c/bookbinders

Hit 500 handmade books yesterday and I totally didn't plan it

So I was just cleaning up my workshop after finishing a rebound copy of an old sci-fi novel for a friend, and I realized I had a little tally mark system going on my workbench wall. I counted them up and I hit exactly 500 books I've made or repaired. That number caught me off guard because I never set out to hit a milestone, I just keep binding stuff because I enjoy it. Started this hobby about four years ago in my tiny apartment with a basic kit from a local craft store. The first few looked awful, like the covers barely matched the pages, but now I can do a decent rounded spine without sweating. My favorite part is still choosing the cloth and endpapers, it never gets old. Anybody else keep a quiet count of their projects or am I the only weirdo with marks on the wall?

Pro tip: using a bone folder on wet paper changed my whole approach

I was trying to glue down some endpapers last week and kept getting bubbles no matter how carefully I smoothed them out. A guy at the local craft meetup in Portland told me to wet the paper slightly and use a bone folder instead of just pressing with my hands. I tried it on a practice run with some cheap book cloth and the difference was night and day. The bone folder let me push the moisture and bubbles right out to the edges without tearing anything. I still had to be careful not to oversaturate the paper, but it made the whole process way faster. Anyone else found a weird trick like that for dealing with stubborn bubbles?

My bone folder snapped in half mid-folds on a 200 page project Thursday

I was working on a sewn board binding for a client's memoir, about 200 pages of text block. I was folding signatures at my kitchen table around 8pm when my trusty bone folder just cracked right down the middle. It was an older one I had for maybe 6 years, nothing fancy, just a basic teardrop shape. I thought bone folders were supposed to last forever, but I guess they can get brittle over time. I ended up finishing the folds with a plastic folder I had in my drawer, which actually worked okay but felt wrong. Has anyone else had a bone folder break on them, or am I just unlucky here?

Pro tip: stop using PVA glue for everything

I used to use PVA for all my book repairs because it was cheap and easy. Then an old timer at a shop in Portland told me to try wheat paste for spine repairs. It's way more forgiving if you mess up and need to reposition things. Anyone else made the switch and stuck with it?

French link stitch kept skipping on my last project

I tried using waxed linen thread for a French link stitch on a 6 inch travel journal and the needle kept skipping every 3 or 4 stitches. Turned out my thread was too thick for the size of my needle holes, I think I had a size 2 needle when I should have grabbed a size 1. Has anyone else had this issue where the thread gauge totally throws off the rhythm of a stitch pattern?

TIL letting bookcloth sit overnight changes everything

Used to glue and press right away. Always got bubbles. Saw a video from a binder in Minnesota. She let her bookcloth sit with glue for 12 hours before trimming. Tried it on my last rebind of a 1930s novel. No bubbles. No shifting. Just clean edges. Has anyone else found a drying time that works best?

Vent: PVA glue gets way too much love around here

I see everyone pushing PVA for everything but I tried it on a 1900s rebind last month and the spine cracked in 3 days. Good old wheat paste held that same book together for 50 years before. Anyone else find PVA too stiff for older paperbacks?

TIL most people glue their book spines wrong - it's all about the hinge gap

Had a glue pot explode on me last Wednesday and it ruined three days of work

I was trying a new PH-neutral PVA on a rebinding job and the bottle cap shot off when I squeezed it, covering my bench and a half-finished folio in sticky goo. Anyone else ever have a batch of adhesive go bad on them or was this just bad luck with that brand?

That week I tried PVA glue instead of wheat paste on a whole project

I was binding a short run of 5 poetry books last month and ran out of wheat paste on day 2. Decided to just go all in with PVA for the spine and covers since I was too lazy to make more paste. Anyone else had better luck with one glue over the other for certain projects?

Tried the wet folding method for book cloth after 2 years of battling bubbles

I've been binding for about 5 years now, mostly personal projects and gifts for friends. For the longest time I could never get book cloth to lay flat without these tiny air bubbles showing up after it dried. Drove me nuts. Tried heavier glue, lighter glue, different brushes, even let the cloth sit overnight after gluing. Nothing fixed it completely. Then last month I was watching a video from some binder in Portland who showed wetting the cloth with a spray bottle before applying it to the board. I thought no way that works, but I was frustrated enough to try it on a project I was doing for my sister's wedding guestbook. Sprayed the cloth lightly, waited like 2 minutes, then glued and pressed it. Flat as glass. No bubbles at all. First time ever. I don't know why I never thought of this before. Has anyone else tried this or got another method that works better?

Watched a newbie try to sew a text block without a cradle yesterday

He stacked the signatures on a flat table and wondered why the spine kept shifting, has anyone else seen people skip basic tools like that and end up with crooked books?

