Tools

• Thin awl or Dremel TM style drill
• Bone folder (a small flat piece of bone available at art supply stores and leather craft stores) or dull butter knife.
• Two needles; small tapestry needles work fine.
• Utility knife or X-acto TM blade
• Pencil and eraser
• Clean surface

Supplies

• Twenty sheets of paper. Can be any paper that folds reasonably well ( see the section on folding paper). For simplicity's sake, the default paper used here is standard text stock, 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheets.
• Quarter-sawn hardwood at least the size of the folded paper, about 1/4 inch thick; bigger books want thicker boards. You will need enough to cover both front and back of the book (approximately the size of a single sheet of your paper). If you are using the text paper, cut two pieces: 5 9/16 x 4 3/8 inches. If you are on a budget, chipboard or Davies board--available at art supply stores--can be used ( this may be thin; if so, you can paste layers of it together).
• Approximately 10 feet ( two wingspans) of linen thread approximately the thickness of buttonhole thread
  ( DMC 8 or thicker/thinner--think about the size of the book you are making) available at bead shops, chair caning shops, and some art supply stores.
• Small piece of Beeswax

• Freezer paper ( a commercially made paper that is coated on one side with plastic--available at grocery stores, and some craft stores because it is also used by quilters)
• Masking or Scotch Tape
• Hammer
• Small pot for making wheat paste
• Large flat glue brush
• 1/4 cup flour and 1 1/8 cup water for the wheat paste. Pastry flour works best because the low gluten content does not attract as many bugs. If you are making a large book, you may want to double this. See below
• Fine grain thin leather--alum tawed goat or calf is best, but very expensive. For learning purposes, Tandy Leathers has a vegetable tanned goatskin that works. In a pinch, one can cover the book in fabric or specialty paper, in this case use as little glue as possible.
• Small bit of ornamental fabric for interior of boards; enough to cover the empty spot that is left in the inside of the book after it is covered.
• One foot of pencil lead thin hardwood dowel for adhering straps.
• 45 degree angle to cut against
• Book press, newsprint covered bricks, large books, or anything flat and heavy to put pressure on the book while it is drying. I use about ten to fifteen pounds of weights, which is probably overkill. Better safe than sorry. If a book warps in the drying process it is very hard to ever flatten.

In Il Libro dell'Arte (page 65), Cennini states:

there is one size which is made of cooked batter, and it is good for parchment workers and masters who make books; and it is good for pasting parchments togetherÉThis size is made as follows. Take a pipkin almost full of clear water; get it quite hot. When it is about to boil, take some well-sifted flour; put it in the pipkin little by little, stirring constantly with a stick or a spoon. Let it boil, and do not let it get too thick. Take it out; put it in a porringer. If you want to keep it from going bad, put in some salt.

A modern recipe from Keith Smith (page 54):

1 part pastry flour, 41/2 parts cold water

Combine flour and water with whisk.

Stir out all lumps. Place over low heat.

Stir nearly constantly until first bubble appears as it starts to boil.

Stir 30 seconds longerÉ

Remove from heat. Pour in jar, add lid, refrigerate.