c/bookbinders

My first commission piece for a client in Portland had a major spine issue

I was finishing a custom leather journal for a client in Portland when I realized the spine glue had set wrong, leaving a visible gap. I had to carefully peel back the leather, clean off the old adhesive with a bone folder, and re-glue the entire spine section. Has anyone else had to fix a spine after the glue dried, and what method worked for you?

The way people fold their signatures drives me up a wall

I keep seeing folks in videos just crease a stack of pages with their hand and call it good. Did that on a commission for a poetry book last month, ended up with uneven text blocks and a spine that wouldn't sit flat. You have to bone-fold each sheet individually before you gather them, it takes five extra minutes but saves hours of headache. Anyone else run into this and have a better method for stubborn paper?

A guy at the print shop told me my grain direction was off and I felt so silly

I was picking up some cover paper last week and the older guy behind the counter, Mike, took a quick look at my sheet. He bent it slightly along the edge and said, 'You're going to fight this the whole way. The grain runs the wrong way for what you're doing.' I was making a small notebook and had just grabbed paper without checking! He showed me the easy tear test right there, and sure enough, it tore rough and jagged instead of a clean line. I've been binding for about a year now and I guess I got lazy about checking grain on pre-cut sheets, assuming they were all long grain. It made me realize how one small skip can mess up a whole project, making covers warp or pages not sit right. Now I test every single sheet, even the fancy ones. Has anyone else had a moment like that where a basic rule you knew just slipped your mind?

Went to the big library downtown and saw a display of old repair jobs

They had a glass case with maybe 15 books from the 1800s. All had been fixed up. Some spines were rebacked with new leather. A few had new endpapers. The old repairs were neat, but you could tell they were done a long time ago. The thread was thick and the glue was dark. Made me think about how we do things now. We have better tools and cleaner materials. But the goal is still the same. Keep the story in the pages safe. Anyone else seen old work that made you stop and look?

Shoutout to the lady at the library who pointed out my grain direction mistake

I was rebinding a cookbook from the 70s last month, one of those thick community fundraiser ones. I was so focused on getting the cover right that I didn't even think about the paper grain for the new endpapers. I just grabbed some nice 120gsm paper I had. The lady who runs the local history room at the library saw me working on it during a repair workshop and just gently asked, 'Is that grain running the long way?' I had to check, and sure enough, it was wrong. The book was already fighting me, wanting to stay open weird. I felt so dumb, I've been doing this for like two years and just assumed heavier paper was less fussy. It totally explained why some of my past projects felt stiff. Has anyone else had a simple grain direction slip-up that messed with a whole project?

PSA: I just read that the oldest known bound book is from 600 AD

I was flipping through a library copy of 'The Craft of Bookbinding' by Arthur Johnson and saw a note about the St. Cuthbert Gospel. It's a tiny leather-bound book from around 698, found in a saint's coffin in Durham Cathedral. The binding is still intact after over 1,300 years. Has anyone here tried to replicate a historical binding style like that?

Stumbled on a library report about book repair costs

Honestly, I was looking through the annual report from the Seattle Public Library system and saw they spent over $12,000 last year just on commercial book repair for their circulating collection. Tbh, I had no idea the scale of that need was so big for public libraries. Has anyone here ever done contract work for a library system, and how does their process usually work?

Honestly just hit 50 books bound and the spine glue failures are way higher than I expected.

Ngl, after the first 10 were perfect, I got sloppy with my PVA application time on the next batch. Anyone else have a specific glue window they swear by for quarter-bound leather?

Shoutout to the guy who told me to try a bone folder over a teflon one

I was binding a set of poetry books for a local shop and had to pick between a new teflon folder and a simple bone one. I went with the bone tool because it was cheaper, about $12. The feel of it on the paper is just different, it gives a sharper, cleaner crease without any shine. Has anyone else found the old ways work better for certain jobs?

I used to laugh at people who swore by bone folders until I tried a $12 one from Talas and my headcaps got 50% cleaner.

Has anyone else had a tool they thought was a gimmick completely change their work?

Question about using wheat paste versus PVA for spine lining

I just finished two copies of the same book, a collection of local poetry. For the first, I used a modern PVA glue for the spine lining, and for the second, I mixed up a batch of traditional wheat paste. The difference was clear after a week. The PVA copy has a stiffer, less flexible spine, while the wheat paste one opens beautifully and feels more supple. It seems like the older method actually gives a better result for this kind of text block. Has anyone else found this, or am I just mixing my PVA wrong?

