Spent 3 hours trying to fix a wonky headband on a vintage book

I was working on rebinding an old novel from the 1920s and the headband kept sliding off center no matter how many times I glued it down. Tried different PVA mixes, clamping it weird, even used a hair dryer to speed up drying. Finally realized I was using way too thick of a thread for the style of the book. Swapped to a thinner silk thread and it sat perfect in like 15 minutes. Has anyone else had a tiny detail like that eat up half a day?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_diana17d agoMost Upvoted

Spent a whole afternoon once because I used the wrong gauge wire for a book's sewing stations.

phoenix24617d ago

Gauge is one of those things you gotta learn the hard way I think. Had a project where I used 28 gauge for the sewing stations on a text block with thick paper. It cut through the folds by the third signature. Switched to 25 gauge and everything came together smooth. Now I always test a scrap piece first before committing to the whole thing.

joel_jones17d ago

Ain't that always how it goes though? You think you're being clever grabbing the thin stuff and then it just wrecks your whole setup like @the_diana found out. My first bookbinding project I used like 30 gauge thinking thinner was better and the needle basically just bent into a U shape after like two stitches.