Binding Own Books/Textbooks?

[Anonymous No.22136105]

Hello /lit/, after getting another order of used books with lovely lice visitors I have become a broken and paranoid man, which is why I want to bind my own books.

Much stuff which interests me is old academic literature without copyright, archive.org has quite good scans for those. But what would be the best way to print them for long storage?

Would spiral bindings out of metal suffice? Machines like picrel are rather cheap.

Would 90g or 100g paper be decent for long-term storage? Any tips?

[Anonymous No.22136115]

>>22136105
If they are public domain you can probably have it done for less at a copy shop. Plastic comb bindings will produce much longer lasting results than spiral.

Or just toss you newly arrived used books in the freezer for a couple days to kill anything that might have hitched a ride. Getting lice from used books twice seems unlikely, even once seems unlikely.

[Anonymous No.22136139]

>>22136105
Forgot the paper question. Paper weight does not tell you much about anything but paper weight, if the fibers are very short than even heavy paper can fail quicker than a light weight paper made with nice long fibers. But your paper options are likely limited to what your printer can deal with and you should let that guide you, go with a quality acid free (archival) paper.

[Anonymous No.22136165]

>>22136115
>Plastic comb bindings will produce much longer lasting results than spiral.
I see, it‘s cheaper that way too, neat

>Getting lice from used books twice seems unlikely, even once seems unlikely
You don‘t even want to know how many times I encountered crawling visitors in my used books already. I already isolate them for days/weeks before putting them in my shelf but they‘re a source of stress nonetheless. I genuinely can‘t take them anymore and avoid used books excluding some exceptions.

I might also print some more expensive textbooks.

[Anonymous No.22136218]

>>22136165
For the public domain books I would really consider checking out copy shop prices, I can get things printed and a comb binding for not much more than what the paper would cost me. Adding in ink, binder/bindings and wear and tear on my printer it is a no brainer for me.

There are also 2 and 3 hole report covers which are quite nice and robust, probably the cheapest option but you need decent sized margins on the binder side for them to work. Bonus is they are reusable/you can add remove pages. If you go this route do not go cheap on the punch, get the heavy duty one.

[Anonymous No.22136385]

>>22136105
>Hello /lit/, after getting another order of used books with lovely lice visitors I have become a broken and paranoid man, which is why I want to bind my own books.
Do you rub books on your head and/or crotch?

[Anonymous No.22136404]

>>22136385
I am not talking about regular lice but book-related pests.

[Anonymous No.22136433]

>>22136404
Are we talking about silverfish here? Those aren't lice nor are they related to them beyond both of them being insects.

[Anonymous No.22136459]

>>22136433
Book lice are about as "bad" as silverfish, they eat the animal based glues used in old books and like silverfish you would have to have a massive infestation which you ignore for a good while for them to any damage. A few ain't going to do a thing and will not become an infestation unless you are a serious slob.

[Anonymous No.22136465]

>>22136218
copy shops don't give a shit if a book is in open domain or not.

[Anonymous No.22136630]

>>22136459
>Be me
>Reading used book in bed
>Open up over my face
>Lice fall out
>Freak the fuck out
>Still finish the book
>Donate it to charity

[Anonymous No.22136753]

>>22136105
He doesn't have a canister of Zyklon B.
Why even bother waking up in the morning?

[Anonymous No.22136760]

Perhaps the experienced anon could point OP in the right direction >>22135278

[Anonymous No.22136762]

>>22136115
>Getting lice from used books twice seems unlikely, even once seems unlikely.

It's becoming common.

Used book sellers online have massive warehouses where an infection spreads quickly.

[Anonymous No.22137267]

Semi-related, but I want to print out a simple dust jacket cover for a 1905 Oxford cloth hardcover that's in surprisingly decent shape still and, to my knowledge, never originally had a dust jacket. Am I to assume basic matte poster-size paper printed at Staples would probably work best?

[Anonymous No.22137979]

>>22136630
Book lice don't really go between pages, can't get to the tasty glue that way. They are primarily found on old hardcovers (mid 20th and earlier) where the can enter at the spine and get access to the glue used for applying the backing. If book lice are between the pages it probably means your book is moldy in a serious way (like visible furry mold growths way), they also like to eat fungus and that would be the primary food between pages. But in a home books will be low on their list of food sources, too many other easier to eat things.
>>22136760
That is me and I am the one who made the first few replies itt.
>>22136762
I thought OP meant head lice since that is normally what is meant by "lice" on its own. Book lice are probably in every used book store, anywhere there are old books and in most homes but they are unlikely to get out of control unless you never clean. For the most part they are going to ignore books as a food source in the domestic setting, there are other easier to eat things around, book lice (and silverfish) go after books when easier food sources become scarce and in a domestic setting that is unlikely to ever happen unless you are a Howard Hughes sort. Modern books are immune to book lice since they lack the animal based glues which the industry started shifting away from back around 1950 or so.