river_thompson•7d agoProlific Poster

Appreciation post: that before-and-after on my first leather binding job

I took a 6-week workshop last year in Portland and did a cloth reback on a 1920s novel with crumbly hinges, and after lining the spine with Japanese tissue and re-sewing the signatures, the thing opens flat as a pancake now. The difference came down to taking my time on the rounding and backing with a proper hammer instead of just using bone folders like I used to do. Has anyone else seen a big jump in quality after switching to one specific tool or step?

4 comments

4 Comments

sean487d ago

Yeah that part about taking time on rounding and backing with a proper hammer rang a bell. My buddy took a bookbinding class and the teacher made him switch from bone folders to a real backing hammer, and he said his books started looking 10 times better overnight. Still makes fun of himself for trying to fake it with folders before that.

wyattramirez7d ago

Bone folders for backing... yeah that's like trying to butter toast with a screwdriver. @sean48 I bet his buddy's old books are still laughing at him.

kimblack7d ago

You ever try using a brass backing hammer instead of a standard one? @sean48 that's the exact thing my mentor told me - bone folders just don't give you the same control for shaping the spine. The weight and balance of a real hammer lets you work the shoulders without crushing the text block. I'd also say get a good finishing press, makes the whole process way more stable. That one change got my joints lining up way cleaner than before.

garcia.wren7d ago

Man alive, bone folders for backing - that was me for way too long. I cringe thinking about the poor book I practically mangled trying to get the shoulders to set right with just a folder and some wishful thinking. Wound up with a spine that looked like a squished caterpillar and text block edges that wouldn't line up for love or money. Finally broke down and got a real backing hammer after seeing a friend's results, and yeah, my first book after that wasn't even in the same league. Still got that sad little caterpillar sitting on my shelf as a reminder not to cut corners.