c/bookbinders

Tried using wheat paste instead of PVA for a rebind and my spine cracked after 3 months

Hit 500 books rebound this week without even noticing

I was cleaning out my workshop yesterday and counted up the spine labels from the last 6 months... came out to exactly 500 books I've rebound. Never thought I'd hit that number, especially since most of them are those beat-up library hardcovers people drop off for repair.

Spent $80 on a bone folder expecting junk, got a tool I use every day now

I ordered a cheap bone folder off Amazon thinking I'd replace it in a month. It's been six months and this thing is still going strong. The edges are smooth and it burnishes paper better than anything I've tried. I mostly use it for creasing covers and smoothing down spines on my rebinds. Anyone else had good luck with budget tools or did I just get lucky?

That spine crack on my last rebind made me switch my glue method

I was dead set on using PVA glue for all my book repairs. But a full rebind of a 1950s novel cracked right down the spine after three days. I switched to a mix of PVA and wheat paste, and that flexed way better. The endpapers even laid flat without any bubbles this time around. Now I'm wondering how many other people here had to totally ditch their go-to glue after a fail. What's your backup glue when the main one lets you down?

TIL my last batch of leather took 47 hides to finish a single custom journal order

I've been binding for about 5 years and never counted before. Turns out a full-grain goat hide only gives me around 4 decent covers after cutting around flaws. Has anyone else calculated their hide yield and been shocked at the waste?

Had to choose between PVA glue and paste for my last rebinding project

I went with PVA because I needed faster drying time for the spine lining, and it held up great even with the heavy endpapers, but has anyone had trouble with PVA cracking on a rounded back compared to paste?

PSA: Check the humidity in your workshop before you glue up

I was at a bindery in Portland last week helping a friend with a restoration job. The room felt fine to me but his hygrometer was reading 78%. He showed me how that much moisture messes with the glue drying even and can warp the boards. We had to redo half a dozen covers after they curled overnight. Has anyone else had humidity sneak up on them like that?

Spilled hide glue all over a first edition at a client's house last Thursday

That tip about endpaper grain direction I overheard at a Portland workshop

I was at a repair workshop last month in Portland and a binder named Kate mentioned she always checks grain direction on endpapers before gluing. She said if the grain runs crosswise, books can warp or crack after a year or two. Has anyone else run into problems from ignoring grain direction on their endpapers?

Ditch the PVA for paste. Took me 6 months to try it.

I spent two years using PVA for everything, spine linings and all. Finally switched to wheat paste for the joints last fall after a guy at a binder's meetup in Austin told me I was making my books too stiff. Has anyone else noticed a difference in how the book opens up after the change?

Visited the bindery at Oxford's Bodleian and saw them using wheat paste for spine lining

I went on a tour of the conservation workshop at the Bodleian Library in Oxford last month and noticed they still use traditional wheat paste for spine linings instead of modern PVA. The conservator argued it's more reversible and kinder to old leather, but my teacher back home swears PVA is stronger and lasts longer. Which do you think holds up better for a book that's actually getting handled regularly, not just sitting in a rare books room?

Vent: That one comment about my spine rounding made me rethink everything

Been binding books for about 4 years now, mostly for fun and some side gigs. I always thought my rounded spines looked good - nice and tight, professional. Then this older bookbinder at a shop in Portland looked at one of my rebinds and said straight up "your spine is choking the text block." At first I was kinda pissed. But I went home and looked at what he meant. Turns out I was rounding too much, making the book impossible to open flat. I loosened up my rounding hammer technique and started using a backing board differently. Now my books actually lay open. Has anyone else gotten a critique that made you totally change your process?

Just hit 500 books repaired this year and I'm kinda shocked

I was counting up my work orders last night and realized I've rebound or fixed 501 books since January. That's way more than I thought, and honestly my hands are feeling it. Anyone else keep a running tally of their work and get surprised by the number?

That moment I realized I'd been cutting leather grain side down for 2 years

I was trimming a red goatskin cover last month and it kept curling at the edges no matter what I did. A friend stopped by my shop, flipped it over, and asked why I was working against the natural curl. How long did it take for you to figure out stuff like grain direction?