Spent 3 hours trying to fix a loose hinge before realizing it was just the screw

I was working on a leather journal cover and kept fussing with the hinge pin because it felt wobbly. Took me three entire evenings to figure out that the brass screw was only hand tight from the factory. Once I snugged it down with a small flathead, the whole thing locked up solid. Has anyone else chased a problem for way too long only to find it was something that simple?

Dude at the craft fair tried to tell me my binding glue was 'wrong'

Some older guy walks up to my booth and says I should be using rice starch instead of PVA because 'that's what the monks used.' I just told him my books don't need to survive a medieval flood, lol. Anyone else get random unsolicited advice from strangers at shows?

Five years of backwards grain direction

I was at a workshop in Portland last fall and the instructor pointed out my bookcloth was cut with the grain running the wrong way on the spine. I had been doing it like that since I started binding in 2019. The covers kept warping and I just thought it was the glue. Has anyone else had that embarrassing moment where a simple mistake was causing all your problems?

Cracked my first attempt at a leather spine today

I was trying a new technique on a 1920s novel restoration last night and the leather split right down the middle after I applied the glue. The whole piece was ruined because I pressed too hard on the turn-ins without letting the adhesive set first. Any tips for getting the pressure right on thick leather hinges without ruining the finish?

Appreciation post: That time an old bookbinder told me my glue was too thin

I was at a bookbinding meetup in St. Louis about two years ago, and I brought in this recipe book I had just finished. An older gentleman, must have been in his 70s, picked it up and just looked at the spine for a few seconds. He said "your glue is too thin, that's why the pages are stiff on the outside but loose near the gutter." I had been using a 3 to 1 mix of PVA and water for years because that's how I learned online. He showed me how to do a 5 to 1 ratio with a bit of methylcellulose added, and I could feel the difference right away when I brushed it on. Now my spines flex way better and the pages lay flatter. Has anyone else had a seasoned binder point out a small fix that completely changed their method?

That moment a retired bookbinder fixed my rounding in 10 seconds

I was struggling with rounding a text block at a workshop in Portland last month. An older guy named Frank walked over, saw my mess, and just said "you're fighting the spine, not working with it." He showed me a simple hammer angle trick that I had been missing for 6 months. Has anyone else had a stranger just walk up and fix a huge problem with a one-liner?

Debate: Should you glue the spine first or last on a rounded back? My last rebuild taught me both ways.

I was rebinding a 1940s novel last month and tried gluing the spine first like the old books say. The rounding held perfect but the cover fit was off by about 3mm. So on the next one I did the cover first and then glued the spine after, and the joint was way cleaner but the rounding started to flatten out. I'm torn on which step actually matters more for a solid, lasting book. Has anyone else found a trick to balance these two?

My bone folder snapped clean in half yesterday while I was doing a tight crease on a 500-page novel

It was a cheap bamboo one I got in a starter kit off Amazon for like 12 bucks, and now I'm wondering if I should just get a Teflon one or try making my own out of deer antler like that guy on YouTube showed.

That time my book press slipped and I ended up with a crooked spine on a $150 leather journal

I was in my garage workshop last fall, clamping a folio for a custom order, and the whole press shifted sideways when I wasn't looking, then I had to spend 3 hours carefully prying it apart and re-gluing without tearing the leather, has anyone else had a clamp failure ruin a project mid-step?

Why does nobody talk about using phone books for pressing?

I was at a garage sale last weekend and saw a stack of old phone books for free. Grabbed them on a whim, and now I use them as pressing boards for smaller books. They are way cheaper than buying proper boards, especially for the size. I just stack a few on top of a freshly glued spine and it works great. Has anyone else tried this trick or found another cheap pressing tool?

I chose hand sewing over machine stitching and I'm never going back

Everyone in my bindery group raves about their sewing machines, but I stuck with hand sewing for my last project, a 400-page journal. It took me nearly 8 hours, but the thread tension was perfect and I could control every stitch without any skipped loops. Has anyone else found hand sewing gives a cleaner spine for smaller runs?

Hit 100th spine repair this month and finally lost count

I keep a tally of every book I fix in my shop, just for my own records. This month I crossed 100 repairs, which is more than I did all of last year combined. Most of them were just old library books with broken hinges and loose signatures. Idk, it just made me stop and think about how many stories are getting saved one glue-up at a time. Has anyone else ever tracked their numbers and been surprised by the total?

Hit 50 years in the trade this month and it still feels like week one when I'm gluing up a spine

Ngl, when I added up all the books I've bound over five decades it came to over 12,000, which sounds like a lot but each one taught me something new about how paper and leather move together, so has anyone else lost count of their projects somewhere along the way?