c/bookbinders

I just finished my 100th hand-bound notebook this morning.

It hit me that a decade ago, I was just gluing pages into cereal boxes for practice. What's a project that made you feel like you'd finally 'arrived' in the craft?

Spent $45 on a bone folder with a 'lifetime guarantee' and it snapped on my third book

Has anyone found a truly tough folder that can handle thick paper?

Back from a trip to Thailand and saw some monks binding books by hand. Looked peaceful. Where do I even start learning?

How our town's binding event turned into a thread hunt

Last month, our community center held a binding workshop for beginners. So many people came that we used up all the linen thread by noon. I had to run to three craft stores to get more, but they just had polyester. This made me see how hard it is to find good supplies locally. Has anyone else dealt with a sudden need for materials in their area? What do you do when your local stores don't carry what you need?

Warning: Trying to recreate vintage marbling left my studio a disaster zone

Back then, they had patience I clearly lack. I've got more dye on my clothes than on the paper!

Thinking back on how we dealt with hand aches in the bindery

Back in the day, we just accepted that our hands would hurt after hours of folding and sewing. Now, I start each session with a few wrist rolls and finger stretches. It seems simple, but it has completely changed how I feel at the end of a long project. It's wild to realize we once saw that pain as just part of the craft.

The two-inch spine on my old dictionary is testing my patience

I'm binding an old dictionary with a really thick spine. The acid-free glue I use needs at least 72 hours to set properly. Ngl, I'm tempted to check it early every time. What tricks do you use to keep from messing with a project during long waits?

Showerthought: My leftover bookbinding leather ends up as coasters now

I used to toss them, but cutting them into squares gives them a second life. Feels good to waste less, lol.

DAE think modern adhesives make things too easy?

Back in the day, we had to mix our own glue, which was a mess but taught patience. Now with instant adhesives, I sometimes miss that slow process.

Unpopular opinion: I think basic craft glue works fine for most book projects

When I started binding, everyone told me to only use special bookbinding glue. I ran out once and used regular craft glue on a personal sketchbook. Tbh, that book has held up through daily use for two years now. I get that quality matters, but for hobby stuff, I think we can relax a bit. Not every project needs the expensive stuff.

Shoutout to giving glue its full drying time

I used to rush through gluing sections because I wanted to finish books faster. This led to weak spines that would split after a few reads. On a personal project, I glued a text block and started casing it in too soon. The whole thing shifted and I had to take it apart, which wasted hours. Now, I set a strict rule to let glue dry for a full day, no exceptions. I place weights on the book and leave it alone until the next afternoon. It tests my patience, but the bindings hold up way better. Trusting the process has saved me from many messy fixes.

Hand-stitching a signature for a repair job took me three tries

Every time I figured it was good, the thread tension was off. Spent more time fixing my mistakes than the actual binding. So frustrating.