dannzeman
August 19th, 2013, 08:49 PM
This review was initially published at fpgeeks.com (http://fpgeeks.com/2013/08/curnow-bookbinding-leatherwork-custom-tomoe-river-notebook-review/). I'm republishing it here because Steve's work is so good I think it deserves as much exposure as possible.
http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-17-798x532.jpg (http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-17.jpg)
A while back I participated in a group buy for some Tomoe River paper. I purchased 400 sheets at a pretty good price and I was super excited to get to use this awesome paper. If you're not familiar with Tomoe River paper or just need a little more convincing, check out Azizah's review (http://fpgeeks.com/2013/01/tomoe-river-paper-review/). It's really good (the paper and the review).
But I didn't just want to have 400 individual sheets stacked up somewhere. I wanted them to be portable and easy to handle. I wanted something no one else had.
Enter Curnow Bookbinding & Leatherwork.
http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-16-798x532.jpg (http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-16.jpg)
http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-15-798x532.jpg (http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-15.jpg)
I was introduced to Steve Curnow through a mutual pen friend several years ago. If anyone deserves the title 'fountain pen geek', it's Steve. When we met, he was returning home to California and along the way he found a 1936 Parker Vacumatic Senior at a price that would make you start to hate him. Steve is definitely a fountain pen guy, which is good, because he knows exactly what characteristics fountain pen users what in their paper and notebooks.Steve usually has a few notebooks made up so you can just call him, buy it, and have it shipped immediately. But, the real fun starts when you have him make a notebook just for you.
Steve usually uses upcycled paper he gets from SCRAP (Scrounger's Center for Reuseable Art parts) in San Francisco. It can vary from white to gray to buff to cream, depending on what is available. He says he has about 20,000 sheets in the shop right now and he always test the paper to be sure that it works well with a fountain pen. Like I said, Steve is a fountain pen user himself, so he knows what's good and what's bad. You won't have to worry about any Moleskine issues here. Unfortunately, he doesn't stock Tomoe River, but who does? However, if you've got some on hand, like I did, you can send it to him.
http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-7-798x532.jpg (http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-7.jpg)
Coptic Binding
The binding method used on many of the notebooks Steve creates, and mine in particular, is called Coptic Binding. It dates back to the 4th century and is one of the earliest forms of hardcover binding. Steve says he prefers this method because when opened, it will lay completely flat, lending itself to journaling and sketching. And this notebook does lay perfectly flat.
He also makes journals that use a pre-bound text block glued into a soft leather cover with a braided string that wraps around it several times to keep it closed. Of course, he can do more formal types of binding like those seen on commercial hardbacks or 3 or 4 other types such as long stitch, cross structure, link stitch, etc. It's really best to talk to Steve and figure out which method would best serve the intended purpose of your notebook.
A normal journal from Curnow Bookbinding & Leatherwork ends up with 140 pages (counting both sides of the sheet), 7 signatures with 5 pieces of paper each. Steve says:That usually ends up with a nice size. The Tomoe River ends up with many more pages (and I use a thinner thread) because it is so thin. Azizah talked about using onion skin paper a couple of podcasts ago, it would be the same way.
My notebook with Tomoe River paper ended up with 12 signatures of 8 pieces of paper each. That makes for 384 pages (counting front and back)!
http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-8-798x532.jpg (http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-8.jpg)
12 signatures of Tomoe River for a total of 384 pages
http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-10-798x462.jpg (http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-10.jpg)
Lays flat, just like a good notebook should.
Steve can make you any size notebook you want if the standard 8″x5″ doesn't do it for you. The same goes for the number of pages. And even the material used on the cover. Steve sent me a few pics of the available papers he had on hand for wrapping the front and back covers as his selection changes often. If you're more into leather, well, Steve can do that, too. Not just book and notebook covers, but, belts, portfolios, purses, cases, you name it.
Regarding the leather used for his products, Steve had this to say:
The leather used for the tooled leather pieces is vegetable-tanned leather from a US tannery (one of the very few left) in various thicknesses. This is the same type of leather used for saddles. Steve uses a variety of other leathers for soft-cover journals and other items (pigskin suede, goatskin, etc). I'm very lucky to have a very well stocked supplier nearby in Napa, CA that will let me go in and wander the warehouse and pick just the right hide. They also have a scrap pile that is really useful to me for small journals.
Pricing varies according to the materials used and the number of pages, but generally, a medium sized journal similar to the one I ordered would cost about $35 (plus shipping), but smaller ones are available for $30. A journal with a tooled leather cover is usually $5-10 more.
You can check out all of Steve's work on the Curnow Bookbinding & Leatherwork (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Curnow-Bookbinding-Leatherwork/240012112726681?fref=ts) facebook page (no need to join facebook to look). You can contact Steve directly via email at sdcurnow@gmail.com (https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&to=sdcurnow@gmail.com). He's also in the forums as sdcurnow.
