March 14, 2022 |
While Lay-flat Binding is not an official bookbinding term it is a method of bookbinding that Watanabe Binding came up with after many trials and experiments when creating its first product, the Book Note.
In short, the functional feature of the book is that it opens perfectly.
The Lay-flat Binding process is the result of machine processing and craftsmen hand work. In addition to the machine-made products, we also continue to evolve and pass on the hand work inherited from our predecessors.
Machine processing and handwork each have their own advantages. In fact, not everything is better done by hand.
In some cases, a machine may be better suited to make products where more consistent quality or perfect finishes are desired. However, machines have trouble doing anything out of the ordinary. For example, a large size, a very thick or thin product, or any other work that requires a different manufacturing process will be difficult to accomplish by machine. It is in these cases that the craftsman’s handiwork comes into its own.
In our conventional bookbinding process, after binding the paper, the spine is usually glued using a machine, but for our notebooks specifically, the binding is done by hand by our craftsmen.
This manual process allows us to fine-tune the binding with our senses, which makes it possible to apply the glue in just the right amount, creating a notebook that opens even more smoothly.
This is not a technique that anyone can learn overnight but is the result of the knowledge inherited from our predecessors and years of research.
It may be just a small difference, but we are committed to even the slightest improvement, and we are making improvements by machine and by hand every day, striving for a zero-stress experience.
