Spent $60 on a roll of nice buckram and used regular PVA glue like I always do, but it soaked through and left ugly dark stains all over the cover. Found out after googling that you're supposed to use a paste mix or pH-neutral stuff for coated cloth. Anyone have a go-to glue brand that won't ruin expensive fabric?
I always faced the grain of my spine paper the same way as the text block, turns out it should be perpendicular. A guy at my local bindery in Portland pointed it out when he saw me struggling with a curved spine on a 300 page book. Has anyone else had a dumb 'aha' moment like that?
I started out using only linen thread because that's what my mentor in Seattle used back in the late 2000s. Switched to a synthetic blend about 5 years ago thinking it would be stronger and cheaper, and it did hold up better on a big run of 50 sketchbooks I made. But last month I pulled one of those sketchbooks out of storage and noticed the thread had a weird shine, like it was getting slick or something. Has anyone else noticed synthetic thread changing texture over time, or am I just being picky about old habits?
I was at a workshop in Portland last month and this old bookbinder watched me glue a spine. He goes "why are you using PVA for that section?" I had no clue there was a difference between PVA and wheat paste for certain parts. Turns out I was using the wrong adhesive for all my text blocks. My books kept pulling apart after a few weeks and I thought it was normal. Anyone else get stuck using the wrong glue forever and not realize it?
I was binding a journal last month and thought I could just swap in regular PVA for the leather glue since they both dry clear. By the third day the spine had a big flap hanging off. Had to rip it all apart and redo it with proper flexible adhesive. Anyone else learn this lesson the hard way or am I alone?
I saw a bunch of folks on here swearing by freezer paper for glue transfer. Tried it on a batch of 5 books last week and every single one had the paper stick in spots. Switched to basic parchment from the grocery store for $3.50 and it peeled off perfectly every time. I think the silicone coating on parchment is way more consistent than whatever they put on freezer paper. Has anyone else had this issue or did I just get a bad roll of the stuff?
He was separating offset from digital and calling out the saddle stitch bindings, and now I'm grouping my leather projects by whether I rounded the spine or not and it's way easier to find my mistakes.
Heard an old timer at the Guild meeting say he never trims his signatures before sewing, and it got me thinking about whether I'm overcomplicating my workflow. Has anyone else tried skipping that step and noticed a difference in how the spine lays?
I was binding a novel for a friend last Tuesday and used this cheap PVA I got from a dollar store near Cincinnati. The glue bled right through the spine fabric and left these ugly yellow stains that won't come out. Has anyone else had a glue brand totally wreck their project like that?
Old me would drown the spine in PVA and wonder why the pages crinkled, but after a 5 minute chat with that guy at the Oregon Bookbinding Guild meetup last spring I switched to EVA and my books lay flat now, has anyone else had a glue epiphany that late into the hobby?
I have been working on this set of 10 volumes from 1902 for about 6 months now. The spines were completely shot and someone had tried taping them back together. A fellow binder at the library told me to try using a finer weave book cloth for the reback since the original had a textured grain. I took her advice and it matched the original covering much better than I expected. Has anyone else had luck matching older cloth patterns for restoration work?
Had a guy bring back a leather journal I sold him at the Portland craft fair last month. Said the pages kept pulling away from the spine. I was using 1/4 inch clearance on my hinges and he pointed out it needed at least 3/8 inch for the leather to flex. Swapped my jig settings and now the book lays flat without that gap. Anyone else had a customer spot something obvious you missed?
Picked up a scrap piece from the Tandy store downtown. Looked cool. Figured it would give the spine some texture. Sewed the sections in. Worked fine until I tried to open the thing flat. That spine just fought me the whole way. Hornback is way too stiff for a flexible binding. Stick to goatskin or calf for journals. Has anyone else had a leather choice totally mess up their project?
I was grabbing some PVA at the local shop downtown and the guy behind the counter started asking about what I use for spine adhesives. He told me he's been using the same wheat paste recipe for 40 years and never bothered with anything else. I laughed it off at first but then he showed me a book he'd rebound in 1985 that still had a perfect hinge. Made me wonder if I've been overcomplicating things with all these fancy synthetic blends. Maybe there's something to sticking with the basics that I've been missing. Anyone else ever had a run-in with a traditionalist that made you question your whole setup?
I tried fixing a torn textbook cover from the 80s last month with PVA because everyone says it's archival safe. The pages kept popping loose after a day. So I hit it with hot glue on the spine joint instead and that thing is solid now. Honestly, I know PVA is the standard but for a cheap student book that just needs to survive the semester, hot glue held up way better. Has anyone else found a situation where the "wrong" glue actually worked?
He took one look at my copy of Huckleberry Finn and said 'that PVA you're using will crack in 5 years flat, switch to wheat paste for the spine,' and now I'm sitting here wondering how much stuff I've already messed up, has anyone else had to redo their early projects?
I was working on a full leather binding for a photo book last month and got stuck on the creasing step. The choice was a standard bone folder or a newer teflon one I got as a gift. I picked the teflon folder because I was worried about marking the dark blue leather. It worked great, no shiny marks at all, and the folds are super crisp. The whole process took about two hours for the cover alone. Has anyone else had a good result with teflon on dark or delicate leathers?
Honestly, I used a bone folder for every single fold for like two years. A client in Tacoma brought me a book to fix last month, and the paper was all creased and cracked along the spine. She asked if I'd used too much pressure, and that was the lightbulb moment. I tried a teflon folder on some scrap and the difference was huge, way smoother. Has anyone else switched tools for different paper types?
I was watching a video from a binder in Portland and noticed they creased the fold with a bone folder before gluing, not after. I'd been doing it after for months and my papers always had tiny wrinkles. Tried their way on a small notebook last week and the corner was perfectly smooth. Has anyone else had a basic step they were just doing backwards?
For years, I just slapped on the PVA straight from the bottle until a workshop in Portland showed me to thin it with a bit of water and work it in slowly. The difference in flexibility after six months is huge, no more brittle snaps. What's your go-to method for keeping headbands from getting stiff?
The bone folder gave me a much sharper, cleaner crease without any risk of scratching the leather, so has anyone else found a specific tool that made a huge difference in their finishing work?
I mean, I spent like 15 hours on that thing, hand-tooling the cover and everything, and she just dismissed it in a second because I used a kettle stitch instead of some fancy exposed spine.
My tally sheet for workshop materials finally made me add it up. It's a weird milestone that just means my hands are permanently sore. Anyone have a favorite board shear that won't make my shoulder give out?