I was binding a hardcover journal about 3 months ago for a client in Portland and the cloth hinge kept peeling away from the boards after a week. Frustrated, I posted a photo in a bookbinding group and a guy named Tom commented, 'Check your glue. PVA dries too stiff on lighter bookcloth.' He was right - I had been using basic Lineco PVA for everything. Switched to a flexible gel-based adhesive (I use the Ph neutral one from Talas now) and the difference is night and day. The hinge moves with the book instead of fighting it. Now I also brush a thin layer of the flexible glue on the spine side of the cloth before attaching it to the boards. Has anyone else dealt with hinge peel and found a different fix?
I was picking up some leather at a shop downtown and got talking to the owner, this older guy named Charlie. He told me I was way overthinking my endpapers and that simple linen hinges work better than fancy paper ones for most books. I tried it on a client's cookbook yesterday and it laid flat way better than my usual method. Has anyone else simplified their hinge material and gotten better results?
This woman comes into my shop with like 15 spiral notebooks filled with handwritten recipes, wants me to turn them into proper hardcovers. I told her it would be about $200 to take them all apart, trim the paper, and rebind them. She flipped out and said I was trying to rip her off because her nephew could do it for free with a stapler. I tried to explain how the margins would get cut off and the pages would fall apart but she just walked out. Has anyone else had people compare your work to some random relative who doesn't even know what a signature is?
I bought this expensive bone folder from a leather supply shop in Portland, thinking it would be smoother and last forever. After three months it started cracking and left rough edges on my book covers. My old $12 plastic one from a craft store actually worked better and still holds up fine. Has anyone else found that cheap tools sometimes outperform the pricey ones?
I was at the Chicago binders meetup last month showing off a leather bound journal I made. Someone pointed out the back cover was bowing badly after just a week. Turns out I was using too much PVA on the endsheet and not letting it dry before closing the book. Has anyone else had a project warp on them at a show or meetup?
Tbh I overheard two guys at a guild meetup last month arguing about this. One said machine-sewn headbands are fine for 99% of projects and hand-sewing is a waste of hours. The other guy swore that hand-sewn bands lay flatter and don't pop off after a few years of use. I've done both ways on my last 6 rebinds and honestly I'm split. The machine method saves me like 20 minutes per book and looks clean enough. But I had a 2018 restoration job where the machine headband started lifting at the edge last year. Has anyone else noticed a real durability difference or is it just about the craft aesthetic?
Was working on a 1920s history book for a client in Austin. Used my usual PVA glue on the spine and thought it was set after 2 hours. Came back the next day and the whole thing had popped open at the hinge. Had to peel everything off and redo it with wheat paste instead. Has anyone else had PVA fail on older paper like that?
He was like 80 years old and just showed me how to use a simple sanding block instead of a fancy tool, and now I swear by it even though my coworkers think I'm crazy for not buying a corner rounder.
Switched from Elmer's to Tite-Bond for spine repairs on a 1920s novel last week. The Elmer's let go after 3 pages turned, but Tite-Bond held tight through the whole thing. Same technique, same clamp time, way different result. Anyone else notice a big difference in adhesive brands for old books?
I was at a local library sale last Saturday flipping through this beat up 1920s novel when I overheard an older guy tell his friend that you can tell a real leather binding by licking your finger and rubbing it. I'd heard that before but always figured it was some old wives tale. So I tried it on a couple books there and yeah, the one I thought was leather smelled totally different than the fake stuff. It got me thinking about how many little tips like that we lose over time. My grandpa was a bookbinder back in the 50s and he had all these weird tricks with bone folders and glue pots that I never wrote down. Now I wish I had paid more attention. Anyone else ever pick up some obscure tip from an old timer that actually works?
I was at a small binders meetup in Portland about 6 months ago, and this older guy in a worn out apron kept saying real binders only use thread and spine linings. He said glue was for people who couldn't sew properly. I bit my tongue at first, but then he started lecturing a newbie about how her glued paperback conversion was 'lazy work.' I finally asked him how he thinks the spines on library books hold up for 50 years without falling apart. He didn't have an answer, just huffed and walked off. Has anyone else run into these purist types who act like glue is some kind of sin?
I kept getting these weird ripples on my book spines. Thought it was the paper or my pressing technique. Then this old timer at a workshop watched me brush on the PVA and goes 'you're putting it on way too thick, kid'. Turns out I was globbing it on like I was buttering toast. He showed me to use a thin, even coat and now my spines are smooth as glass. Anybody else have a basic step they were just totally crushing for way too long?
I was using the total page count instead of the paper thickness for my flatback journals. A customer brought one back saying it wouldn't open right and that's when I measured the actual stack - I was off by 3 millimeters on a 200 page book. Has anyone else run into this issue with their own calculations?
I was over at Hollander's in Detroit last month dropping off some materials, and one of the old timers there showed me how he uses a simple wooden hammer instead of a metal one for spine rounding. Has anyone else tried this or am I the last one to hear about it?
I saw a tip on a crafting forum about using cheap hair conditioner to soften scrap leather for bookbinding. Figured I'd give it a shot on a 3mm piece of goatskin I got from a supplier in Portland. It soaked in alright, but after I glued it to the boards, the smell turned musty and the leather started lifting at the edges within 2 weeks. Has anyone else tried a weird shortcut that backfired on a cover?
I read online that hair conditioner can work as a leather softener so I slathered some on a scrap piece and let it sit overnight. Next morning it smelled like a salon threw up on my bookshelf and the leather got all sticky and gross. Has anyone else had a DIY leather treatment go totally sideways?
Wasted like $12 on a bottle of PVA from a craft store clearance bin and it made my first rebind project fall apart after a week. Pages just slid right out of the spine on a copy of Dune I was fixing up. Anyone else swear by a specific brand so I don't mess up another book?
I was using a cheap $5 plastic one from a craft store for years and always struggled with sharp creases. Picked up a real bone folder from a specialty shop in Portland last month on a whim. The weight and smoothness are night and day, it creases paper without cracking the grain at all. Has anyone else swapped out basic tools for something pricier and actually felt it was worth it?
After that hinge fell apart I had to redo the whole spine on a clients 1920s poetry collection, has anyone else learned the hard way that some adhesives just don't mix with specific materials?
I split a hinge clean down the middle on a 1920s novel last week in my shop, and I spent two hours trying to decide between a full reback and a simple hinge repair. Which way do you lean when the spine cloth is still decent but the joint is totally shot?
I was trimming a leather-bound journal last Tuesday and realized I'd been cutting my headbands way too short, never letting them fan out properly under the spine lining. Finally saw a video of someone leaving them longer and letting them breathe... has anyone else had that forehead-slap moment with their finishing techniques?
After 12 years of doing it the same way, I tried his method with a wheat paste mix on a restoration project last week and the hinge moved way smoother, has anyone else switched glues like that?
Met an older binder at a shop in Portland about 8 years ago. He watched me cut a board for a quarter leather binding and asked if I knew which way the grain was running. I shrugged and he just grabbed a scrap, wet it with his thumb, and showed me how it curled. He said 'grain runs the same way on paper and board, fight it and your joints will crack in 6 months.' Never had a hinge fail since that day. Anyone else get a simple tip that saved you years of trial and error?
I was pressing way too hard on my leather spines, and it finally clicked when a customer brought back a six-month-old journal with the cover coming loose. How do you judge the right amount of force for different materials?
They had a cart full of books waiting for a simple rebacking, just sitting there for months. The librarian said their budget for repairs got cut in half last year. Makes you wonder how many other places have stuff just waiting for someone with the right skills.