Black Oak Bindery

@blackoakbindery

Bookbinder creating custom rebinds of sci-fi & fantasy books.

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Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· 27d

Progress on the endband for Neuromancer. A lot of the color choices for this binding revolve around the contrast between gritty cement structures and neon holograms. 🧶 #bookart #bookcollector #handbound #bookbinding

The top edge of a book showing a sewn endband in progress. The page edges are grey and the endband is yellow, pink, blue, and grey.

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· 29d

"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." Neuromancer by William Gibson. I love this opening line so much that I thought it deserved a place in the design of this binding. 🪐📚💙 #Cyberpunk #bookedges #bookworm #bookbinding #bookaesthetic

The top edge of a book showing the painted page edges that look like TV static.

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Jul 15

I learned a new endband technique! Wooooo! I've been taking lessons with Lang Ingalls and she taught me this technique that she learned from Luigi Castiglioni who developed it. I wanted the endband to be really random in appearance so this technique fit perfectly. #bookbinding #handmade

The top edge of a book showing a black and white endband.

A zoomed in image of the top of a book at the spine edge. The image is showing the process of sewing an endband.

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Jul 13

The chaos of design! I'm working on the cover design for Neuromancer by William Gibson. Full size drawings are helpful in determining layout. This draft has shown me that the silhouettes need to be larger and the lines thicker so they stand out more from the grid. #cyberpunk #bookbinding #scifi

A table top covered with a sketchbook, large drawing, a book, and colored pencils.

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· May 14

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. When the recipient of this binding received it they said "Wow, I can really tell they read the book." That might sound obvious, but that's one of the best compliments I can get on my work. 💙📚🪐 #bookbinding #specialedition

A book standing upright with both covers open to the viewer. It's covered in green leather, has red drops of paint near the head of the book, and a hold design crossing from cover to cover.

A book standing upright with the fore edge facing the viewer. The covers are open to reveal marbled endpages.

The corner of a book covered in green leather. There is a gold design debossed into the leather.

The corner of a book covered in green leather. There is gold tooling and red paint on it.

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Apr 30

I've started production on the books for the Crown of Sea and Storm Kickstarter. All copies of the hand bound edition have gone which is awesome to see! The 1st pic is 3 of the books being pressed and the 2nd shows the difference pressing the signatures makes. #bookbinding #romantasy

A stack of book signatures being pressed between boards.

Two stacks of book signatures. One is more compressed than the other.

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Apr 16

I've started working on a run of special editions for the Kickstarter of Crown of Sea and Storm by Anthea Sharp It's a lovely stand alone fantasy romance! Get in touch if you'd like to have some special editions created for your next campaign! #authorlife #bookbinding #writingcommunity #writer 💙📚

The top edge of a handmade book that is in progress. The page edges are painted silver with blue speckles.

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Mar 19

Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. I used silver foil and mica inlays to create an arch centered on the spine. For the keystone I painted the walls of the inlay area red. It's a small touch but I felt it was a way to highlight the symbolism of the keystone in the story. 🪐📚💙 #bookbinding

The spine of a leather bound book showing an inlay of mica.

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Mar 12

Morning Star by Pierce Brown. Book 3 of the first Red Rising trilogy. Posting out of order but I've never claimed to be good at this social media thing. 🤷‍♀️ Design statement in the comments (contains spoilers). 💙📚🪐 #bookbinding #scifiandfantasy #custombinding

A copy of Morning Star by Pierce Brown standing upright. The book is covered in black leather and has both covers open to face the viewer. There is a large red circle in the center.

A book standing upright with the spine facing the viewer. Both covers are open to show the endpages. The page edges are red with splashes of gold paint.

A close up view of the corner of a leather bound book. There are strips of leather running across the cover.

The top of a closed book. The page edges are red and splashed with gold.

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Feb 25

Showing off the parts of the Red Rising design! Designing a book requires taking all parts into account and how they play together. Sometimes it takes months, sometimes it takes days to figure it all out. I have some spots for getting a commission of this binding. 📚🪐💙 #scifi #bookbinding

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Feb 6

Red Rising by Pierce Brown Published by Del Ray, 2014. I'm really excited to finally share photos of this bind. I've been working on binding the first 3 books of the series since this past August and now the eponymous Red Rising is complete! 🪐📚💙 🧶 #books #bookbinding #bookcollecting

A book standing upright with both covers open to the viewer.

A book standing upright with the foreedge facing the viwer. Both covers are open to show the endpages.

A book standing upright in a three-quarter view with the foreedge to the viewer. There is a red and gold design on the page edges.

The bottom corner of a book showing some foil decoration.

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Feb 4

Heading to Codex this year but only on the last day. However, the book I bound for last year's Open Set competition will be at the American Academy of Bookbinding table the whole fair. I know I won't get through half of what's there in a day but I'm really looking forward to trying! #bookbinding

A flyer for the book fair "Codex" paired with images of a white leather book standing upright.

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Feb 2

Sneaky peaky. The binding of Red Rising is done. Golden Son and Morning are right on its heels. Full glamour shots coming later in the week. 🪐📚💙 #redrising #piercebrown #finebinding #bookbinding

The book "Red Rising" by Pierce Brown being held up to show the spine. The book has a large red onlay wrapping around the spine and is bound in black leather.

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Jan 26

I really, really love it when decorative elements from the page edges and the endbands meet. It can be a subtle thing but it's just lovely when you notice it. I went simple on the endbands for this book because there is a LOT going on everywhere else! #paintededges #bookcollecting #bookbinding

The top edge of a book showing the gold and red edge decoration and the black endband.

