I was rebinding an old textbook from the 1940s, and the original hinges were these tiny brass things with screws that looked like they were from another planet. I spent a solid three hours just trying to get one of them off without destroying the board underneath. By the end I had to just slice through the hinge with a jeweler's saw and patch the hole. Has anyone else run into weird old hardware that makes you question your whole approach?
I spent two years using a cheap plastic bone folder from a craft store, swore it did the job just fine until I borrowed a real cow bone folder from a friend at a guild meetup last month. The difference in creasing and burnishing was so huge that I went back and redid three books I thought were finished. Has anyone else had a basic tool flip their whole workflow like that?
I was over at a friend's shop near the Pearl District, and this older binder had a 1890s textbook with the spine completely split down the middle. He mixed up some wheat paste right there, brushed it on the mull and the old signatures, and clamped it flat with a couple wooden boards. Took maybe 20 minutes of hands-on work and he just let it sit overnight. Has anyone else seen wheat paste hold up better than PVA for really old brittle paper?
So I was watching some old bookbinding videos on YouTube like you do at 2 AM, and this British guy mentioned using a plastic wallpaper smoother instead of a bone folder for flattening out the spine after gluing. I thought nah that won't work. But I had this old one sitting in my garage from when we redid the bathroom like 4 years ago. Tried it on a reback job I was doing for a 1920s novel and man it really does spread the glue more even. Less bubbles too. Anyone else use random non bookbinding tools for this stuff?
For the first 3 years of binding I just used whatever PVA I grabbed at the art store. My spines would crack after like 6 months every time. Last winter I switched to a ph-neutral PVA and a wheat paste mix and suddenly my books are laying flat and staying flexible. I tested it on 8 practice books over 4 months before I trusted it. Now I'm kicking myself for not trying this sooner. Has anyone else had a different ratio of PVA to paste work better for them?
They were showing off old leather bindings from the 1800s where the spine hinges were completely flat, not rounded at all. Has anyone else seen this style and know why they stopped doing it?
I’ve been binding books for about 5 years now and always thought sewing frames were a waste of space and money (you know, just extra clutter on my desk). But last week I borrowed a friend’s old wooden frame to try on a tricky text block with thick signatures and it made keeping the tension even so much easier. The difference was night and day - my sewing lines came out straight for the first time without me constantly adjusting the thread. Has anyone else held out on a tool for ages only to find it makes a big difference?
Been binding for 5 years and never saw the point of spending extra on paste until I did a full leather rebind on my mom's old Bible. The joints cracked after 3 weeks and I had to redo the whole thing with actual wheat paste. Anyone else swear by paste over PVA for certain projects?
I was working on a batch of journals in my garage back in August, 90 degree day with the humidity through the roof. Didn't think twice about it. Glued up the spines, set them in the press overnight. Next morning every single one of them had a crack right down the middle. Turns out the moisture in the air messed with the drying time. Had to tear all six apart and start over. Who else has had a weather related disaster in their bindery?
I was gluing up a text block last Wednesday for a rebind of my dad's old copy of Dune, used the same PVA and methylcellulose mix I've been using since I started binding 3 years ago. The spine just cracked open this morning, pages falling out clean. I remember Bill at the L.A. Book Arts Center swore by this exact ratio back in 2019, but I guess leather and modern book cloth just don't react the same anymore. Anyone else find their old adhesive formulas failing on newer materials?
I've been doing case binding for about 5 years now. My buddy kept telling me to try Japanese stab binding for this poetry collection he wanted. I told him it looked too flimsy and the exposed spine would get wrecked in a year. He handed me a book he did 3 years ago that still looks brand new. The stitching held up, pages were tight. I checked every single signature. Now I'm thinking I was wrong about the durability part. But I still hate how fiddly those thread tensions get. Anyone else fight with keeping the tension even across all those holes?
