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Thread: Where to get paper for a B5 notebook?

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    Junior Member biscuit's Avatar
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    Default Where to get paper for a B5 notebook?

    Hi all,

    For work I typically keep notes in a 38-300-R notebook something like this:



    I date each page and then when the book is full, it goes on the shelf. Sometimes I need to refer back so it's good for me to keep a record. The paper on these is okay but it's a little more absorbent than I'd like for fountain pens -- it tends to bleed through. So I was thinking of making my own. I know nothing about book binding but I've been looking on YouTube at channels like Sea Lemon and it doesn't seem too hard. My current idea is to make a book with of about 150 pages with hard sides held together with coptic stitch binding. If I can get that far, I'd also like to learn to make some kind of leather cover that I can use to protect the "current notebook" as I carry it around to and from work, to meetings, etc.

    Now to my question... would be a good source of paper? Most of the paper I know about comes in the common "A" international sizing, but for me A4 is too big and A5 is too small. I'd like something in the middle, similar to what I use now, which is in the neighborhood of 7"x10". I think B5 is roughly this size. If I want B5 size signatures, I would need either staple bound B5 notebooks to cannibalize, or pads/sheets of B4 to fold. I haven't seen anything like this searching online.

    I was wondering if anyone had suggestions or recommendations on what might be a good source of paper in this size? If not I'll stick with my current notebooks and restrict myself to xf nibs and more well-behaved inks.

    Thanks!

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    Member Plume145's Avatar
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    Default Re: Where to get paper for a B5 notebook?

    And I get the B5 lurve - it's one of my favorites too! If you like that you should try the other Bs, especially B6 (5"x7") - great size for a journal or planner

    I don't have a recommendation for a specific supplier, but I think you're down the wrong track looking for this online. I'm usually all about shopping online but I honestly think this is one of those situations where locally or within driving distance is the way to go.

    B-sizes are not terribly popular outside of Japan, so you won't find many B5 notebooks to repurpose. And B4 is downright rare even in japan, so B4 pads to fold are unlikely. This means that your best bet is to get paper with the qualities you want in very large sheets - size 0 or 1, eg A0 or A1 - and cut them down to the B4 you need for the B5 signatures (or have them cut for you, more likely).

    Problem is, A0 and A1 are a gigantic hassle to ship, especially since for your purposes, they really ought to ship flat, not rolled up in a mailing tube (like wall posters, which are a similar size) or worse, folded up. And you would need multiple sheets because each A0 sheet will yield just 3 B4.

    Besides the shipping, it's going to take a fair bit of back-and-forth to settle on the paper you like, and it will be faster if you can see and touch paper samples because you can eliminate a lot of choices and only sample the ones you need. To get around that with a supplier further away, they'd need to be willing to mail out samples of ALL the papers they stock (at least in the typical notebook colors of whites, creams, and ivories). Could happen, but not as likely or as easy especially if they have a few dozen different types of paper.

    Then there's the cutting, because I don't think you can really count on doing it yourself. There's too many cuts to make, and to get a neat, professional end result on the finished signatures, you will need a level of precision and repeatability that is VERY hard to achieve with tools you can use at home (metal straightedge and knife - remember, you're starting at A0 so you can't even use a paper trimmer). Unless your dining room table has a glass top, basically you don't even have a surface on which to cut! So add the need for professional cutting services, ie a copy shop/printing center.

    Using a paper shop within driving distance solves all three of these problems. You visit the shop and look at the papers, take home some samples to try various pens on, then place your order - possibly over the phone. Then you drive up, collect the papers - which gives you a chance to look them over to check for any duds, BEFORE forking over the money - drive them to the copy shop, then onto home. And actually, some paper shops have cutting services too, so they may be able to cut it down for you in-house.

    Now, finding that can be a bit of a bother; it might take a while and you might have some false starts, try places that turn out to only sell absorbent paper and what not. But it sounds like you're not doing this project on any kind of tight deadline, so I think if you take your time and never pass up an opportunity to search, eventually you will get there - these things have a way of turning up even when you think naah, there's nothing like that close by!

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    Default Re: Where to get paper for a B5 notebook?

    uhm, i think jetpens sells some fp friendly notebooks in B5 size

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    Default Re: Where to get paper for a B5 notebook?

    This sounds like it's close to what you want to make. It's a hardcover B5 notebook with fountain pen friendly paper. It's a bit pricey at $39, though. There are plenty of other (cheaper) B5 notebooks available through Nanami and JetPens. Also, the large TWSBI notebooks are B5.

    JetPens sells loose B5 paper, but it's hole-punched for use in a binder.

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    Senior Member LagNut's Avatar
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    Default Re: Where to get paper for a B5 notebook?

