Serious question, dropped $240 on a bone folder and I still can't crease straight
I grabbed a genuine bone folder for $240 at a supply swap in Portland last weekend after using a plastic one for two years, thinking it would fix my crooked creases on signatures. Turns out my folds are cleaner but I still wobble on the pressboard, so now I'm wondering if the tool was never the problem and my paper grain direction is. What do you all use to train your hand for straight creases, or is this just a practice thing?
Wait, $240 for a bone folder? Did it come with a tiny butler to hold the paper for you? I say that with love because I did almost the same thing, bought a fancy teak paper folder hoping it would magically fix my crooked folds, and my hands were still the problem.
Have you checked your paper grain though? If you're folding against the grain, no tool on earth will save you. Tear test is the quick way to find out, tear a scrap one way then the other and see which edge rips straighter.
But honestly, the wobble on the pressboard is a muscle thing. What helped me was slowing way down and doing the whole crease in one slow pass instead of little push push push motions. Also score your fold line first with something dull before you fold, it gives the paper a track to follow.
Two years of crooked folds here too, so you're in good company. Is your pressboard maybe sliding around on you?