This website has been archived and is no longer being updated. Mostly because my life took a different turn at some point, with less making/manufacturing stuff to write about.

Check out hannobraun.com, to see what I'm up to these days.

Contact me: hello@hannobraun.com

Hanno Braun

making and small-scale manufacturing

Notebook #4

A closed notebook, bound in cork leather.

Lots of process improvements on notebook #4, like a different technique for glueing on the bookmark, finishing the text block before adding the cover, and much more.

An open notebook with blank pages. The edges of the paper are visibly rough.
A closeup of bottom side of the notebook, the bookmark sticking out. The edges of the paper and cover are visibly rough.

From a feature perspective, this one has thinner end pages, which makes the combination of end pages and cover less rigid. I think this is better, but there's still more to do in that area.

Notebook open; damage visible from the inside, between pages 2 and 3.

When opening the notebook fully, this puts tension on the first page after the end page, leading to the damage shown here. I need to find a solution for that. I have some ideas that I want to try in the next build.

The notebook, showing the following signature on the inside of the cover: Notebook · Hanno Braun · 2022-W11 · #4 · Made in Odenwald

I don't think I'll start with the next one right away though. I'm currently working on some tooling that I hope will improve the accuracy of the holes, and thus of the whole text block.


Here are some pictures I took during the build.

A stack of signatures; hole for sewing already made.

The signatures, with the holes for sewing made.

The sewn text block.

The sewn text block.

The text block clamped in the book press, the spine side sticking out. The bookmark has been glued on.

The bookmark glued onto the spine, before the mull goes on.

The text block, a sanded side up front.

One side sanded.

The text block, a clamp holding it together. An unsanded side is up front.

Another side yet to be sanded.

The text block, all sides sanded

All sides sanded.

The text block, all sides sanded, the corners rounded.

Fully finished.

Notebook #4; cover glued on, but not cut to size yet.

The cover glued on.