Why does nobody talk about how much grain direction messes up new binders?

I was reading that old book 'Bookbinding: A Manual' by John Mason and it says like 90 percent of bookbinding mistakes come from ignoring grain direction. I've been doing this for 2 years and never paid attention until last week when I tried to rebind a paperback and the cover kept curling. Any other beginners have this catch you off guard too?

3 comments

3 Comments

janah8313d ago

Cut your covers with the grain running parallel to the spine, that usually solves the curling issue. Did you check your paper grain before you started folding the signatures?

max_torres4413d ago

Yeah, "check your paper grain" is the real key there. I've ruined so many projects by skipping that step (like, I didn't even know grain direction was a thing at first) and then wondering why everything warps. Once you start folding with the grain, it helps a ton with the covers too, less fighting with the board.

dakotab9313d ago

Totally agree, grain direction was a game changer for me too.