My press frame split on a tight grain pull, but I fixed it with clamps and glue

Last Saturday I was pressing a 10x14 text block for a reback job and the frame just cracked right down the side, about 3 inches from the corner. I panicked for a minute (honestly, my hands were shaking) because I've had that press for almost 4 years and never had it fail before. I ended up clamping it tight with some bar clamps and mixing up some hide glue to fill the split while it was under pressure. It held through the rest of the pressing cycle, but I'm wondering if I should just get a new press or try to reinforce this one long term. Has anyone else had a wooden press frame crack on them and found a good way to save it?

Am I the only one who sees folks using way too much paste on their cloth?

I keep noticing people's book spines get stiff and crack because they soak the backing cloth. You really just need a thin, even coat to make it stick without gumming up the hinge. Has anyone else found a good trick to keep it light?

A client told me my headbands were 'too tight for a proper lay-flat' and now I always check the swell before sewing.

I was binding a custom journal for a regular last month, and when she picked it up she said, 'Emma, the text block feels stiff, like it's fighting to open,' which made me realize I'd been pulling my linen thread too tight during sewing, not accounting for the paper swell from the PVA (a mistake I'd made for probably two years).

I finally got the spine right on that clothbound journal after three whole days

I was making a gift for a friend and wanted a rounded spine with headbands, something I'd done before. The rounding kept collapsing when I put on the super, and the headband thread kept snapping (I went through a full spool of Gutermann). It took me about 18 hours over three days to realize my backing was too shallow. I had to take the whole text block apart and start over. Has anyone else had a rounding job turn into a multi-day puzzle?

My grandpa told me to use a bone folder on the spine before gluing, and it changed my whole process

For years, I just used my fingers to shape the spine of a text block before adding the mull. My grandpa, who did this for fifty years, watched me once and said, 'You're leaving hills and valleys. Use the round edge of your bone folder and roll it down the spine, firm and even.' I tried it on a small poetry book I was making last month. I pressed hard and rolled it slowly from head to tail three times. The difference was huge. The spine went from lumpy to perfectly rounded and tight. The glue went on smooth and the cover fit like a dream. I feel silly for not listening sooner. Has anyone else got a simple tip like that that fixed a big part of your work?

My sister, a librarian, said 'a book's spine is just a hinge, not a sculpture' when I showed her my latest leather-tooled cover. It's been bothering me for a week.

Update: Found a book at the library with the wildest repair job I've ever seen

I was at the downtown branch last Tuesday, pulling a copy of 'Moby Dick' for my nephew. The spine was held together with what looked like three layers of duct tape and a single, thick rubber band. It was so tight you couldn't open it past page 50. I asked the librarian about it and she just sighed, 'That was a volunteer project from 2012. We don't talk about it.' Has anyone else found a public book with a truly baffling fix? I need to know I'm not alone.

A customer in Portland once told me my headbands were too tight

I was making a custom journal for her about five years ago, and she said the book wouldn't lay flat because the headband was pulling too hard. I always thought a tight headband was just part of a solid binding. I tried her suggestion to ease up on the tension, and the next book opened perfectly. Has anyone else had to unlearn a 'rule' like that?

Visited the library in Salem and saw a display of modern rebinds with exposed spines.

They used neon thread and industrial fabrics, which really made the structure pop. Has anyone else worked with non-traditional materials for a contemporary look?

My leather paring knife was tearing up calfskin until I tried a new sharpening angle.

I was getting ragged edges on some 2 oz calfskin for a journal cover, so I watched a video from a binder in Chicago and changed my sharpening angle from 25 to 20 degrees. After a week of practice, my cuts are clean and I waste way less material. What angle do you all use for your paring knives?

Warning: I was using way too much glue on my headbands

Found a 1920s binder's manual at a yard sale in Toledo that said you only need a thin line of paste, like a grain of rice thick. I was basically soaking mine. Tried it on a test piece and the joint held way better without the mess. Anyone else have old book tips that go against modern habits?