c/bookbinders

Took me 8 years to realize I was lining up headbands wrong

I’ve been binding books since 2015 and always glued my headbands flush with the spine edge. Last month a customer brought in a 1920s novel with the original binding still intact and I saw the headbands were set about 2 millimeters in from the edge. That small gap let the cloth tuck under neat and clean. I felt like an idiot because for years I’d been fighting with frayed edges and bumps. Now I measure that gap with a caliper every time. Has anyone else had that moment where you just assumed your method was correct until you saw an old book done different?

3 years ago I ruined a leather cover with bad glue

Honestly I was using PVA on a customer's custom journal and the heat that day just made it seep through. That $80 project turned into a total loss and now I only use acid-free wheat paste for any leather work. Has anyone else had a glue disaster that made you switch suppliers?

Ripped the spine on a 1920s poetry book yesterday

I was in my shop in Portland rebacking this old collection of Edna St. Vincent Millay poems, and I got a little too aggressive with the hinge repair. Tore the original spine clean off the text block, about 3 inches down the fold. Had to stop, put down my tools, and piece it back together with Japanese tissue and wheat paste, which actually ended up looking cleaner than my first plan. Anyone else ever have a moment where messing something up taught you a better technique?

Split my book board on a perfect cut and learned a glue trick

Was trimming some Davey board at my kitchen table in Brooklyn when my utility knife snagged and split a corner clean off on a $40 sheet. A buddy told me to brush thin PVA on the split edges and clamp them tight for 20 minutes, and it held stronger than the original board. Has anyone else tried fixing a board split instead of just tossing the piece?

Just realized my grain direction was off by 90 degrees for the last 3 years

I was looking at a bound book I made back in 2021 and noticed the covers were warped way worse than a new one I just finished. Then it hit me, I had been cutting my book board with the grain running the wrong way the whole time. Now I check every sheet from Hollander's before I cut, saved me a ton of frustration. Anyone else miss this basic step for way too long?

Warning: don't try to rush a rounded spine with wet glue

Was working in my garage last night on a leather binding and thought I could save time by gluing up the spine before the backing was fully dry. Ended up with a crinkled mess that took 45 minutes to pick apart with tweezers. Has anyone else had a project go sideways from skipping a drying step?

That $80 bookbinding leather I ruined in one afternoon

I got a nice piece of goat leather from a craft store downtown three months ago. It was a deep red color and I spent $80 on it, which was a lot for me. I wanted to make a special journal for my sister's birthday. I tried to dye the edges myself without testing it first on a scrap piece. The dye bled all over the leather and made a huge stain right on the cover. I tried to fix it with some solvent, but that just made it worse and ruined the whole piece. So I had to throw it out and start over with cheaper materials. Has anyone else messed up a pricey material by skipping the test step?

That time my uncle said I was wasting time hand-stitching every signature

He was a retired printer and told me machine binding was the only way to go for any kind of volume. I tried his method on a batch of journals for a local shop and two of them fell apart within a month. The glue just didn't hold up like my usual stitching. I went back to doing it by hand and haven't had a complaint since. Anyone else have a relative give them 'expert' advice that backfired?

Debate: Grain direction on book cloth - obsessive or necessary?

Do you guys find grain direction actually makes or breaks your bindings, or have you gotten away with ignoring it?

Rant: The week I messed up every single book I touched with cloth grain direction

Last Tuesday I was working on a run of 6 coptic stitch journals for a local shop in Portland, and I cut all the book cloth with the grain running vertical instead of horizontal along the spine. I didn't notice until I glued one on and it bubbled up like a bad sunburn after an hour. Then the next three did the same thing, and I was so frustrated I just kept going, you know? It was one of those weeks where every small mistake stacked on top of the last one, like forgetting to score the hinge properly or using too much PVA. By Thursday I had scrapped 4 covers and wasted about $40 in material. But then Friday I slowed down, re-cut everything with the grain right, and the last two books came out perfect. Has anyone else had a week where you just could not get the cloth direction right no matter what?

The day my book press cracked a spine I'd just finished

I was in my garage shop last Tuesday, pressing a text block I'd spent 4 evenings sewing. The press was my grandfather's old iron one, and I thought I'd snugged it down evenly. About 20 minutes later I heard a sharp crack, and when I opened it up the spine was split right down the middle. Turns out I'd put a piece of scrap wood under just one side of the pressing board, throwing the whole thing off. Has anyone else had a press trick like that backfire, or am I the only one who still uses hand-me-down equipment?