    I may be way off base here, but I have B5 notebook paper for ringbound holders which is really good for fountain pens. I get this at a local shop that has Japanese writing products. They also have plastic long term storage products for these. Last time I looked, prices were 10 USD for good paper and 20 for high end. The good was really good.

    Don't want to discourage Coptic stitch learning, but wanted to throw this idea out there.

    Mike
    Clearly they had a higher and more comprehensive conception of the duties of society toward it's members than had the lawgivers of Europe of the time, and they imposed obligations upon it that were shirked elsewhere... But it is the provisions for public education which, from the very first, throw into the clearest relief the originality of American civilization.

    Alexis de Tocqeuville "Democracy in America" (George Lawrence Translation)

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    Senior Member LagNut's Avatar
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    Default

    Looks like jetpens has the high end paper, Maruman Giuris. The Kokuyo paper is an unknown to me, but looks like it might be comparable to the "good" paper I was referring to...

    Mike
    Last edited by LagNut; October 6th, 2014 at 11:45 AM.
    Clearly they had a higher and more comprehensive conception of the duties of society toward it's members than had the lawgivers of Europe of the time, and they imposed obligations upon it that were shirked elsewhere... But it is the provisions for public education which, from the very first, throw into the clearest relief the originality of American civilization.

    Alexis de Tocqeuville "Democracy in America" (George Lawrence Translation)

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    Junior Member biscuit's Avatar
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    Default Re: Where to get paper for a B5 notebook?

    Quote Originally Posted by Plume145 View Post
    ..., but I think you're down the wrong track looking for this online....
    Hi Plume145,

    Thanks a lot for your detailed suggestion and explanation. I guess I didn't realize what I was getting into. Luckily I still have one more blank 38-300-R notebook handy to give me time to get this project together if I decide to press forward with it, or I can try out one of the pre-made B5 notebooks others have suggested. Probably a good first step would be to bang together a prototype notebook from a 10x14" artist's sketch pad to make sure I really want to pursue the whole binding/coptic stitching thing for my work notes. Then if I'm still game, I can work at sorting out the paper supply, cutting, etc. etc. Also FWIW, I think a sheet of A0 ought to yield 8 B4s (makes sense cos A3 is bigger than B4 and there are 8 A3s in an A0).

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    Default Re: Where to get paper for a B5 notebook?

    Quote Originally Posted by LagNut View Post
    I may be way off base here, but I have B5 notebook paper for ringbound holders which is really good for fountain pens. I get this at a local shop that has Japanese writing products. They also have plastic long term storage products for these. Last time I looked, prices were 10 USD for good paper and 20 for high end. The good was really good.

    Don't want to discourage Coptic stitch learning, but wanted to throw this idea out there.

    Mike
    Hi Mike (and caribbean_skye and reprieve),

    Thanks for the suggestions on the B5 notebook sources. I'll definitely check them out. Even if I do try to make my own, it may take a while to get the paper source sorted out.

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    Member Plume145's Avatar
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    Default Re: Where to get paper for a B5 notebook?

    Quote Originally Posted by biscuit View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Plume145 View Post
    ..., but I think you're down the wrong track looking for this online....
    Hi Plume145,

    Thanks a lot for your detailed suggestion and explanation. I guess I didn't realize what I was getting into. Luckily I still have one more blank 38-300-R notebook handy to give me time to get this project together if I decide to press forward with it, or I can try out one of the pre-made B5 notebooks others have suggested. Probably a good first step would be to bang together a prototype notebook from a 10x14" artist's sketch pad to make sure I really want to pursue the whole binding/coptic stitching thing for my work notes. Then if I'm still game, I can work at sorting out the paper supply, cutting, etc. etc. Also FWIW, I think a sheet of A0 ought to yield 8 B4s (makes sense cos A3 is bigger than B4 and there are 8 A3s in an A0).
    You're probably right about 8 B4s per A0 I get this stuff wrong more often than not, but I put it in because it was another thing to bear in mind - that you would need loads of A0s to make a proper hardback notebook. I agree that the mockup using available paper is a great idea! No amount of planning works out the kinks quite like a prototype does.

    I really hope I didn't end up discouraging you! My intention was actually just the opposite, because I'm always rooting for the DIY option :-) I was just trying to help you profit from my own experience with similar projects and trying to locate paper for various things, and to save you the false starts I've had myself as much as possible

    IME sometimes this type of project takes a while to come together, because of all the many disparate things to sort out - it's hard to time everything right, in particular. But then it seems to reach a tipping point, where one of two things happen: either you realize you no longer need the initial project because through working on that, you came up with a different solution that is better/cheaper/more elegant, OR all the different strands finally come together and suddenly what seemed so tough becomes totally doable Either way, you win!

    Good luck, and please keep us up to date if you go for it

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