Had a lightbulb moment about my paring knife grip after 6 years

I used to hold my paring knife like a hammer when I was trimming book cloth and leather. Last Tuesday at a guild meeting in Portland, a lady named Diane showed me the pencil grip and it completely changed how much control I have. Now I can cut curves around corners without slipping or getting hand cramps after 20 minutes. Has anyone else had a simple adjustment like that totally shift their binding work?

3 comments

3 Comments

murphy.aaron1mo ago

Diane sounds like a lifesaver. I had a similar thing happen with my awl grip last year. I was holding it like a screwdriver and getting blisters after trimming just three covers at the bindery. A guy named Tom showed me to hold it more like a dart, resting my thumb on the handle, and now I can punch through six signatures of linen without stopping to shake my hand out.

mason_lopez1mo agoTop Commenter

Wait, you actually like the pencil grip? I've been doing bookbinding for about 8 years now and I switched back to the hammer grip after trying the pencil thing for a month. The pencil grip kills my wrist when I'm doing long cuts on thick leather, plus you lose all the leverage for pushing through tough materials like bookboard. I had way more hand cramps with pencil grip actually, especially when I was trimming a stack of signatures. The hammer grip lets me use my whole arm instead of just my fingers, and I can work for hours without stopping. Different strokes I guess but I really think the pencil grip is overrated for heavy duty binding work.

the_diana1mo agoMost Upvoted

Wait, did you really do that for a whole month before switching back? That's some serious dedication to a grip that was making your wrist hurt.