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Spent 9 hours fighting one text block because I glued the spine square instead of rounded
Rebinding a beat up 1930s copy of Treasure Island for a friend and I could not figure out why the text block would not sit right in the case. I had glued the spine flat, so the fore edge fanned open like a paper fan and the boards would not close. Took me 9 hours over three nights before a guy at my local guild meeting in Portland glanced at it and said the spine needed to be rounded first. Now I round every spine before casing in, even on small books. What is your go to check before you glue the spine?
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price.alice10d ago
I heard on a bookbinding podcast that you should always tap the text block square and check the round before gluing, because once that spine dries flat you're stuck. Learned that the hard way too, my first case ever looked like a taco. Now I test fit the block in the case with no glue at all first, just to see how it sits.
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