Now I get why my granddad stuck with those old leather binding strips

I spent years rolling my eyes at the older binders in this shop I go to in Portland. They all swore by these crusty old leather strips for spine hinges, and I was all about modern synthetic adhesives. Then I had a batch of books fall apart after just 4 years because the glue got brittle. Last week I recased a 1920s novel that had those same leather strips and the spine was still flexible as ever. Has anyone else had a modern material fail on them while the old school stuff held up?

2 comments

2 Comments

vera_johnson94d ago

Have you ever tried those old school Japanese bookbinding techniques? I mean the ones with thread not glue. I once repaired a cookbook from the 1940s using a modern PVA glue and it turned into a sticky mess within two years. Meanwhile the original stitching from the 1940s was still holding the signatures together perfectly. It makes you wonder if we just got too comfortable with quick fixes instead of taking the time to do things right the first time. Your granddad probably knew a thing or two about materials that actually age well.

stellaperry4d ago

Tried the Japanese stab binding on a cookbook too @vera_johnson9. Worked way better than glue.