c/bookbinders

Rant: Wasted $120 on a cheap book press that warped my first project

I bought a bargain press off an auction site thinking I was saving money, but the wooden platen arrived crooked and left a permanent dent in the leather cover of a family photo album I was rebinding. Has anyone else had luck with DIY press alternatives, or am I stuck buying a proper one?

Tried a $15 PVA glue for a batch of sketchbooks and my $9 wheat paste held up better after a year of use.

The PVA cracked on the spines within 6 months while the wheat paste is still flexible and solid, has anyone else had better luck with traditional pastes over modern adhesives?

I blew a $40 batch of leather because I skipped the paring step

Last Tuesday I was working on a journal cover and thought I could save time by not paring the edges of my leather. Big mistake. The whole thing ended up bulky and wonky at the spine, totally unusable. I wasted a full afternoon and a piece of veg tan that cost me $20 alone. Now I'm back to using my trusty French paring knife every single time. Has anyone else tried to shortcut leather prep and regretted it?

Found a tip about endbands in a 1960s manual

I was flipping through a copy of 'Hand Bookbinding in the Modern Style' from 1962 that I found at an estate sale. There was a section on endbands that said to thread them under 3 sewing stations instead of 2 on a text block over 12 inches. I tried it on a big cookbook I'm rebinding and the bands sit way flatter now. Has anyone else run into old books with tricks that still work better than modern methods?

Got roasted by a guy in Cincinnati for my endband glue

Some old bookbinder saw me using PVA for endbands at a workshop and told me I was making my life harder. Switched to a starch paste mix and now the bands actually stay flexible without popping off after a year. Anyone else have a glue trick they swear on?

Old bookbinder in Milwaukee told me to stop soaking my linen thread in beeswax, and he was right about the cracks.

After three books with glue bleeding through the spine, I finally tried his trick of just rubbing the thread through a dry bar of soap instead, and the thread glides way smoother, has anyone else switched from wax to soap for their sewing?

Had a chat with an old-timer at a bindery expo last week that got under my skin

I was at the Midwest Bookbinding Show in Chicago talking to a guy named Frank who's been binding since the 70s. He told me I was wasting time using PVA glue for everything and said I should switch to a mix of wheat paste and PVA for most projects. At first I brushed him off, but after trying it on a couple of test binds, the spines are way more flexible and lay flat. Has anyone else made that switch and noticed a big difference?

My mentor told me to stop using wheat paste on spines and I ignored her for a year

Back when I started binding last spring, my old teacher warned me wheat paste would eventually attract bookworms in my humid basement. Well, I found three little holes in a copy of Moby Dick I did six months ago, and now I'm recasing the whole thing. Anyone else had pests ruin a project after sticking with an older method?

Watched a guy use a bone folder on a stack of paper at a local book fair last month

He was just smoothing out the folds but the sound and precision he had made me realize I've been rushing my own work for years. Has anyone else picked up a tip just from watching someone else work?

I picked linen thread over synthetic and I don't get the hype around poly

Everybody in my local guild keeps raving about synthetic thread for its strength and stretch. I tried it on a rebind of a 400 page novel and honestly, I hated it. The thread kept slipping around my kettle stitches and I had to redo several sections because it didn't grip like linen does. Sure, it won't snap as easy, but I'll take a clean, tight stitch any day. My mentor told me "linen's been good enough for 200 years" and I think he's right. Has anyone else gone back to natural thread after trying the new stuff?

Found out how much thread waste I've been creating all these years

I was looking at a video from that restoration guy on YouTube and he mentioned professional finishers keep their thread waste under 5%. Did a quick weigh of my scraps from the last 10 books I did and I was pushing 15% easy. How do you guys track your thread usage without going crazy?

Tried beeswax on a leather journal cover and it got weirdly tacky

I was finishing a custom journal for a client in Portland and thought beeswax would give it a nice vintage feel. Rubbed it in thin, let it sit overnight, but the next morning it had this sticky residue that wouldn't buff out. Learned the hard way that beeswax needs to be mixed with a carrier oil or it just sits on top of the leather. Anyone else run into this with natural finishes?

Grain of salt on that new faux leather bookcloth

I tried that new acrylic-coated bookcloth from a supplier in Chicago for a rebind last week. The stuff felt amazing in hand, smooth and flexible, but after I applied PVA and pressed it, the coating started peeling off in thin sheets. I learned the hard way that some of these coated fabrics don't actually bond with standard adhesives. Has anyone else dealt with this or found a glue that actually holds?

Spent 2 years lining up my signatures by eye before a workshop showed me how to use a folding jig properly

Finally got my first rounded spine right after 4 tries

I've been working on making a proper rounded spine for a rebind of a beat-up copy of Dune. It took me 4 attempts but I finally got a smooth dome shape on the spine of this 400 page text block. Used a 12 ounce hammer and a curved backing board from Talas. Anyone else have trouble getting the shoulders even without cracking the spine?

