c/bookbinders

My best week ever started with a box of water damaged books from the 1920s

A local library in Springfield gave me a box of 12 old books they thought were trash, all with bad water stains and loose spines. I spent the whole week carefully drying, cleaning, and rebacking them, and the feeling of saving that history was just amazing. Has anyone else had a big save like that with a project everyone else gave up on?

TIL a trick for getting a smooth edge on book cloth

I was gluing down some cloth covers and kept getting frayed edges, so I tried a bone folder versus a plastic one. The bone folder heated up just enough from my hand to seal the fibers, no more fraying. Anyone else have a go-to tool for that job?

Trying to get a clean edge on a leather cover for a custom journal took me three full evenings.

My whole view on using hot glue for repairs changed after a rainy Tuesday

I was fixing a 1908 family bible that got soaked, and the old animal glue had failed completely. I tried a new wheat paste recipe from a workshop in Chicago, and the flexibility it gave for the swollen pages was a total game changer. Has anyone else switched from modern adhesives back to traditional pastes for water damaged work?

Warning: I thought using a hair dryer to dry paste was a bad idea...

A binder in my old guild swore by it for speeding up the drying on small repairs. I tried it last month on a 1908 poetry book with a loose spine, keeping the heat low and moving it around. It worked way better than just waiting overnight, and didn't harm the paper at all. Has anyone else tried this, or is there a better trick for quick drying?

Spent $90 on a 'professional' corner rounding punch set that fell apart after 20 books

I saw a guy at the 2018 Guild of Book Workers fair in Boston using a bone folder from the 1800s

Honestly, I'm still torn on using PVA glue vs animal glue for a 16th century style rebind I started three years ago in my Boston workshop.

Last month I finally finished the text block, but I keep going back and forth because the PVA is stronger and faster, while the animal glue is more period correct and reversible, so what's your take on authenticity versus practicality for a project like this?

TIL a library volunteer in Toledo saved a 1902 atlas with a kitchen sponge

Honestly, I was helping sort donations at the Toledo Library last month and saw this older lady gently cleaning a water damaged cover. She was using a plain, damp kitchen sponge, not a fancy brush. She showed me how the soft foam lifts grime without scratching the gold foil, which my usual stiff bristle brush would have wrecked. I've tried it on three leather bindings since then and it works way better for delicate stuff. Has anyone else found a totally normal household item that works better than a specialized tool?

Appreciation post: My cheap bone folder from the craft store was wrecking my paper

I kept getting these faint, greasy-looking crease lines on my text blocks. Switched to a Teflon folder I found for $15, and the difference is night and day, no more marks. Anyone have a favorite brand for folding delicate papers?

Vent: I spent $80 on a 'professional' bone folder and it's just a glorified piece of plastic.

The edges are already rounding over after a single project, and my old teak one I made for free works ten times better. Anyone have a real bone or Teflon folder they'd actually swear by?

My old mentor told me to always use PVA for spine lining, but I tried wheat paste on a 19th century ledger and it was a total game changer.

Rant: I was convinced you needed a bone folder for every single crease

Watched a binder in Seattle use a polished river stone for 90% of the work, and my results got smoother after I tried it. Anyone else find a weird tool that works better than the 'right' one?

A client said my hand-sewn headbands were too tight and it made me rethink my whole method

I was finishing a custom journal for a repeat customer, and when they picked it up they said the headband felt stiff and pulled on the spine. I always pulled the thread as tight as I could, thinking that was the right way. After that, I tried a project where I left a tiny bit of slack, maybe a millimeter of give. The book opened so much easier. Now I do a test open after sewing every headband. Has anyone else had a client point out something basic you were doing wrong?

A client said my headbands were too tight and it made me rethink my whole method

I was binding a custom journal for a regular client, and when she picked it up she said, 'It's beautiful, but I can barely open it flat without feeling like I'm fighting it.' That hit me because I'd always pulled my headbands super tight, thinking it looked neater. I started leaving about an eighth of an inch more slack when sewing them on, and after doing that for the last five books, the difference is huge. They open so much smoother now. Has anyone else had a similar piece of feedback that made you adjust a basic step you thought you had down?

Chatting with a librarian about repairs totally shifted my view on 'good enough'

I was fixing a 1920s poetry book for my local library and mentioned being annoyed I couldn't match the original marbled paper perfectly. The librarian said, 'The story is the repair now, too.' That hit different, like the history of the fix is part of the book's life. Anyone else had a client's comment change how you approach a project?

Spent three whole days trying to get a single piece of endpaper to lay flat

I was binding a small poetry book and the paste just kept making the paper bubble up... no matter how much I smoothed it. I tried different glue, different paper weight, even a bone folder I heated slightly. My partner walked in and said the room looked like a paper crime scene. Has anyone else had a simple step turn into a multi-day fight with materials?

Looking back, I wasted about $80 on a cheap corner rounder punch that mangled leather and paper alike.

I stubbornly used it on a whole batch of 15 notebooks before admitting the cuts were too rough and uneven, so what's a good mid-range tool for clean corners on thicker cover stock?

Finally got my head around rounding spines after a year of lumpy backs

I used to just eyeball it with a hammer, but my mentor in Austin showed me how to use a proper rounding jack last month. Anyone have a favorite method for getting that perfect curve?

PSA: My book spines went from floppy to firm after switching to a specific PVA mix

For years, my case bindings had a slight sag after a few months on the shelf. I started adding a 20% methyl cellulose mix to my standard Jade PVA about six months ago, and the difference in spine rigidity is night and day. Anyone have a different additive ratio they swear by?

My aunt told me she keeps her old books 'because they smell like stories' and it made me look at my own work differently.

Warning: my kid's school art project wrecked my headbanding setup

Last Thursday, I was setting up to headband a set of journals, with my usual setup of a backing board and two wooden blocks. My eight year old needed to glue something for a diorama and asked to use my PVA. I said sure, just be careful. An hour later, I went to clamp up and the whole thing was off by a solid quarter inch. Turns out she'd used my backing board as a work surface and a thin, uneven layer of dried glue had built up on it. I spent the next forty minutes with a scraper and sandpaper getting it flat again. Has anyone else had their workspace subtly messed up by something totally normal? What's your fix for a slightly warped backing board?

Had a customer bring in a book she said was 'haunted'

She came into my shop in St. Louis with this old family Bible, insisting the binding was making spooky noises at night. I opened it up and found a single, perfectly preserved cicada shell wedged between the cover boards. When I showed her, she just stared and said, 'So the ghost... was a bug?' I had to try so hard not to laugh. Ever had a client bring you a repair with a weird story attached?

Warning: that 'simple' headband repair on a 1920s leather binding

Thought it was a two hour fix, but matching the grain and dye took three full days. Anyone know a good source for thin, flexible calfskin in a deep oxblood color?

Spent $85 on a Japanese hole punch jig and I'm torn

I got it for making stab-bound notebooks, thinking it would save me hours of measuring and marking. The first project went smooth, but on the second, the paper shifted and I ruined a whole signature. My friend says a simple cardboard template is just as good for free. Has anyone else tried these jigs, or do you stick with old-school methods?