Everyone talks about hitting 100 or 500 like those are the big ones, but 200 felt different to me. I realized I've been doing this long enough that my stitching is consistent and my corners don't pucker anymore. The 200th book was a coptic stitch journal in dark green linen that I sold at a shop in Portland. Has anyone else found a weird milestone that meant more to them than the usual round numbers?
A guy named Dave at the monthly bookbinder meetup in Portland told me I was sewing my signatures too tight (like, pulling the thread until it creaked). I tried his looser tension on a recent rebind of an old cookbook and the spine actually opened flat for the first time. Has anyone else had to unlearn a habit from watching YouTube tutorials?
Three years ago I took a workshop with a guy named Harold from Boston who taught hand sewing only, no adhesives at all. He showed me how a properly sewn book can flex for decades without cracking, while glued spines fail within ten years. Last week I had to fix a 2018 case bind that someone used PVA on, and the whole thing just snapped in half. Has anyone else had better luck going back to sewn bindings over glued ones?
I was working on a 500 page hardcover rebind of an old textbook last weekend. The whole thing went smooth until I got to casing in the text block. I glued up the spine and put it in the press but when I took it out the curvature was all wrong, it was flat as a board. I thought maybe I didn't use enough glue or the mull was too thin. After messing with it for like 4 hours I finally realized my backing technique was the issue. I hadn't rounded the spine enough before gluing because I was rushing. Another 2 hours of redoing the glue and pressing it properly got it looking good. Has anyone else had a spine that just refused to curve and figured out a trick that saved them time?
I had to pick between Coptic stitch and long stitch for a sketchbook I was making last week. Went with long stitch because I wanted the spine to hold up to heavy use over time. But the Coptic lay-flat ability is really tempting. Anyone else go back and forth on this? What's your go to when you need something that lasts?
I thought I was being smart saving $12 on a gallon of store brand PVA glue, but it dried all cloudy and cracked after 2 weeks. The pages started falling out of my journal binding and the spine looked terrible. Has anyone else had this happen with off-brand adhesives, or did I just get a bad batch?
For two years I was gluing my endbands directly onto the spine before casing in. I always wondered why they'd peel up after a few months. Then at a guild meeting last March a binder named Carol showed me she sews them into the text block first. Tried it on my last restoration project and they haven't budged. Has anyone else dealt with endband adhesion problems?
I was at a collector's estate sale in Portland and saw a bunch of so-called fine bindings that were falling apart at the hinges because someone prioritized fancy gold tooling over proper sewing structure. The guy running the sale kept insisting they were top-tier work, but I pointed out how the endpapers were splitting after only 15 years. Am I wrong for thinking a solid text block matters more than a pretty cover?
Tried repairing a vintage spine with standard wood glue last week and it turned rock hard overnight, cracked the leather right down the middle when I opened it. Learned the hard way that you need flexible PVA or proper leather adhesive for spine repairs. Anyone got a brand of flexible glue they swear by?
I see folks on here pushing it for 10-copy editions, but the setup time alone takes 3 hours for something a simple sewn boards binding could do in 45 minutes. Last week I did a 5-book batch with proper sewing and the spines held up way better than any glued job I've seen. Has anyone else dumped the fan for quicker methods?
Everybody talks about rebinding 50 books like it's some huge deal, but I hit 60 last month and honestly it didn't feel that different. The real milestone was my 10th book where I finally stopped messing up the endbands. Has anyone else found the early numbers more meaningful than the big round ones?
The owner told me it holds up better against humid weather and now I'm wondering if I should switch my own repair method since half my clients live in coastal towns, anyone else run into this?
I finally realized after trying everything else that it was the cheap wheat paste I was using from the hardware store instead of the archival stuff, has anyone else had that problem with the wrong adhesive ruining a perfectly good cover?
Used to use standard PVA glue for bookcloth on a repair job for a 1920s novel last month. The edges kept curling up and the cloth felt stiff as a board. Tried a batch of wheat paste on a similar spine repair this week, and the fabric laid down flat like butter. Anyone else find wheat paste works better for older, delicate books or am I just finally getting the hang of it?