Costs
Part of Planning a bookbinding project means picking the structure before the idea
Pricing a bookbinding project: cost per finished book, not per sheet
A costing method for binding supplies: work out cost per finished book, count a run before ordering, and know where the money actually goes.
What to take away
- Cost per book is the pack price divided by the yield per pack, plus waste, tax and shipping.
- Typical planning ranges, not quotesa 6 x 9 in case binding uses about $6 to $12 of material per copy.
- For a five-copy edition, budget 15 percent extra text paper, 10 percent extra board and 20 percent extra cloth.
- Grain direction decides how many leaves a sheet yields before price enters the discussion.
- The figure to compare across suppliers is cost per finished book, never the ream or spool price.
The cost-per-book method, step by step
Divide the price you paid for a material by the number of finished books that unit will supply. Add waste, tax and shipping. That is the method.
Five steps keep it repeatable.
- Fix the structure and trim size first, because a 6 x 9 in case binding drives every yield that follows.
- List each material with its purchase unitboard sheet, cloth yard, thread spool, text ream, endpaper sheet.
- Work out the yield per unit at that trim size, with grain running the right way.
- Divide the unit price by the yield.
- Add the waste percentage and this project's share of shipping and tax.
A change of pack size resets the arithmetic, because a per-sheet price rarely holds across pack sizes.
Cost per finished book
Material
- Text paper
- Ream or pack
- Board
- Full sheet
- Cloth
- Yard or meter
- Thread
- Spool
- Adhesive
- Tub
Purchase unit
- Text paper
- Sheets per book, spoilage
- Board
- Boards per sheet, grain-correct
- Cloth
- Cases per length, turn-ins
- Thread
- Books per spool, section count
- Adhesive
- Books per tub, measured
What to work out
- Text paper
- Board
- Cloth
- Thread
- Adhesive
Example: a 6 x 9 in case binding
Figures below are typical planning ranges for the United States, not quotes. Canadian buyers add GST/HST on supplies, and the Canada Revenue Agency guidance for GST/HST businesses explains how that tax is charged.
6 x 9 in case binding
| Material | Purchase unit | Typical price | Yield per unit | Cost per book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davey board, 0.098 in | 20 x 30 in sheet | $4 to $6 | 4 to 5 books | $0.90 to $1.50 |
| Paper-backed bookcloth | 36 in wide, per yard | $12 to $20 | 5 to 7 books | $2.00 to $3.50 |
| Linen thread, 18/3 | 50 g spool | $8 to $14 | 30 to 50 books | $0.20 to $0.45 |
| Text paper, 80 lb | 500-sheet ream | $25 to $45 | 18 to 20 books | $1.30 to $2.50 |
| Decorative endpaper | 20 x 30 in sheet | $3 to $8 | 2 books | $1.50 to $4.00 |
Materials total roughly $6 to $12 per book before waste. Cloth and endpapers carry the weight, not the board.
When a total still looks high, fix the specification before you change supplier, because trim size and board thickness move the figure more than a discount does.
Waste and spoilage for one edition
Take a 96-page book in five copies. Each copy needs 24 sheets of text paper, so the run needs 120 sheets before spoilage.
Budget 15 percent extra paper, 10 percent extra board and 20 percent extra cloth. Across the run that is about 18 spare sheets and a few spare strips.
Cloth carries the highest allowance because a miscut case cannot be patched.
A first attempt at a new structure doubles those figures, and spoilage is a material cost, not a mistake to explain later.
How grain direction sets your yield
Grain should run parallel to the spine on every leaf and board. That rule decides your sheet count, so work the numbers before ordering.
Take a 25 x 38 in sheet of text paper cut to 6 x 9 in leaves. With long grain, the 9 in edge runs along the 38 in side. Four rows and four columns fit, which is 16 leaves.
Buy the same paper short grain and only two columns fit along the 25 in side. The identical cut gives 12 leaves, so the sheet costs a third more per book.
Structure comes before shopping, and the order for it is set out in planning a bookbinding project.
Cheap stock, shipping and tax
Price per sheet is not the full cost. The University of Illinois Preservation Self-Assessment Program's guide to paper explains why the cheap option ages badly.
Rag paper, beaten from cotton or linen cloth from the fourteenth century, is often found in good condition. Wood pulp arrived in the mid-nineteenth century and carried lignin.
Wood pulp papers made between about 1850 and 1950 are typically found in poor condition, and a later rebinding costs more than better paper would have.
Paper quality over time
- 14th centuryRag paper from cotton or linen
- Mid-19th centuryWood pulp arrives, harsh chemicals
- 1850-1950Wood pulp papers found poor
- TodayRag paper often in good condition
Shipping has its own line. On small repeat orders it can exceed the material, so divide the charge across the books in that order.
Tax behaves the same way. It is charged on the goods you buy, and it belongs in the per-book figure as your own cost.
Mixing practice stock with keeper stock on one shelf is one of the beginner supply mistakes worth avoiding, so label the shelf or buy practice paper separately.
Make the strong parts, buy the accurate ones
Enclosures are the clearest case for making rather than buying. The Park Service instructions for building a paper board crate note that a crate used once can be built from easier materials, while one used repeatedly must withstand shock and vibration.
Only the material touching the object needs archival grade, and the same reasoning covers slipcases, pressing boards and jigs.
Buy the parts that must be accurate. Make the parts that must be strong and stay hidden.
Backing your own cloth is cheap and slow, so buy paper-backed bookcloth until you have made a dozen cases. A slipcase run of five justifies the board and the time; a single copy rarely does.
A jig that fits your bench is worth an evening. The spending order that follows is in what to buy first, which puts the adhesive and the material ahead of the tools.
