danielowens•2d agoProlific Poster

Found a cheap way to clamp book spines without spending $100

I was working on a rebind of an old textbook last month, one of those thick 800 page monsters, and my regular clamps just wouldn't hold the spine tight enough. I was about to give up and order some fancy bookbinding press from a woodworking supply place, but then I remembered I had some heavy duty binder clips sitting in my junk drawer. I stuck two of them on each side of the spine, right where the glue goes, and put a couple of those cheap plastic spring clamps from the hardware store along the edges to keep everything flat. It worked way better than I expected, the spine came out straight and the glue bonded even. Has anyone else found a weird household item that saved them from buying gear?

3 comments

3 Comments

bell.jessica2d ago

Wait, binder clips on a textbook spine? Did you have to worry about them denting the paper at all? I tried that once on a thinner book and ended up with these little half moon crimps that drove me nuts. Though for a monster 800 pager, I guess you're not exactly worried about preserving the cover. I have used heavy books stacked on top of a clamped spine before, kind of like a poor man's weight. It's janky but it gets the job done if you have nothing else.

kimr912d agoMost Upvoted

It's funny how the best tools are often the ones we already own...

taylor.brooke2d ago

So I did the binder clip thing on a cookbook rebind and @bell.jessica is right about the dents. I stuck some wax paper between the clips and the paper and it helped a lot. Had a leftover 2x4 in my garage that I laid across the whole spine to spread the pressure out even more.