Removing Book Bindings

[patlaw]

Has anyone here ever used a table saw to remove the binding from a hardback book? Does it work well?

 

[Mike Davis]

What's are you trying to do?

Cut the spine off to glue to a fake shelf?

Or just remove the cover?

Remove the binding so it can be glued and rebound?

Are you trying to save a book or destroy it?

 

[patlaw]

Destroy it. I want loose pages so that I can scan them to PDF and read the book on my Kindle. I do it all the time with paperback books. The local printer has a massive paper cutter.

 

[Glennbear]

I would think that a bandsaw would be better, when I worked in electronics industry we used a BS to cut paper insulation materials. :wsmile:

 

[woodworker2000]

Couldn't you just cut the hardcover off and then use the massive paper cutter to separate the pages? Like Glenn said, I think the bandsaw might give you better control than a tablesaw.

 

[Claus]

My wife has been cutting blank notebooks in half for her classroom using a scroll saw. Books are really pretty soft and any other kind of high powered saw will raise a plume of dust and paper shreds and make a pretty big mess of the pages. DAMHIK.

--Claus

 

[patlaw]

Maybe I'll just have to try it. Or maybe I'll try my circular saw or jig saw. I just thought I would ask.

 

[Mike Davis]

Ok, the band saw will work with a fine tooth blade. I would wrap some heavy twine around and around at least a dozen times from top to bottom so it stays together through the saw. Otherwise it may drift/twist/jump into the blade and cause a hazardous situation.

The table saw, in my opinion, is just too dangerous.

!!!WARNING WILL RODGERS!!! A circular saw will kill you in this kind of operation.

 

[Mike Davis]

The absolute safest way would be to cut the cover off with a knife, cut the sewn thread bindings, separate the signatures, then cut the pages apart either on the printers paper cutter or by hand with a ruler and knife.

 

[Hmerkle]

The absolute safest way would be to cut the cover off with a knife, cut the sewn thread bindings, separate the signatures, then cut the pages apart either on the printers paper cutter or by hand with a ruler and knife.

Mike- (patlaw)
I agree with mike (Davis) slit the cover at the binding with a boxcutter or x-acto and then (viola) you have a paper-back book, then you can probably take it to your printer for cutting!!

 

[smallboat]

When I made the book safes back at Christmas time I cut the covers off with a utility knife ( just one slit each front and back).
Then I cut the stack of pages on my band saw, course blade did just fine.
I did a wrap or two on each axis with painters' tape ( top to bottom and left to right) to stabilize the stack of paper and it was no trouble at all.
I was being careful beacuse I needed to reassemble with minimum visible scars.
If I wasn't being careful it would be <2 min job.

 

[Mark Gottesman]

I would be tempted to remove the cover, clamp the spine so that it sat proud of the vise jaws and go at it with a sharp plane.

 

[Jeff]

Take the books to an office supply store and have them use their hydraulic "guillotine" to remove the spine/bindings and you'll have the text blocks neat and clean for scanning. That's probably the safest and most efficient way and a good $ spend too. Another option would be a binding/printing operation in Cary/Raleigh.

Here's a 4 step DIY which looks pretty simple but probably time consuming.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Unbind-a-Hardcover-Book/

 

[merrill77]

Paper is basically wood I've done it with small books (< 1" thick). Used my metal detector first...found nothing, as expected.

I frequently do this with my WW magazines (so I can file away the articles I want to keep in a more organized fashion). I usually cut 5-10 at a time. Except for FWW, I have to remove the staples first

The TS leaves a pretty clean cut with a ZCI. Haven't tried the bandsaw.

 

[rick7938]

I've used a belt sander in the past. Seemed to work fine at the time, after removing the hard spine, of course. Let us know how it works out.

 

[Hmerkle]

So Mike - WHAT DID YOU DO?

 

[patlaw]

Nothing yet. Life is getting in the way.