Stapling

[Ciaran Power]

Alright, I'm making some A5 (folded a4) zines and I was wondering how you get it to staple right on the fold, cause if you don't then you're going through each sheet twice and it can be hard to open. Do you have to get one of those expensive really long staplers or what? I think I've seen some staplers which you can fold back and staple with (so the length doesn't matter) but I might be making things up and I don't think all of them do this so either way I'd need to know how to know which ones do this.

Deep breath.

Basically, I mean what stapler should I get? I'm going to need to buy one anyway I suppose cause I can't find access to one.
Thanks!
ciaran

[Stephanos]

long arm staplers can be expensive, but you dont have to use staplers.

some people sew the binding, you can use all kinds of stuff, including dental floss!

You could punch a hole in it and thread ribbon through or evenm just brass split-pins.

if you're keen on using a stapler, try stapling into a carpet by opening out the stapler and pressing down, then manually folding in the staples afterwards, bit of a faff though

or don't bind at all

[Ciaran Power]

Hmm, my mum's quite house proud, and at the moment i'm under her roof so I might try it with some carpet samples from I dunno a carpet shop or something on my desk. I'm not good at that fancy stuff, but good ideas. If I ever get good at fancy stuff, I'll use it. But actually the brass split-pins might work. Short of that, I suppose I'll just have to save up for a while.

Thanks!

[meldoiouswhine]

you can get basic saddle staplers (long-armed) for pretty cheap--if you are planning on making a lot of zines. also, i think some office places have them for use (just bring in your copies).

they seem to work really well--you just slide the lever to the length of your paper and then press down on the fold. i recommend stapling from the outside so that the ends of the staples are on the inside (seems to help the paper maintain the fold best).

[Stephanos]

and less chance of getting stray ends of staples in your hand when picking up zines!

[Misti Ko]

I'm having the same problem myself. It's surprising how many staplers I managed to find in my house and none of them are long enough for even my bitty mini zines. I tried the open stapler method, but wrecked my fingernails, so I resorted to sewing, but that isn't where I want to spend my time.

M

[Jenn White]

while reading responses in "what not to do in a zine" forum, i found this stapler suggestion. Maybe it'll help you guys.
http://www.stapleheadquarters.com/bostitch-booklet-stapler.html

[Stephanos]

Misti Ko said:

I'm having the same problem myself. It's surprising how many staplers I managed to find in my house and none of them are long enough for even my bitty mini zines. I tried the open stapler method, but wrecked my fingernails, so I resorted to sewing, but that isn't where I want to spend my time.

M

use a spoon or other hard thing instead if nails!

[Ren!]

Sewing machines are terribly useful for binding. Set it on a really long stitch so the pages don't fall apart and you're golden; much faster than stapling and you can just kinda... bind all of your zines at once and just cut the long thread connecting them all once you're done. Plus no potential damage of skin from pointy staple-ends.

Then again, this is only if you already own a sewing machine and are willing to replace needles fairly often. If not, don't bother. Haha.

[DJ Burnett]

http://www.discountofficeitems.com/sparco-long-reach-stapler-spr013...

This one's fairly inexpensive

[Elizabeth J. M. W.]

My long arm stapler was only about $15, and it was definitely worth it. Before I had the stapler I use to sew the bindings by hand or make real little zines held together by sparkly hair elastics from the dollar store.