DIY Leather Book Binding Tutorial Part 2: Leather Binding and Cover Art 

Also, yes please, make videos about how you do the cover art as well as the press.

This … is about the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.

I think your bookbinding video is the clearer and less intimidating one I've seen! really well done and thank you

Amazing! :D I'd actually like to know more about the cover design process. How did you make those patterns? I'm gonna make myself a book press in the new year, So would love a video on that too. :D Great work and love the humour and well thought out instructions. I like how you explain the "Why", and not just "do this!" Thanks man :D

You are excellent at explaining steps, measurements, materials, and the reasoning behind your choices. Thank you!

Probably the best tutorial I've seen for "quick and modern" (rather than DAS' traditional style). Very easy to follow and fun to watch! Oh, Austen, use Masking Magic strips to temporarily attach your spine to covers, it won't damage the boards. Or use masking tape but apply it to your clothing a few times first, takes the stick down a bit.

I have been binge-watching all the bookbinding videos I can find to get ready to dive into doing it myself, and this is hands down my favorite so far! Love your humor and communication style, and the instruction is super clear and straightforward, easy to understand and makes me actually feel for the first time like maybe I really can do this. Thank you so much for making these, looking forward to your future videos!! Definitely interested in learning more about how you design the covers on Illustrator and how you made that book press. Also, huge fan of the choice of C.S. Lewis :)

The book looks absolutely gorgeous. Would you be so kind as to make a video on vinyl and cover artwork?

This tutorial is SO clear and comprehensive without being overwhelming. Thank you so much. About to embark on rebinding my own books and you've given me so much confidence!

This would probably push the value of these books triple the original. Thank you so much.

Ok I watched the video and Sir you're officially a genius in my eyes! The cardboard tube as a spine? Genius! The self made press? Um Genius! (Qould love to see a tutorial) And last but not least, and most GENIUS thing...the vinyl for making decorations?! Ok I am mindblowed now. I watched few tutorials on bookbinding and I was sad because the tools for the decoration/lettering stuff are sooo expensive and not easily accessible in my country. So I was ready to just make easy leather cover with no design on it....but now? I can do even more ideas and in an easier way (traditional way seems to be pretty hard and for sure needs a looot of practice before no errors will appear 😆) and the fact that I already own the cricket machine 😌 you just made my day! Thank you so much for your work and once again - it's a pleasure to watch you, you're a naturally born teacher and I love your aura. Can't wait to make my first book after Christmas and can't wait for a new videos from you. Have a great day!

I am so convinced that I can do this so I'm absorbing all the knowledge I can, mostly with my Spanish books because for some reason, they are worth a week salary, so I'm all for the diy's

Thank you, said and illustrated in 15 minutes what some people can't get across in a series of 25 videos of 30 minutes each🤓

I came looking for a video like this because I was so sad that the leather bound chronicles of Narnia is extremely rare and mega expensive. I’m so glad to see that there are others that had the same thoughts as me🙂

Amazing!!! Thank you.. Excellent tutorial, I agree so clear and comprehensive without overwhelming!!! Can't wait to make my own. For years I have been looking forward to learning this method.

this is so freaking helpful! I have some kinda really old books, where the cover falls apart from reading them a lot and not taking care of their age. like that, i can repair them!

This is such a great video! Even when most of the contents now are digital, still nothing beats the feel and texture of reading and holding an actual physical book. Most specialy like this leather and gold gilded ones! Thank you for such a satisfying and very detailed diy tutorial!

This is perfect! I've been looking for a video just like this and have been wanting to bind a set of Narnia books for my bookshelf. Love that your examples are Narnia and C.S. Lewis books.

If I had the ability to give you a million dollars for this video series, I would. Thank you sooooo much.

Almost finished with my first book project thanks to your videos that have guided me all the way. I've replayed them multiple times and they have been amazing! My project doesn't look quite as good as yours but I'm learning from my mistakes. If you could give a quick video on building the press used to press down the leather around the hubs I'd appreciate. Thanks again for these videos.

So excellent! I so want to try this! Your presentation and guidance is spectacular!! Thank you …

Incredibly useful video! I'm so worried that I'll bind everything now

Why am I JUST now discovering your channel?! I was entranced. Bravo sir.

Well done. A bagua man went looking for book advice, he found an Airbender enthusiast expounding the Way. Gracias.

Absolutely beautiful I can’t wait to get started. Thank you so much!

