c/bookbinders

The retired binder who told me to stop forcing the crease

An old timer at the shop in Austin said I was pressing too hard on the spine when I glued up my text blocks. He told me to let the book open itself and just guide the cover, not muscle it. I ignored him for two weeks because I thought he was just being slow, but my joints kept cracking on the first open. Finally I tried his way on a 300-page journal, using only light finger pressure. No crack, no strain, and the hinge sits flat like it was always meant to. Has anyone else had to unlearn a hard habit like that, or is it just me and my stubborn grip?

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butler.patricia•1d ago

PVA vs wheat paste on a 200-year-old binding, guess which one cracked

Tested both on a reject spine from the estate sale last month, the PVA turned brittle overnight while the wheat paste flexed like new, anyone else ditched modern glue for old-school recipes?

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andrew_nguyen64•1d ago

The $28 bone folder that saved my fingers... and my patience

Spent $28 on a real bone folder after months of using a plastic one and I can't believe the difference, especially when pressing down creases on 5-layer leather stacks. My thumbs were cramping every weekend before this, has anyone else made the switch from cheap tools and felt silly about it?

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anthonyh85•4d ago

My $280 book press was worth every penny, but not for the reason I thought

I bought a proper nipping press last spring after using clamps and boards forever. Turns out the real win is how it keeps my glued spines flat while drying overnight, not the pressing itself. Anyone else drop money on a tool they ended up using differently than planned?

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matthewross•4d ago

My mentor was right about grain direction, I fought it for 6 months

My old boss Dave kept telling me to always run the grain longways on book cloth covers. I thought it was old school nonsense, so I kept doing my own thing with scraps from a shop in Cleveland. After 5 months I noticed my covers were curling at the corners, especially the big art books. Finally cut two identical covers, one with grain running with the spine and one against it. The difference was night and day, the one against the grain sat flat as a board. Has anyone else had hinges crack because of this? Trying to decide if I need to trim my current batch before I glue them up.

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clark.joel•5d ago

Lost 3 hours and $60 on a cheap bone folder that snapped in half

Picked up a set of plastic bone folders from a bargain bin in Denver last month, figured they'd be fine for light scoring work. The third one broke clean through while I was pressing a fold on some 80lb paper, and the other two already have stress cracks. Anyone else had luck with a specific brand of bone folders that actually lasts more than a few projects?

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ivan40•11d ago

Am I wrong for switching from glued spines to sewing after 15 years?

I used to bind everything with hot glue at my shop in Austin, quick and solid for about 200 books a year. Then I took on a client's 30-year-old ledger that fell apart in my hands, the glue just turned to dust. Now I sew every single text block by hand, even simple stuff, and my repair work is holding up way better. Is that extra hour per book worth it for you guys, or am I just being stubborn about an old-school habit?

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gavin80•11d ago

Rant: That hinge pin that snapped after 120 years of service

Someone dropped off a family Bible from 1904 to have the spine redone. I got the old boards off fine, but one of those brass hinge pins just snapped clean in half while I was easing it out. It wasn't rusted or bent, just worn down to a thread after a century of opening and closing. I spent the next two hours trying to source a matching replacement in Portland with no luck, so I ended up machining a tiny pin from a brass rod on my buddy's lathe. Worked out in the end, but now I'm wondering, how do you folks handle vintage hardware that fails mid-restoration? Do you ever tell the customer the piece just gave up after 120 years, or do you always eat the cost and time quietly?

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angela_kelly•11d ago

The 2019 Toronto book fair changed my mind on using PVA for everything

I used to glue every joint with PVA, no exceptions. Then at the Toronto book fair a few years back, this older binder showed me a restoration project where PVA had failed after 15 years. He switched to wheat paste for that job. I tried it on a simple rebind last week and the difference in how the spine flexes is real. I still use PVA for endpapers, but for sections now I go with paste. Anyone else cut back on PVA after seeing something go wrong?

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troymorgan•15d ago

Overheard a customer ask for a book "signed" and it got me thinking

Was at the bindery drop-off counter on Tuesday and this woman asked if we could "sign" her rebind. She meant emboss her name on the cover, not autograph it. Took me a minute to figure out what she wanted. It made me realize how many people outside the trade don't know the difference between lettering, stamping, and actual marbling or tooling. Has anyone else had a customer use the wrong term and you just rolled with it?

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the_andrew•16d ago

My old bone folder snapped after 14 years, had to improvise

I was mid-way through rounding the spine on a batch of 12 journals last Tuesday when my old cow bone folder just cracked clean in half. That thing had been with me since I started binding in 2009, and I never thought to buy a spare. I grabbed a spare plastic one from the drawer, but it kept leaving shiny marks on the leather, so I ended up using the flat end of a teaspoon for the evening rush. Has anyone else had a favorite tool give out on them without warning, and what did you switch to that actually worked?

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baker.simon•17d ago

That library repair job in Salem changed my hinge fix routine

Got called in to fix a bunch of old reference books at the Salem public library, and one had a hinge that was cracked in a way I'd never seen, like the thread was pulling straight through the boards. I ended up using a linen tape with extra thin adhesive instead of my usual heavy PVA, and the movement felt way more natural after. Has anyone else run into weird hinge failures on institutional books that made you swap your go-to method?

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ryan_flores•20d ago

My sewing frame wobble fix after that Boston workshop

Went to a bindery demo in Boston last month and the instructor showed me how a tiny strip of cork under the press board stops the whole frame from shaking, so now I can punch holes without re-aligning my signatures every 3 pages, has anyone else tried cork pads instead of felt?

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bell.emma•22d ago

Does anyone actually knot the thread when doing longstitch?