Overall, I'm exceptionally pleased with every aspect of the notebook. I got exactly what I wanted and it's been the best notebook I've ever had.
http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-13-798x532.jpg (http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-13.jpg)
http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-14-798x566.jpg (http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-14.jpg)
http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-11-798x532.jpg (http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-11.jpg)
http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-17-798x532.jpg (http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-17.jpg)
A while back I participated in a group buy for some Tomoe River paper. I purchased 400 sheets at a pretty good price and I was super excited to get to use this awesome paper. If you're not familiar with Tomoe River paper or just need a little more convincing, check out Azizah's review (http://fpgeeks.com/2013/01/tomoe-river-paper-review/). It's really good (the paper and the review).
But I didn't just want to have 400 individual sheets stacked up somewhere. I wanted them to be portable and easy to handle. I wanted something no one else had.
Enter Curnow Bookbinding & Leatherwork.
http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-16-798x532.jpg (http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-16.jpg)
http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-15-798x532.jpg (http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-15.jpg)
I was introduced to Steve Curnow through a mutual pen friend several years ago. If anyone deserves the title 'fountain pen geek', it's Steve. When we met, he was returning home to California and along the way he found a 1936 Parker Vacumatic Senior at a price that would make you start to hate him. Steve is definitely a fountain pen guy, which is good, because he knows exactly what characteristics fountain pen users what in their paper and notebooks.Steve usually has a few notebooks made up so you can just call him, buy it, and have it shipped immediately. But, the real fun starts when you have him make a notebook just for you.
Steve usually uses upcycled paper he gets from SCRAP (Scrounger's Center for Reuseable Art parts) in San Francisco. It can vary from white to gray to buff to cream, depending on what is available. He says he has about 20,000 sheets in the shop right now and he always test the paper to be sure that it works well with a fountain pen. Like I said, Steve is a fountain pen user himself, so he knows what's good and what's bad. You won't have to worry about any Moleskine issues here. Unfortunately, he doesn't stock Tomoe River, but who does? However, if you've got some on hand, like I did, you can send it to him.
http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-7-798x532.jpg (http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-7.jpg)
Coptic Binding
The binding method used on many of the notebooks Steve creates, and mine in particular, is called Coptic Binding. It dates back to the 4th century and is one of the earliest forms of hardcover binding. Steve says he prefers this method because when opened, it will lay completely flat, lending itself to journaling and sketching. And this notebook does lay perfectly flat.
He also makes journals that use a pre-bound text block glued into a soft leather cover with a braided string that wraps around it several times to keep it closed. Of course, he can do more formal types of binding like those seen on commercial hardbacks or 3 or 4 other types such as long stitch, cross structure, link stitch, etc. It's really best to talk to Steve and figure out which method would best serve the intended purpose of your notebook.
A normal journal from Curnow Bookbinding & Leatherwork ends up with 140 pages (counting both sides of the sheet), 7 signatures with 5 pieces of paper each. Steve says:That usually ends up with a nice size. The Tomoe River ends up with many more pages (and I use a thinner thread) because it is so thin. Azizah talked about using onion skin paper a couple of podcasts ago, it would be the same way.
My notebook with Tomoe River paper ended up with 12 signatures of 8 pieces of paper each. That makes for 384 pages (counting front and back)!
http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-8-798x532.jpg (http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-8.jpg)
12 signatures of Tomoe River for a total of 384 pages
http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-10-798x462.jpg (http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-10.jpg)
Lays flat, just like a good notebook should.
Steve can make you any size notebook you want if the standard 8″x5″ doesn't do it for you. The same goes for the number of pages. And even the material used on the cover. Steve sent me a few pics of the available papers he had on hand for wrapping the front and back covers as his selection changes often. If you're more into leather, well, Steve can do that, too. Not just book and notebook covers, but, belts, portfolios, purses, cases, you name it.
Regarding the leather used for his products, Steve had this to say:
The leather used for the tooled leather pieces is vegetable-tanned leather from a US tannery (one of the very few left) in various thicknesses. This is the same type of leather used for saddles. Steve uses a variety of other leathers for soft-cover journals and other items (pigskin suede, goatskin, etc). I'm very lucky to have a very well stocked supplier nearby in Napa, CA that will let me go in and wander the warehouse and pick just the right hide. They also have a scrap pile that is really useful to me for small journals.
Pricing varies according to the materials used and the number of pages, but generally, a medium sized journal similar to the one I ordered would cost about $35 (plus shipping), but smaller ones are available for $30. A journal with a tooled leather cover is usually $5-10 more.
You can check out all of Steve's work on the Curnow Bookbinding & Leatherwork (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Curnow-Bookbinding-Leatherwork/240012112726681?fref=ts) facebook page (no need to join facebook to look). You can contact Steve directly via email at sdcurnow@gmail.com (https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&to=sdcurnow@gmail.com). He's also in the forums as sdcurnow.
Overall, I'm exceptionally pleased with every aspect of the notebook. I got exactly what I wanted and it's been the best notebook I've ever had.
http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-13-798x532.jpg (http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-13.jpg)
http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-14-798x566.jpg (http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-14.jpg)
http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-11-798x532.jpg (http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Curnow-Notebook-11.jpg)