Binding your zines

[Big Whoop!]

i have a long-arm stapler, but it can't make it through my newest issue (45 sheets of pape, 90pgs). do any of yallz know where to get industrial staplers? anyone got any better binding ideas for such a fat zine?

[Roberto Holanda]

well, girls always bring me good ideas, hehe. she does zines binded with lines, rubbers, other original things that I never imagine...

[1201collective]

You don't have to use a long arm. If you cut your zine in half and use a sewing machine on the end you can make more of a book than a zine and all the pages will be even. Added bonus- cool look.

[Misti Ko]

You can also sew along the fold, but you might need an industrial sewing machine to get through that many pages. 45 pages is one hefty tome.

How about making signatures, like in hard cover books. The pages are sewn (or stapled) together in groups of 16 or 8 or whatever you pick, to make a "signature". The signatures are then attached together to the spine. You'd have to figure out how to do that bit somehow. Also, this might not work if you've already copied all the pages because the layout would be different.

[Colouring Outside The Lines]

The only problem I have with heavy-duty staplers is that I have yet to find one that is long-armed, so you can only really use them to staple along one edge, making a 'book' style of binding, as it won't reach to the middle of folded zine pages. Grumble, grumble!!

[Jerianne]

I have a heavy duty stapler that is adjustable. It doesn't go as deep as a long-arm does, but it can be handy for thicker zines. (I really don't use it that often, though.)

[Big Whoop!]

i figured a cheap way of binding thick ass zines. yanno those brass tack type things that have a 2 part shaft that bend opposite ways? well two of those on each zine did the trick and they look kinda snazzy too. just made 2 slits in each zine with a xacto and walla!

[Peter Taylor]

You can probably tell that I'm new to zines. That's a lot of of pages. You could drill through them all and add book-screws or tie them like a photo album. Or with an uneven number of small holes, you could do a Japanese style sewing/binding job. Or use a plastic comb binder or get them spiral wire bound at your local office shop.
Best wishes from DownUnder
Peter :)

[Anna]

I would use an awl to punch holes, then pamphlet-bind it with a needle and embroidery floss. It's pretty time-consuming, though.