Changed my mind about using PVA glue for everything after a repair job in Boston

I always used standard PVA for repairs, but a client brought in a 1902 family bible from a damp Boston basement with mold damage. The PVA I used on a test patch made the paper brittle and dark. Switched to a wheat starch paste for the actual work, and the pages stayed flexible without staining. Anyone else run into this with really old, acidic paper?

I finally caved and bought that $80 Japanese hole punch guide

Thought it would fix my wonky sewing holes. It did not. The holes are still off by a tiny bit, maybe a millimeter. But now I'm out eighty bucks and still lining things up by eye. Should have just kept practicing with my awl. Anyone know a better trick for keeping signatures straight before punching?

I bought a $90 leather skiving knife from a craft fair in Portland and it's already dull

The vendor swore it was 'professional grade' but the edge rolled over on my second calfskin project. I should have just ordered a known brand online for half the price. Has anyone found a good mid-range skiver that actually holds up?

My grandpa told me to never skimp on the kettle stitch

I thought I could get away with just two holes on a 300-page text block last week. The whole thing came apart in my hands when I lifted it. Anyone got a good video on proper kettle stitching for thicker books?

Honestly, I was reading a library copy of 'The Book' by Keith Houston and it said a medieval scribe could make about 100 quills from a single goose wing. That's a lot of pens.

My first attempt at rounding a spine was with a soup can and a prayer

About two years ago, I was trying to round the spine on a thick journal and didn't have a proper backing hammer. I grabbed a full can of tomato soup from my kitchen, wrapped it in a towel, and tried to gently pound the signatures into shape... it mostly just made a weird dent and sprayed a little soup juice on my text block. I finally bought a proper bone folder and learned the slow, careful burnishing method from a workshop in Portland. Has anyone else tried a truly ridiculous 'tool' before getting the right one?

My first leather spine finally looks like it was done by a person, not a raccoon

I tried my first leather binding about six months ago on a small poetry book, and the spine was a mess of glue and uneven lines. Last week, I finished a copy of 'The Hobbit' for a friend in Portland, and the difference is night and day. The big change was practicing the paring technique with my new Japanese skiving knife for about an hour before I even touched the leather. Has anyone else found a specific tool that just clicked and made a huge difference in your finishing work?

Appreciation post: My PVA glue disaster on a custom leather journal last Thursday

I was finishing a custom journal for a client in Austin when my PVA glue got too thick and left a cloudy film on the leather spine, so I carefully dabbed it with a damp sponge and let it dry overnight, which saved the piece, but has anyone else found a better way to fix cloudy glue without damaging the cover?

Three years back I was fixing a 1908 hymnal for a church in St. Louis.

I kept getting tiny air bubbles under the new leather spine, no matter how careful I was. Finally tried warming the paste in a water bath before applying it, just like my grandma used to do for pie crust. Has anyone else found that a specific temperature works best for paste?

Unpopular opinion: I was totally wrong about PVA glue for spine lining

A binder at the Chicago fair last year told me my quarter leather bindings would fail in a decade because I used straight PVA for the spine linings. He said it gets brittle and cracks, and to mix in 20% wheat paste for flexibility. I tried it on my next six books, and the spines now move so much better when you open them. Anyone else mix their glue or think this is overkill?

Had to pick between a bone folder and a Teflon folder for a big leather project

I was working on a full leather binding for a client's family history book, about 400 pages thick. My old bone folder was smooth but left faint marks on the dark calfskin. I grabbed a Teflon folder I'd bought on a whim last year, and it glided without a single scratch. The creases were just as sharp. Anyone have a favorite tool for delicate leather that won't mar the surface?

My dog ate my paste brush and I had to use a basting brush from the kitchen

I was in the middle of a quarter leather rebind on a 1920s poetry book when my golden retriever, Cooper, decided my 1-inch paste brush was a chew toy. Grabbed a silicone basting brush from the drawer and it actually worked fine for applying the wheat paste, lol. Anyone have a better emergency substitute they've used?

My aunt said to use a hair dryer on the spine glue, and I'm glad I didn't listen

Watch out for that new 'archival' glue from Craftwell

Honestly, I tried binding a set of 12 journals for a local library project and the adhesive just would not set right. It took me three full days of redoing signatures and cleaning pages to fix the mess. Has anyone found a good alternative for library-grade work that actually holds?