I ran into a guy named Frank at the bindery supply store last Thursday. He saw me grabbing PVA and told me to try paste instead for my leather repair jobs. He said PVA dries too rigid and cracks over time on flexible spines, which made sense because I had a book come back after 6 months with a split hinge. I tried his suggested wheat paste mix on a 1920s novel I was working on. The difference in flexibility was night and day, it actually moves with the cover now. Has anyone else had better luck switching glue types for specific projects?
I noticed a few people at the guild meeting last month kept messing up their book cloth cuts. They were measuring each book over and over with a ruler and still coming out off by a few millimeters. I use this trick where I cut a strip of cardboard to the exact spine width plus 10mm for the hinge and just wrap it around to mark the cloth. It takes maybe 30 seconds once you have the template and I haven't had a misaligned spine piece in 6 months. Has anyone else found a faster way to mark cloth without all the measuring?
I always figured bookbinding was something you had to learn from old timers or YouTube videos. Then I walked past the arts building at City College last month and saw a flier for a 6 week intro course. I signed up on a whim and the instructor showed me how to sew signatures properly... now I can't believe I was just gluing everything together. Has anyone else taken a formal class that changed their whole approach?
I've been doing long stitch bindings for years with this old wooden frame I built myself. A customer came by my booth at the Philly book fair and said my spine gaps were uneven. I was kinda defensive at first, but I looked closer and she was right. So I switched to a metal screw post frame and now my sections line up way better. Anyone else had a customer's feedback totally change your go-to method?
Was working on a rebind of a 1920s poetry book in my tiny apartment in Portland and the endpaper tore right at the hinge. I panicked for a sec, then grabbed some Japanese tissue and wheat paste and patched it from behind. You can barely see it now. Anyone else have close calls like that?
Had a job last Tuesday where I was flat-backing a 400-page novel, and I went through almost a full pint of PVA because the brush kept drying out between passes. I stopped three times to rinse the brush in warm water, but by the third round the glue was getting tacky and lumpy. Ended up scraping off a layer and starting over. The whole afternoon was shot. I've used a glue pot with a roller for bigger runs, but for single books the brush feels like the only option. Does anyone here use a different tool for small projects that cuts down on waste?
Was pressing a batch of covers last night and noticed my cloth was pulling away from the board on one corner. Turns out I cut it with the grain running the wrong way. Anyone else run into this with heat-activated materials?
My grandpa came over last week and saw me struggling with this cheap press I got off Amazon. He just laughed and pulled out his old cast iron book press from the 1940s, said he paid $5 for it at a garage sale in Detroit back in '72. Told me I was fighting against bad mechanics instead of learning the craft. Idk, it hit different because he showed me how the threads still move smooth after 80 years, while my press already has a stripped bolt after 6 months. Does anyone else have a tool they inherited that puts newer stuff to shame?
Always used PVA for everything. Then at a workshop last spring, another binder said to try wheat paste for cloth instead. The difference in how flat the covers lay is night and day. No more bubbling or peeling at the edges. Has anyone else had a better experience with paste over PVA for certain materials?
I was working on a 16th century style binding replica last Saturday and decided to use my heat gun on low to hurry up the PVA on the spine. Well, I got distracted for maybe 45 seconds and ended up charring the leather right through the mull. Now I have a crisp black patch that looks like I dropped a cigarette on it. Has anyone else melted something they shouldn't have with a heat gun?
I was talking to a guy at a bindery meetup in Columbus last month, and he said something that stuck with me. He told me "if your thread isn't waxed right, you're fighting the book from the start." I had always just used whatever came with my kit, but after trying his method of beeswax with a little pressure, my stitching feels way smoother and more consistent. Has anyone else found a specific wax blend that works better for certain spine sizes?
