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?

3 comments

3 Comments

wyatt522d ago

Man that's a solid find right there. I've got a beat up copy of "Bookbinding for Beginners" from the 50s and it has a trick for making your own paste that's way better than any store bought stuff. Something about cooking it with a little bit of sugar to keep it from going bad too fast. I tried it last year and haven't bought paste since. Old bookbinders definitely knew their stuff. The 3 station trick on big books makes total sense once you think about it, more points to hold everything tight. I'll have to dig that paste recipe out and try it on my next big rebind project.

kai91418h ago

You mentioned the sugar trick for the paste - how much are we talking here? I tried making paste once and it went moldy in a week, so if that's the fix I need to know the ratio. Did you just sprinkle a little in or is it a specific amount per cup of flour?

oscarb772d ago

Old tricks often outsmart the new stuff, just like vintage hand tools beat modern ones.