c/bookbinders

21

roses69•1d ago

I finally hit 200 hand-bound books last Tuesday

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?

2

jordan305•2d ago

Just had a local binder correct my sewing method

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?

23

felixw68•20d ago

Last week at the bindery in Cleveland, a customer brought in a 1920s prayer book that had been repaired three times with modern glue. The spine was a mess, the text block was falling apart. I told her the old timers would have resewn it on cords and skipped the glue entirely.

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?

10

the_kevin•21d ago

Spent 6 hours trying to fix a spine that just wouldn't curve right

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?

22

morganhayes•22d ago

Coptic vs long stitch binding - which do you actually prefer for durability?

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?

8

davis.mia•23d ago

Warning: That cheap PVA glue from the dollar store wrecked my book project

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?

24

milap35•24d ago

Finally figured out why my leather endbands kept lifting

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?

5

gavinross•24d ago

Had to push back on a client about their 'museum quality' bindings last week

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?

16

kaib18•24d ago

PSA: Don't use wood glue on leather book spines like I did

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?

11

aaronlee•24d ago

Unpopular opinion: double-fan adhesive binding is overhyped for small runs

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?

15

colesanchez•25d ago

Hot take: hitting 50 books rebound is overrated

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?

24

andrew693•26d ago

Walked into a used bookstore in Portland and noticed all their rebinds used Japanese stab binding instead of standard case bindings

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?

11

taraj11•27d ago

Just figured out why my book cloth was bubbling after 4 years of fighting it

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?

18

kevin_wells46•28d ago

Switched to wheat paste for cloth covers and the difference is night and day

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?

24

charles508•28d ago

Visited a shop in Portland that still uses hide glue

Saw this old bindery downtown last week. They were using hide glue for everything. Smelled awful but the guy said his books from 30 years ago still hold up fine. Anyone else ever work with the stuff?

6

julia_carter•28d ago

That $45 thread nipper completely changed my sewing workflow

I picked up a small thread nipper from a local craft store for $45, thinking it was just a fancy pair of scissors. But it's cut my trimming time by half for binding projects. Anyone else find a random tool that became essential?

0

lucasc58•29d ago

Switched from glued spines to sewn bindings for a local history project

I was working on a collection of old family letters from a client in Salem, and something felt wrong about just gluing them into a case binding. I spent a weekend trying a sewn binding on a practice run, using a simple link stitch. The result just felt more solid, like the pages actually belonged together instead of being stuck on. Has anyone else moved away from glued spines for certain projects?

1

lindareed•1mo ago

My linen thread broke mid-sewing on a 400-page text block

I was sewing a text block last Tuesday and about halfway through, my linen thread just snapped. I've been using the same brand for years without issue, but this spool came from a different supplier. Turns out the thread had a rough spot that wore thin at the needle eye. I learned to run my thread through my fingers before starting to feel for any weak patches. Anyone else had a thread fail on them like that?

5

blakecampbell•1mo ago

Switched from PVA to wheat paste for my spine linings and I'm never going back

I used to think PVA was the only way to go for strength, but I did a side by side test on two identical rebinds last month and the wheat paste one just handled way better. No more fighting with the book board slipping around and the paste gave me an extra 10 seconds of working time. Has anyone else tried mixing in a little methyl cellulose to slow down the drying even more?

22

jadep41•1mo ago

Had to pick between laser cut bookcloth and hand cutting it for my latest binding

I was working on a leather bound journal for a client last month and got stuck deciding between buying pre cut bookcloth from a shop in Austin or just slicing it myself with a straight edge. The laser cut stuff was $28 for the set and looked perfect but I figured I could save money and do it by hand. Big mistake. My edges came out wobbly on three out of six pieces because my ruler slipped and I ended up wasting almost a quarter of the cloth. The client said they didn't notice but I can see it every time I look at it. Has anyone else tried using a rotary cutter for bookcloth instead of a blade? I'm thinking about switching.

11

willow244•1mo ago

Rant: That vintage bookbinding warehouse in Portland gave me the creeps

I drove down to Powell's old annex last weekend to pick up some leather scraps from a guy I found on Craigslist. Walked into this dusty warehouse and saw stacks of books piled up near a leaky pipe. Water was dripping right onto these old cloth-bound volumes, no tarp or anything underneath. The guy said they've been storing books there for 15 years without issues. I pointed to the mold spots on the bottom shelf and he just shrugged. Then I noticed the temperature was all over the place too, like 80 degrees near the window and 60 in the back. That kind of swinging humidity is a death sentence for paper and glue. I told him he should at least put down some pallets and a dehumidifier, but he acted like I was being dramatic. Has anyone else run into storage setups that made your skin crawl?

20

phoenix79•1mo ago

Can we talk about the book fair in Chicago last fall

I went to the big book arts fair in Chicago last October and saw a binder using a simple jig to trim endpapers perfectly every time. Watching that demo made me realize I was wasting way too much time measuring by hand and getting uneven cuts. Has anyone else picked up a trick from watching a demo at a show like that?

21

stella904•1mo ago

A customer in Austin made me rethink my endbands

I used to just glue on pre-made endbands and call it done. This one guy pointed out how the colors clashed with his book cloth and said it looked cheap. He was right, so now I take 15 extra minutes to hand-sew endbands that actually match the cover. Has anyone else had a client call out a small detail like that?

13

the_miles•1mo ago

PVA glue turned my spine into a brick yesterday

Was rebinding a 1970s cookbook in my basement shop. Mixed a fresh batch of PVA but added too much water. Thought I was being clever thinning it out. The spine dried crooked and hard as concrete. Wasted 3 hours of work and a full sheet of book cloth. Anyone else mess up glue ratios and ruin a project?

4

stone.simon•1mo ago

I think everyone is overcomplicating grain direction on endpapers

I keep seeing posts online and in workshops where people obsess over getting the grain direction exactly right on endpapers, like the book will fall apart if it is off by a fraction. In 12 years of binding books at my shop in Portland, I have used endpapers with the grain going the wrong way on maybe 20 or 30 projects, mostly by accident or because the paper stock I had was too nice to waste. Not a single one of those books has come back with warping or cracking, even after a few years on someone's shelf. I am not saying grain direction means nothing, but I think people stress about it way more than the actual durability of a well glued hinge. Has anyone else had good luck ignoring the grain rule on purpose?