I was at a guild meetup in Portland last month and this guy in his 70s watched me sewing a text block for like two minutes... he said I was pulling the thread way too tight and it would warp the spine over time. I always thought tighter was better for a firm book, but he showed me how to let the thread sit looser and let the sections breathe a bit. Tried it on my last rebind of a 1920s novel and the spine opened way flatter... anyone else get feedback that totally flipped their technique?
I left a rebind in my press for almost a week last month and the pages came out way flatter than my usual overnight. Does anyone else experiment with longer pressing times or is that just overkill for most projects?
I was at a shop in Portland last month talking to this old timer who was looking at the rebinds I had with me. He asked why all my spines were so tight and perfect, and I said because that's how I was taught to make them look clean. He laughed and said I was making my books harder to open and more likely to crack down the line. At first I blew him off because I thought tight spines meant quality work. But he showed me an example he had in his bag where the spine had a tiny bit of play in it and let the book open flat. I tested it and honestly the difference was huge. Now I'm trying to unlearn years of muscle memory. Has anyone else had to go back and fix a habit you thought was the right way?
They had a whole shelf of books where someone had rebound them all in matching red cloth with gold foil titles. Anybody ever run into a collection like that in the wild?
Paid $12 for some bargain PVA glue at a craft store and had it eat through the spine of a 1920s poetry book within a week. Has anyone here found a decent archival glue that doesn't cost a fortune?
I was showing him my latest project last Tuesday, a 16th century style binding, and he just reached over and loosened the cords by a full turn, no warning. He said I was crushing the signatures and that the spine would crack inside a year with that much stress, which honestly made my stomach drop because I had been doing it that way for like five years. Have any of you gotten a seemingly small critique that completely shifted how you approach a whole part of the process?
He told me he used to make his own wheat paste from scratch every morning and said the smell alone taught him more about paper grain than any book ever could, and now I'm wondering if I rely too much on modern stuff - anyone else ever switch their glue method and notice a real difference?
He told me it dries brittle in six months and showed me a book he had to rebind that fell apart because the previous guy used the dollar store stuff, has anyone else seen that happen?
I used to think spending $80 on a single knife was ridiculous. Ive been using a cheap $15 x-acto for years and thought it was fine. Then I got a Hasegawa blade at a craft fair in Seattle last spring just to see what the fuss was about. First cut through some handmade paper and it was like butter. No tearing, no crushed edges. I even got cleaner corners on my spine pieces. Has anyone else tried a nicer knife and felt silly for waiting so long?
I was at the Portland Book Festival last month checking out the vendor tables, and this older woman who restores antique books saw me struggling with a wobbly endband on a rebind I brought to show. She told me to try using a darning needle instead of a regular sewing needle for the thread path. It sounds stupid simple but it actually kept the tension even and I didn't lose the shape. Has anyone else gotten a random trick like that from a stranger at a show?
A retired bookbinder named Frank told me to stop using Elmer's for my rebinds last February and I ignored him, now all my 2023 journals are falling apart at the spines because the cheap stuff doesn't flex with the paper over time, has anyone else had a whole batch of books fail on them this way?
I've been trying to get a clean headband and spine match on this 1890s poetry book for weeks. Finally figured out the leather was too thick for the first 6 attempts, so I thinned it down to about 1mm. Last night I got the gold tooling to line up perfect for the first time ever. Has anyone else fought with a tricky spine and headband combo that just would not cooperate?
I've been struggling with my book boards warping after glue up for what felt like forever. Took me 6 months (and like 15 ruined covers) to realize I was ignoring the grain direction on my binder's board. A guy at the local shop in Portland told me to always run the grain parallel to the spine and I thought I was doing it right. Now I double check every single sheet with a bend test before cutting. Has anyone else had a similar dumb mistake that took way too long to catch?
Guy at a guild meeting in Portland told me I was skipping the most important step by not roughing up the folds before sewing. Tried it on my next rebind of a 1910 poetry book and the whole thing laid flatter than anything I'd done before. Anybody else got a simple tip that totally flipped their process?