Question about grain direction on book cloth

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?

4 comments

4 Comments

the_cameron4d ago

Oh man, "pulling away from the board on one corner" yeah that's the exact thing that got me last month. I was in such a hurry to get a batch done I just grabbed the roll and cut without checking the grain. The heat gun basically made it curl up like a potato chip. It's like the cloth has a mind of its own when you get the grain backwards, it just wants to fight you the whole way. I ended up having to peel the whole thing off and start over which was a real pain. Lesson learned though, now I check the grain direction three times before I cut anything.

jordanc324d ago

Didn't really buy the whole grain direction thing for a while, figured it was one of those old-school myths that didn't matter much. Then I messed up a batch of door panels last spring, had the grain going every which way, and the heat gun turned them into wavy messes. Watched a buddy do the same job with the grain lined up proper and his came out flat as a pancake. That was the moment I realized I was just being stubborn for no reason. Now I'm the guy checking grain twice before cutting, feels dumb I fought it so long. You ever try running your hand across the cloth to feel which way it lays smoother?

kelly_west741d ago

Yep, I read somewhere that @jordanc32 had the same issue with heat-activated cloth.

bettyfox1d ago

That bit about the cloth having a mind of its own is spot on. Once you fight the grain, the cloth will find a way to let you know you messed up.