I used to think PVA was always better for book repairs until I messed up a 1920s novel

I was fixing up an old copy of The Great Gatsby from an estate sale last month and grabbed my standard PVA glue out of habit. Took me three days to realize the spine was turning yellow and the pages started warping. Turns out the 1925 paper had a different acidity level, and the PVA was reacting with it. Now I keep a bottle of wheat paste on hand for anything printed before 1950. Anyone else run into this with older books?

Tried to rush a leather cover repair in my garage...

Split the spine on a 1920s poetry book I was restoring. Was working too fast, thought I could skip the glue drying time. Heard that crack sound at 2 AM. Took me three tries to fix it with Japanese tissue and wheat paste. Had to redo the whole hinge. Anyone else get impatient and wreck something?

Serious question: do you sand signatures with sandpaper or not? One bookbinder told me I was doing it all wrong.

So I've been bookbinding for about 2 years now, mostly just my own journals and presents for family. I always used fine grit sandpaper on my signatures before sewing, just to rough them up a bit so the glue could grip. Then last month I went to this little bookbinding meetup in Portland and this older guy who's been doing it 30 years told me I was ruining my books. He said sandpaper creates dust and weakens the paper fibers over time, and I should just use a bone folder or a metal ruler to score the folds instead. I tried it his way on my last project and honestly the pages felt cleaner but the cover seems less stuck on. Has anyone else gotten this feedback and stuck with it, or did you go back to sanding?

That one day I wrecked three leather covers in a row

Was working on a set of journals last Thursday and somehow messed up every single leather cover I cut. The first one I measured wrong by a quarter inch, the second got a scratch on it from my own fingernail, and the third one I tried to buff out a stain and just made it worse. Ended up tossing $40 worth of leather in the trash and just sat on the floor staring at the wall for ten minutes. Has anyone else had a day where you just can't do anything right and what did you do to reset?

Can we talk about using PVA glue for spine repairs on old library books?

I was at the Denver Public Library repair station last Saturday and saw a volunteer slathering PVA on a 1920s novel spine. I mean, I get that PVA dries fast and is cheap, but for older paper it just makes things brittle over time. I pulled them aside and showed how a rice starch paste works better for reversibility and long term flexibility. Has anyone else had to argue with a shop about switching away from PVA?

Dropped a whole jar of glue on a nearly finished rebind of a 1960s Hardy Boys book

I was working in my garage in Portland last Saturday and the jar slipped right out of my hand, splattering PVA all over the endpapers and text block, and after frantically wiping it off with a damp rag and leaving the book clamped for 12 hours it actually dried flat with no wrinkles, thank god, but has anyone else had a glue disaster that somehow worked out?

Saw a tip about using a bone folder with wax paper, game changer for me

I was watching a binder on YouTube last week and they mentioned rubbing a bit of beeswax on your bone folder to slick it up. I thought that was weird but tried it on a project this weekend where I was folding a lot of sections for a 300 page book. My bone folder was sticking to the paper before, but after waxing it everything slid way smoother and I didn't get those little crease marks. The video also said you can just rub the folder on a candle if you don't have beeswax handy. Does anyone else do this or have other tricks for keeping your tools from gripping too much on the paper?

A customer told me my headbands looked 'sloppy' and honestly she was right

I've been binding for about 2 years now, mostly as a hobby. Last month I sold a rebind of a fantasy novel at a local craft fair in Portland for $45. The woman who bought it sent me a message later saying the headbands were uneven and looked rushed. I was mad at first, but I looked at it again and she was totally correct - one side was noticeably wider. So I spent a weekend practicing just that step, using a jig I made from scrap cardboard. Now I measure every single wrap before I glue it down. Has anyone else gotten feedback that stung at first but actually helped?

Rant: Customer wanted me to bind 800 pages of printed PDF newsletters into a single book

Got an email from a guy last week who wanted me to turn his company's monthly PDF newsletters (going back 8 years) into one big hardcover. I tried to explain that 800 pages on standard paper would be like 3 inches thick and probably wouldn't even open flat. He said "just glue it really tight." Had to turn down $150 job because I knew it would look terrible and he'd blame me. Has anyone else had to explain basic physics to a client who thinks bookbinding is magic?

Had to pick between a rounded spine or a flat back for a client's custom journal

I went with the rounded spine even though everyone in the bindery group swears by flat backs, and the book opened like a dream but now I'm stuck fixing a slight cockeyed cover. Has anyone else dealt with that trade off?

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?