Spent 3 hours trying to figure out why my book press wasn't flat

I got a new book press last month and couldn't get even pressure across the boards. Kept getting warped signatures... wasted a whole afternoon adjusting the screws. Turns out my workbench had a slight dip in the middle from years of tree work weight. Slapped a piece of 3/4 inch plywood under the press and bam, perfect pressure. Has anyone else had a random uneven surface mess up their pressing?

That one week in July where everything just clicked

I had a stretch last summer where every single book I was working on seemed to fight back. The grain direction on the cloth was wrong on two projects straight, the endpapers bubbled up on a third, and I just about tossed a stack of boards across the room. But then on Friday, I sat down with a copy of Moby Dick I'd been rebacking, and the spine went on perfect, the joints flexed just right, and the gold tooling came out crisp with no mistakes. Has anyone else had a day where it all just works after a rough patch, or is it just my luck that it cycles like that?

PVA vs paste - I was a paste snob for years

I used to think PVA glue was cheating and only used wheat paste on everything. Then I tried a PVA mix on a leather spine last month and the flex was way better. Anyone else have a glue opinion they changed their mind on?

Shoutout to the old bookbinder at the Seattle Public Library who showed me a trick with a bone folder

I was dropping off some donated books in their preservation room last month and this guy named Ray who has been binding for like 40 years saw me struggling with my corners. He grabbed my bone folder and showed me how to wet the tip just a little bit before burnishing the spine hinge. I had always heard to keep everything bone dry but he said a tiny bit of moisture on the folder helps the leather settle without cracking. He also told me to stop using a metal ruler for scoring because it flattens the fibers too much. I tried it on a recent rebind of a 1920s poetry collection and the difference was NIGHT and day. Has anyone else run into old timers in library conservation rooms who share random secrets like that?

My mentor told me to stop using bone folders on every single fold

I used to press every crease with a bone folder like my life depended on it. Then a retired binder in Portland watched me work on a 150-page novel project and gently said, 'You're crushing the paper fibers, friend.' I thought he was just old-school and fussy. But I tried his method of using a teflon folder on lighter papers and only busting out the bone folder for heavy cardstock or leather wraps. Huge difference in how flat and crisp the signatures lay without that weird shiny crush line. Has anyone else had to unlearn a basic technique that was actually doing more harm than good?

Why does nobody talk about the grain direction thing in bookcloth?

I was cutting some cloth last night for a new project and the corners kept puffing out weird. Looked it up on a forum from 2012 (I know, old) and found out bookcloth has a grain direction too, just like paper. Spent 3 hours rewatching a video from a binder in Boston who explained how the cloth needs to run parallel to the spine. Has anybody else had this ruin a project or am I just slow on the uptake?

Caught myself pressing my spine creases with a bone folder for 3 years straight

I was watching a restoration video last week and the guy just ran his thumb along the spine to set the crease. No bone folder, no extra pressure, just a light thumb pass. Turns out I've been overworking my spines and crushing the paper fibers this whole time. Anyone else find out they were doing some basic step completely backwards?

27 years of binding and I just learned I was gluing my spines wrong

I had a customer bring in a textbook from the 1950s last week for a simple repair. While I was looking it over, the old binding just fell apart in my hands. But how it was constructed was completely different from what I've been doing. The spine lining was attached differently, the glue wasn't pooling in the same spots. I asked around and a retired binder I know said yeah, the method I learned in the 90s was apparently a shortcut that causes cracking after 10-15 years. So I've been doing it wrong this whole time, and every book I've bound before 2010 probably has weak spines now. Has anyone else had that moment where you find out a basic technique you've been using for decades is actually the wrong way?

The day I figured out I was gluing my book spines all wrong

I was binding a 300 page journal for a customer and the spine kept cracking after a week. I thought it was just bad paper or maybe the thread was too tight. Then I watched a video from a binder in Chicago and he pointed out I was using way too much PVA glue on the hinge areas. I had been slathering it on thick like I was making a paper mache project. Turns out you only need a thin layer and let it tack up before pressing. Now I measure out my glue with a small brush and it holds way better. Anyone else have a basic step they messed up for months before catching it?

PSA: stop using straight newsprint for hinge repairs on vintage books

I had a customer bring in a 1920s novel last month with a cracked hinge. Someone had tried to fix it with modern newspaper sheets. That paper is full of acid and lignin, it'll turn yellow and brittle in under 2 years. I use Japanese tissue paper for that kind of work, it's pH neutral and way stronger. For a single hinge repair I spent about $3 on materials but the book is stable now. Has anyone else run into bad DIY fixes on old books? Where do you get your conservation grade supplies?