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Jan 23

Getting a new bookshelf means it's time to reorganize! From left to right I'm going with non-fiction to TBR, sci-fi to general fiction, fantasy. 📚💙 📚⏰

Three brown, wooden bookshelves up against a wall. There are books in stacks on the shelves and on the ground.

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Jan 21

A collection of edges! From top to bottom: Morning Star, Golden Son, Red Rising by Pierce Brown. All were done with thin layers of acrylic paint and some very messy splattering! #scifi #bookbinding #custombooks #finebinding

A stack of books sitting on a table with decorated edges. They are all painted with red and gold paint

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Jan 16

The binding of the Red Rising trilogy is progressing! The design features a large onlay that's been hand dyed and pared to 0.3 mm. I attached it with paste and now it's in the press so the onlay can sink into the covering leather and be backpared later. 🪐📚💙 🧶 #scifi #bookbinding

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Dec 31

2025 recap! Happy New Year! It's been a hell of a year. I attended my first Worldcon, completed several commissions, sold some personal work, and made progress towards my diploma in fine binding. 🧶 🪐📚 📷📚💙

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Dec 30

Picked up a new family member this weekend 🥰 This is Aurora. She's a corgi/German shepherd mix.

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Dec 12

Patti 209 by K.G. Anderson. This book is a collection of short stories revolving around what happens if our current political situation in the US doesn't change. The stories are poignant, funny, and present situations that are horrifying to consider.

A copy of Patti 209 by K. G. Anderson standing upright with both covers open. It's covered in black leather and has two strands of DNA crossing from the back cover to the front.

A book standing upright with both covers open and the foreedge facing the viewer. The endpages are purple and feather a painted depiction of a soundwave.

A close up view of the endpage of a book. It's purple and has a painted depiction of a soundwave.

A box laying open to show the black leather book inside.

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Dec 8

Edge decoration for Red Rising! Blood splatters for the violence and rage of the story and a line for Darrow cutting his path through it all. 🧶 📚🪐💙 #redrising #scifibooks #piercebrown #sprayededges

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Dec 5

Continuing on with the mockups for the binding of the Red Rising trilogy, here's the design for Golden Son. Loyalty and betrayal is the main theme I'm working with, shown by the black lines running down the covers. 🪐📚💙 #bookbinding

A leather covered plaquette showing the design for a book. It has black leather with a red leather circle in the center and black lines running straight down.

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Dec 3

Working on some titling today! 1. Almost final - there's a bit of clean up to do 2. Final pass of blind tooling 3. First pass of tooling 4. The setup of how I transfer the title #bookbinder #handcraft #books #selfpublishedauthor #finebinding #foilquill #goldfoil

A hand bound copy of the book Patti 209 by K. G. Anderson being held upright. It is covered in black leather and has DNA strands going across the cover

A close up of a hand bound copy of the book Patti 209 by K. G. Anderson showing the process of adding the book title. It is covered in black leather and has DNA strands going across the cover.

A copy of a hand bound copy of the book Patti 209 by K. G. Anderson showing the process of adding the book title. It is covered in black leather and has DNA strands going across the cover.

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Dec 1

Work has begun on the Red Rising rebinds! I'll be creating 10 copies of these bindings. If you're interested in getting one when they're available, fill out the form in my bio so you can be notified. #redrising #piercebrown #scifiandfantasy #rebinding #bookbinder

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Nov 5

I'm working with different textures in the designs for the Red Rising bindings so I decided to make physical mockups to see how everything works together. The title was added digitally. #booksky #bookbinding #scifi

A leather covered plaquette standing against a wall. There is a red circle in the center and the title "red rising" written vertically down the center.

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Sep 29

It's been a minute since I've posted a tarot deck box. I love making these and can do custom colors to match your tarot or oracle deck! ✨ #tarotdecks #witchy #dailytarot #oraclecards #witchsky

A box that has a black top with a crescent moon design. The walls of the box are gold and there is a ribbon closure.

A box is laying open to show that it is holding a deck of tarot cards. There are cards scattered around the box.

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Sep 16

Leather endbands are the best ✨ #bookbinding #handmade #booksky

The top edge of a book showing the leather endband.

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Aug 27

Doing some inlay work for Left Hand of Darkness today. Mica is cool but I can't say I'd voluntarily work with it again. 🫠 💙📚🪐 🧶

A blue leather book being held up. There are two lines going across the cover and a series of stone shapes blocks drawn in silver.

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Aug 13

Ok, WorldCon, I'm here with some books! This is my most recent binding: Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky @aptshadow.bsky.social The leather was hand dyed and painted to give the impression of strange growth. The endpages are a stenciled design meant to represent a net (IYKYK). 🪐📚💙 #booksky #scifi

A blue and black leather-bound copy of Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky. The book is standing upright with the spine facing the viewer and both covers open.

A book standing upright with the fore edge facing the viewer. Both covers are open to show the yellow endpages.

A close of a book showing a black pattern on blue leather.

A close up of the corner of a book showing a black and yellow pattern on blue leather.

Black Oak Bindery@blackoakbindery· Jul 28

Making some craquelle leather for the binding of Alien Clay that I'm working on. This method is fun because you can layer it with other effects and you don't always know how it's going to look. #leatherwork #leatherdye #Handmade #bookbinding