut and I live in New York City. I'm sure it is cheaper elsewhere.)
The only major drawback is that the grain of the paper will be running the wrong way - but this has not been a major problem for me.
I have even cut down small amounts myself with a metal straight-edge and an Exact-O knife.
October 19th, 2006 at 6:59 am
One other note about paper, I go with a heavier bond paper like 25lb instead of 20lb. The lighter paper shows the text through.
Have fun!