Ha ha, I guess the little birdie showed you this image? 
Making these pads is super easy:
- Cut paper to size
- Make a neat stack and press it hard (you can use a proper booking press, I just used two floor tiles and big stack of books)
- Apply some bookbinding glue (getting the correct glue is the one important step) to the side where you want the binding to be.
- Wait until it’s dry (maybe apply a second coat)
Tips
- Compressing the stack of paper is important so that the glue doesn’t seep between the sheets. You only want to hold them together at the edges.
- The correct glue really is important. It’s less moist (paper won’t warp) and much more elastic.
As to why I did it: Well, I do have a lot of time on my hands now (work cut my hours by 50%) and my preferred ruling for letter writing isn’t available. I like a very faint 4mm dot grid with a 1cm white border. I used to use a clipboard with a single sheet, but somehow writing on a proper pad is so much more fun!
You also get to try all kinds of paper:
- Clairefontaine Clairmail 60gsm printer paper: No bleed or feather, fairly cheap but a bit rough
- Clairefontaine 50gsm printer paper: Much the same, but a bit lighter
- Tomoe River: I’ll have to see if it’s sturdy enough for tearing off a page, also it’s so thin that my printer draws in multiple pages so it’s a PITA to print on it (unlike the two above).
- Double A printer paper: Haven’t tried it, but I hear it’s good and you can use both sides