I was teaching a friend the longstitch binding last weekend and she kept asking why my threads never slipped, but every time she pulled hers tight the spine pulled loose. Turns out I've been doing a double knot at every station for years, but her kit's instructions didn't mention it once. Has anyone else found that most longstitch tutorials skip this step or am I just paranoid about my books falling apart?

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butler.patricia•22d ago

Mistakes in a 1910 rebind, hinge paste vs my usual PVA

I spent a Saturday on an old songbook from an estate sale and used my standard PVA for the hinges, only for the boards to crack when I flexed the text block two days later. Switched to a starch paste mix on the second try and the joints moved like they should, no cracking at all. Has anyone else had better luck with paste on older leather or am I just chasing ghosts?

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amyb54•23d ago

PVA vs wheat paste, I was a skeptic until my 1920s reback

I spent 3 years swearing by PVA only for everything, but for this old novel from a library sale in Pittsburgh, the spine was so brittle that PVA just crumbled the paper. Wheat paste took longer and got sloppy, but the pages actually flex back now instead of cracking. Anyone else find that certain repairs just demand the old school glue, or am I overthinking a 40% failure difference?

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sean_perry•23d ago

Gone through 3 bone folders this year, finally figured out why they kept snapping

I do a lot of tight spines on small journals, like 4x6 inch ones. Kept snapping bone folders at the handle right where it meets the blade. Took me 4 months and 3 broken tools to realize I was putting way too much pressure on the fold instead of letting the paper crease naturally. Switched to a lighter touch and started using a Teflon folder for the first pass. Anyone else have a tool they thought was junk but turned out they were just using it wrong?

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patricia_lee•27d ago

My bone folder slipped and gouged a $120 leather cover, here's the save

Last Tuesday in my studio I pressed too hard on a wet paring edge and the folder skidded across a full hide, leaving a deep scratch. I rubbed in a bit of matching dye and then burnished the spot with a smooth river stone for about 15 minutes, and you honestly can't see it unless you tilt it in direct light. Has anyone else fixed a gouge without cutting and re-covering?

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clairebaker•1mo ago

Hand stitched a repair in the back row of a wedding and the officiant noticed

So my cousin got married last Saturday at this outdoor venue near Asheville. I had my emergency bookbinding kit in my purse because I was fixing a friend's journal for her that afternoon. During the ceremony, I noticed my own notebook cover was peeling at the corner. I figured, eh, nobody is looking at me, I'll just do a quick stab stitch right there in the chair. Get maybe 10 minutes in, thread going through the corners neatly, when the officiant pauses mid vow and goes, "Is someone sewing back there?" Whole row turned around. My grandma laughed so hard she cried. I finished the stitch during the reception toast. Honestly, I learned two things: never bring a book repair into a quiet room, and those little curved needles are way easier to use standing up than sitting in a folding chair. Anyone else ever get caught doing craft work somewhere totally absurd? What did you do with your hands?

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finleyfox•1mo ago

PSA: I've been trimming my book cloth with the grain the wrong way for 5 years

Was making a batch of 6 notebooks for a local shop last month and noticed the cloth at the spine edge was fraying on every single one. A guy at the craft store asked if I was cutting with the cloth grain running vertical along the spine. I'd been cutting it horizontal the whole time like it was paper. Now I have to re-do all 6. Anyone else find out they've been doing some basic prep step backwards for years?

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rowan262•1mo ago

Finally got a smooth spine hinge after 3 tries with a bone folder trick

I've been bookbinding for about a year now, mostly doing rebinds of old paperbacks. My biggest issue was always getting a clean, sharp hinge on the spine so the cover opens flat without cracking. Last week I was watching a video from a binder in Portland and they mentioned running the bone folder along the hinge line at a slight angle instead of straight down. I tried it on a junk book first and the difference was night and day. The paper didn't tear or bunch up and the crease was super crisp. Now I'm going back to redo three books I messed up before. Has anyone else found a weird little angle trick that changed how they fold something?

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wren_brown•1mo ago

Rant: my bone folder snapped clean in half yesterday

It was my old standby that lasted 8 years and I've never had one break like that before, so has anyone found a brand that actually holds up under heavy use?

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elliot_king•1mo ago

Still getting used to switching from wheat paste to PVA for spine linings

I spent about 15 years using wheat paste for all my spine work, soaking the linen strips in a bowl and letting them get messy. Last month I finally switched to PVA after a bad batch of paste went sour on me and ruined a project. Does anyone else find PVA dries too fast for proper adjustment, or am I just not mixing it right?

2 comments

pat_hart•1mo ago

Glue pot failure almost ruined a $400 leather project Sunday night

I was doing a fine binding in dark blue goat leather, the one I'd been saving for months. My glue pot decided to overheat right as I was about to paste out the spine piece, and the whole batch of PVA turned into this lumpy stringy mess. I had to scrape it off and start over with a fresh batch, but by then the leather had already started drying out a bit and curling at the edges. Ended up having to recut a new piece from the hide because the first one was too stiff to work cleanly. The whole thing added about 45 minutes and I was cussing under my breath the entire time. So here's the debate - do you stick with a cheap glue pot that's done you fine for years but could betray you, or do you drop $80 on a temperature controlled one? Has anyone else had a glue pot cook their batch at the worst possible moment?

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abby_kim55•1mo ago

I was so sure that Japanese bookbinding glue was a gimmick

For like a year I just used regular old PVA on my projects, thinking the fancy rice-based stuff was just overpriced hype. Then I tried a little jar of methylcellulose on a paper repair last month and honestly, the difference in how it holds thin pages flat is wild. I mean, I'm still not gonna use it for everything, but for certain repairs it's actually way better. Has anyone else found a tool or material they wrote off at first but now swear by?

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