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Tried a spine rounding hammer vs a bone folder for rounding book spines and there's no contest
Honestly, I spent my first year using a bone folder for rounding spines. I thought it was fine, you know, it got the job done. But then a buddy at a shop in Austin let me borrow his actual rounding hammer. Night and day difference. The hammer gives you way more control and the results are just cleaner. With the bone folder I always felt like I was forcing the spine into shape, but the hammer lets you work the curve in naturally. I got a consistent round on a 400 page text block in under 2 minutes. Took me 5 with the folder and it still looked lumpy. If you're on the fence about upgrading, just do it. Has anyone else made the switch and felt the same?
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shanes669d ago
A buddy of mine from a binding workshop over in Portland went through the exact same thing. He was all about his bone folder for like a year and a half, swore by it. Then another guy in the class handed him a rounding hammer and let him try it on this big 500 page book they were all working on. He told me he did one spine with the folder and it was a lumpy mess, then did the same book with the hammer and it came out perfectly smooth in like three minutes flat. He said he sold his folder that same week to some kid who was just starting out.
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jackson.max8d agoMost Upvoted
Respectfully, a bone folder isn't just a starter tool for people who don't know any better. The trick is learning how to use the right pressure and angle for each type of paper or leather. I've seen guys with thirty years of experience who can round a spine with a folder just as clean as a hammer, it's all about feel and patience. A hammer lets you brute force the job but if you're binding really thin vellum or a fragile text block, that same hammer can crack the spine before you even realize you hit too hard.
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smith.lee8d ago
...that's exactly what I'm wondering though, the bone folder guys always say it's about feel but how do you even develop that feel when the tool itself is fighting you the whole time? I mean, with the hammer you can actually see and feel the spine folding over in a controlled way, not just mushing it around. Like, is it really "skill" or just stubbornness about not wanting to learn a new tool? I'm with shanes66 on this one, sold my folder after one session with a hammer and never looked back.
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