Fantastic video, I've been looking for an easy tutorial to made hard cover leather bound books, you just got a new subscriber. I also had to do a double take when I saw the Quad Combination Scriptures on the shelf behind you, happy to see you displaying them so prominently.

Glorious. I feel like I should have paid for this concise lesson. Thank you, from a fellow C.S. Lewis fan.

So thankful for your two videos. This is exactly what I was looking for!

Gah!! The little trinkets on the bookshelf are such an adorable touch!!! I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who dreamt of having a beautiful library full of leather - bound books when I was a kid.

You are so good! Thank you for your excellent way of explaining and technical detail. Luv it!

This is a wonderful!! I’ve enjoyed so much your last video and this is one is the perfect final! Thank you so much for sharing your talents and explaining step by step. 😉

This is absolutely fantastic! I've been thinking of recovering all of my 600+ Star Trek collection for the last few months, and this has been the vest video by far that explains/shows the process

Yesss! The perfect thing to wake up to! Thanks so much for this!

This is exactly the video that I needed. I have a bunch of childhood books that I treasure dearly and this will protect them from damage while looking sharp! The tutorial was perfectly clear and I can’t wait to see more projects like this!

Absolutely brilliant!

Well done. I'm glad to see the book cover tutorial video is up as well! Thank you!

Waiting so long for this!!! I’d love to see more detail about the leather foiling and how you made the designs

I am actually super impressed by this video. I've watched professional bookbinding videos but none ever have good voice over explaining things very very simply even I can understand lol. Immediately I can see 1 or 2 places I've gone wrong in my own books just from this simple tutorial! Thank you!!!

I’m going to boarding school this August and have a few books which I want to take with me but are very flimsy. Given the way I usually treat my books, they won’t last long without a hardcover. So thank you for this tutorial

I absolutely love your videos, and your work brother! Keep on keeping on!

Amazing great video very detailed and useful keep up the great work

You've done an incredible job with this!

You sure make it look easy! Thanks for the great instructions!

You've given me a whole bunch of ideas for some very old books that I'd love to restore to a glorious state. Thanks again.

Both videos are spot on, thank you for sharing your knowledge!

You rock! Your books look fabulous. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

Your videos are so easy to understand. Thank you!

😲😲 Its amazing and beautiful😍😍😍

I can’t wait to learn more about the design cover process:)

Wow. That looks really, really good!

Wonderful! I'm so glad I found your channel -- I'm just starting my bookbinding journey, and this is so helpful!! Thank you for making this. I would love to see a more in depth video about your designs, or any other book making related video!

You are amazing! Thank you so much for making this video. I'm having a online antique bookshop and i started to fix old books now i finally can get to the leather part.🤗

Thanks so much for introducing me to a new hobby!! I have loads of cheap paperbacks that are beat up from years of use and this is a great way to breathe life back into them. I will say, based on my first time experience, a few things jumped out at me: 1. When you say thinner leather is better, you MEAN it. I used what I thought was very thin leather and it was extremely difficult to get pulled taut over the book. I'm still pleased with it for a first time attempt, but you weren't kidding about the need for a bit of stretchiness! 2. You don't need a book press but even having something simple like a bench mounted vice would be a lifesaver. I wrangled my way through using two C clamps and it was...less than fun. 3. I was very pleased with the results of the heat activated foil, BUT I had a huge problem: it glued all of the pages together completely to the point that I accidentally tore a couple of pages before giving up. Thankfully I was able to sand down all the foil to unstick the pages. Not sure if it was the brand of foil I was using or if I applied heat and pressure for too long, but my advice if the pages do stick would be to NOT force it and just get back out the sandpaper. Overall it was a very satisfying project! I can't wait to try other materials too like using fancy paper instead of leather on the cover.

Man, exceptional work!

For the last month i've been deep diving researching how to make/bind books so i can make them as gifts for my boyfriend. Especially after realizing how much leather books cost! I've almost gathered all my supplies and I will be starting shortly. Thanks for all your videos, it's helped me IMMENSLY.

This is golden!

Great video. I would definitely like to see a video on how you make your book cover cricut designs, I have a cricut and know it is much easier to do it that way but don't have any templates

Great project and presentation. Thanks!

WOW this is an actual art, I really enjoyed the video Thank you for sharing

Thank you1 This is epic -nI make archival handmade paper so learning to create and bind my own books is the next logical step and you just saved me so much time ❤️🙏🏻❤️

That is super cool.

