Our Story
SAS Bookbinding is a hand bookbinding Company.
My name is Paul Schubert; I have owned and operated SAS Bookbinding since founding the business in 1993.
My bookbinding career started with the completion of a Binding and Finishing apprenticeship at the Victorian Government Printing Office between 1982 -1985. The VGPO had a huge hand binding department as well as all other aspects of printing and binding, but right from the start I specialised in hand binding.
In 1986 I secured a position at M+M Binders in Mt Waverley, who at the time were Australia’s premier bookbinding Company. I obtained a wealth of experience at the highly automated M+M but found my way back to the hand binding department. Here I worked with many experienced binders from around the world including one who was nearing the end of his long career – Jack Mackie. Jack was a doyen of the bookbinding fraternity, having worked for many years at Flatterly and Sons as a specialist gold finisher before moving to M+M when Flatterley’s was acquired by M+M in 1988. I became Jack’s successor at M+M, learning everything I could from “The Master” before he retired in 1991 after 50 years service to the trade.
In 1993 I started working part time for myself after hours and on weekends with the help of a Marshall gold blocker borrowed from M+M Directors Kevin Meddings and Pierre Michaud. I set up in my spare room in Pakenham where I worked for some years before running out of space and moving my operations to a purpose built workshop at its current site in Narre Warren North in 2000. By gradually winding back my hours at M+M to three 12 hour days per week it gave me more time during business hours to expand SAS. Finally in 2003, shortly before M+M was acquired by Printlinks, I resigned after 17 years service.
Now free to devote all my time to building SAS, I began subcontracting to M+M while at the same time expanding my own client base. I have continued to grow the business in recent years with the acquisition of a hot metal Ludlow machine, leather skiving machine and large format Marshall gold blocker.
In 2006 I launched Cards for Keeps, a totally new and unique binding concept to preserve greeting card collections in bound hard cover book form. It enables those of us who have kept cards from special events (Weddings, Birthdays etc.) to enjoy and preserve them permanently.
SAS Bookbinding now manufactures a diverse range of hand bound limited edition books and associated products. These include hand bound limited editions, folios, slipcases, photo albums, menu covers, thesis’, gold embossing restorations and repairs.