Method and system for binding a pack of signatures

A method of binding a pack of signatures, at least some of said signatures including a plurality of interleaved sheets and each of said signatures having a closed side, comprises the following steps. The pack of signatures is clamped with the closed sides of the signatures lowermost and coplanar with one another along a spine of the pack. The closed lowermost sides of the signatures are sawed to expose the interleaved sheets of the signatures. The sawed lowermost sides of the signatures are slashed with a multiplicity of cuts lateral to the lengths of the sawed lowermost sides. A preparatory adhesive is applied to the sawed lowermost sides of the signatures to create an initial bond of the interleaved sheets of the signatures. The preparatory adhesive is cured until it is substantially free of surface moisture. After applying and curing the preparatory adhesive, a notcher forms a multiplicity of closely spaced, wide open notches in the lowermost sides of the signatures. After forming the notches in the lowermost sides of the signatures, a spine coat adhesive and a side coat adhesive are applied to the notched lowermost sides of the signatures. Finally, the spine coat adhesive and the side coat adhesive are cured until they are substantially set. The application of adhesive before, as well as after, the step of forming the multiplicity of notches in the lowermost sides of the signatures significantly enhances the binding strength of the pack.