Thank you for this! I was wondering how leather bookbinding differed from the cloth bookbinding I usually do and this answered my questions perfectly!

thank you for sharing this knowledge... it is very enabling.

This Is unbelievable!!

So cool! And i like narnia setup with sleeping lion

I'm currently making some medeval books and this way saves so much more time than the way I was gonna use! Thanks so much for these videos. These are so helpful.

Dude, thats so amazing!

his was fantastic! Thank you!

It's a perfect video. Thank you for sharing you information and experinece with the auidence.

That is fantastic! I’m going to give it a try.

Really informative. Thank you.

I have created two books so far and, yes, it is addictive. I have many more planned out and a few signed books to give the leather treatment.

Yesss I haven't even watched it yet but I clicked on it so fast when I saw the notification 😁 I had to comment how excited I am that part 2 came out! I feel like a kid on Christmas day unpacking a gift 🤣

Superb. I enjoy your process. Am ready to give it a shot myself. Thank you.

Very efficient! and clear. Thank you.

Ha, I had seen part 1 yesterday for the first time and was hoping for part 2! Great timing :>

Thank you so much for this set of videos on bookbinding! I have been looking for a good tutorial for a couple of weeks and finally found yours... my search is now over- your videos are precisely what I was hoping to find. The information is complete without being tedious and I've already gotten started. (I was so excited to show my husband that paper could be sanded... never thought about that before...) Your results are so professional. Well done! Thank you for sharing your skills with us!

I JUST LOVE THOSE BOOKS AND NEVER KNEW ABOUT THAT GOLD IRON-ON GILDING WOW..... AND THEY ARE AMAZING... ALL THOSE DESIGNS ARE BEAUTIFUL... SO GREAT JOB LOVE THIS... FINALLY A EASIER AND NICER WAY FOR REBINDING AND MAKING BOOKS TOO.. GREAT JOB AND VIDEO THANK YOU... SEEN MANY BOOK PRESSES AND YOURS IS DONE JUST AS I WAS GONNA DO SO REALLY GREAT JOB..!

I've been dying to do this (I need a hobby) and this is very insightful, thank you.

This worked so well! I'm almost finished my first book!

Great tutorial!

Please please make a video on how to do the cover art! your first two are amazing and very well produced!

Wow. Impressive!

This must have been one of the best videos i've seen on this topic. I'd like to thank you for your effort and time you've put into filming and istructing this.

this instructional is SO WELL MADE you instantly got a new sub

Great video simple and effective thanks!

My wife and I really enjoyed your videos and will be watching more of them as we begin our journey into this craft. Thank you for such entertaining and informative videos!

Wow, really enjoy your video and keen to learn more.

These videos were amazing!! So clear and easy to follow, thank you so much! I want to bind a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird for my dad for his birthday, and now I feel like I kind of know what I'm doing. :) I would love to see how you made your book press too!

Greta tutorial. I would love to see how to make a book press!

Very useful, thanks from Tasmania.

Thank you for posting!!

What a great video. Thank you!

Amazing, love it

great videos thank you for your hard work

Man, these tutorials are amazing. Both parts of them. Made with great quality too, both content and editing wise. You can tell when someone makes something with love, these videos feel like so. Also, how you perfectioned this art in a matter of months is amazing and goes beyond me, your craft is something truly to praise! Thanks for these tutorials man, I can't believe I'm watching them for free, they're so good. I want to apply this method to make my own classic-looking/grimoire-style notebooks. I can't start making them right now (still gathering some $$$) but when I do, I'll be definitely helping myself with your tutorials. Thanks Austin! Edit: I also wanted to mention that, even the idea of helping to add spanish subtitles to the video crossed my mind, so I can show this to my spanish speaking friends (spanish is my mother tongue). Let me know what you think about that.

Outstanding! Thanks a lot

A video about the cover design process would be absolutely fantastic. It's my favourite part, I love decorating things ☺️

thank you so much for suggesting the cover design process. ive been wanting to get into leather bookbinding and ive been looking at stamps and pallets with a tear to my eye because its just SO expensive and im a newbie and cant afford 80 to 100 dollars for a single tool. so THANK YOU!

It feels like I have been waiting forever for this video. I am just getting started with bookbinding, and your last video has been one of the best I've seen so far. Nobody else does step by step.