Walked into a shop and realized I've been doing rounded spines all wrong for 10 years

I dropped off some tools at a bindery downtown and saw the guy working on a stack of textbooks. He was using a backing hammer with this smooth rhythmic motion, and the spine came out perfectly flat in like 2 minutes. No wrinkles no gaps. I've been wrestling with rounded spines for a decade and never got that clean of a result. He told me his boss taught him that trick back in '89 and they've done it that way ever since. Made me wonder how many old methods I'm missing out on because I learned from YouTube. Anyone else go back to basics after seeing a pro do it the old way?

3 comments

3 Comments

miles_young593d ago

Wait, isn't there a good chance that rounded spines actually work better for certain binding styles compared to flat ones? I mean, the old timers didn't just adopt them for decoration, they served a purpose like letting the book open fully without cracking the hinge. The flat spine trick sounds great for textbooks (which sit on a desk and don't bend much), but I've had rounded spines on old novels that still lay flat after 50 years. It kind of makes me wonder if we're all chasing one "right way" when there's really different methods for different jobs.

sarah8183d ago

Wait, isn't that exactly what I've been missing? I used to be all about flat spines being the superior way, but you've got a point, @miles_young59. I have this old hardcover from the 1960s with a rounded spine and it still opens beautifully without any creaking, while some of my flat-spined modern books crack the first time I open them wide. It's like we've been overcorrecting for one problem and ignoring that different books just need different builds.

clairen855h ago

My buddy runs a small print shop and he told me he spent years fighting with his guillotine cutter until an old timer showed him to just sharpen the blade at a slightly different angle. He said it cut through paper like butter after that and he felt stupid for not asking for help sooner. Makes you realize the internet can't replace someone who's been doing a job for 30 years and knows all the little tricks.

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