Got told my grain direction was backwards on a rebind job in Austin

I did a full rebind of this old copy of 'The Hobbit' for a customer, used some nice marbled paper for the cover. Thought it looked great. He pointed out that the grain on the endpapers was running the wrong way, which he said would make the book not open flat and maybe crack the spine over time. Man, I was bummed. I had no idea that mattered so much. He was really nice about it, showed me how to check grain direction using a piece of his own paper. Now I always check before I glue anything down. Has anyone else had a customer teach them something basic they missed in the shop?

2 comments

2 Comments

joseph_torres9d ago

Yeah that reminds me of a buddy who did a repair on an old atlas. Customer pointed out the new endpapers had way too much glue and it was bucking up.

allen.charlie9d ago

Got a buddy who runs a small bindery shop in Portland. He told me once a customer called him out because he used repositionable glue on a family Bible. Customer came back a month later, pages all falling out. Guy was super patient, showed him the difference between PVA and that repositionable stuff. Said the wrong glue turns into dust after a few years. My friend still talks about that day. Checks his adhesives twice now.