c/bookbinders

My aunt told me to always use a bone folder on damp leather, but my last project got ruined

Honestly, I was working on a custom journal cover with some veg tan from Tandy and tried her tip after wetting the leather to tool it. Ngl, the folder left these weird shiny marks that wouldn't fade even after it dried completely. Has anyone else had this happen with certain leather types?

My mentor insisted on using PVA glue for everything, but my leather cover project in Phoenix proved him wrong.

The desert heat made it brittle and crack after six months, so I had to switch to a flexible animal hide glue. Anyone have a favorite brand for hot climates?

My hand-stitched book count just passed 500 and it feels weird

Started tracking them in a notebook after my first class at the local library. Hit 503 last night binding a batch of poetry chapbooks. Does anyone else get a strange feeling when you actually stop and count your finished work?

Finally got my head around that tricky leather paring technique

I was working on a custom journal cover in my basement shop last night, trying to pare down a piece of veg-tan for the spine. My knife kept catching and leaving these awful gouges, ruining two pieces. I took a break, watched a short video from a binder in Seattle, and realized my angle was totally off. I came back, held the blade almost flat against the leather, and it went smooth as butter on the third try. Has anyone else had a breakthrough with a specific hand-tool method that just clicked?

Serious question, has anyone else ditched the bone folder for a teflon folder on leather bindings? I swapped last month and the difference is insane.

Found out the Library of Congress uses a special glue that lasts 500 years

I was reading a really old book on restoration from the 80s and it mentioned they use a wheat starch paste that's been tested to hold for centuries. It blew my mind because I've been using a standard PVA that might yellow in like, 50. Has anyone here actually tried making that kind of historical paste for a project?

Rant: I just found out how much hand binding a single book really costs

I was reading an old trade journal from the 80s and saw a breakdown for a full leather binding. The materials alone, for good calfskin and handmade paper, were over $150 back then. Adjusted for today, that's nearly $500 just for the stuff you hold, before you even count your time. I always knew it was pricey, but seeing the real numbers from a professional shop blew my mind. It makes you realize why modern hardcovers feel so cheap. They have to be. Has anyone else done the math on a recent project and been shocked by the total?

My neighbor asked if I could 'laminate' his favorite paperback for durability

He brought over a well-loved copy of 'The Old Man and the Sea' and was genuinely surprised when I explained the difference between lamination and proper rebinding. I ended up showing him how to make a simple pamphlet stitch with some scrap paper instead. Has anyone else had a client or friend completely misunderstand what our craft actually involves?

Warning: I used to think any old bone folder was fine, but then I tried a proper Teflon one.

I was working on a leather cover for a journal last week and my usual bone folder kept leaving faint marks on the grain, even when I was careful. I borrowed a friend's Teflon folder for the same job and it glided over the surface without a single scratch. Has anyone else made this switch and found it worth the extra cost?

Had to pick between using a $40 Japanese paper knife or a pizza cutter from my kitchen to trim some endpapers

Found a surprising fact about old book cloth while reading a 1950s manual

I was flipping through a worn copy of 'Modern Bookbinding' from 1956 at a library sale in Portland. The book said that a lot of early 20th century book cloth was actually starched and filled with clay before being dyed. I had no idea the material was that heavily processed. It explains why some older covers feel so stiff and have that chalky surface. The manual claimed a common mix was 40 percent starch, which seems like a lot. Has anyone else come across this kind of old-school technique in their repairs?

Pro tip: I dropped $150 on a 'professional' book press that ended up being worse than my old bricks and boards.

The cast iron was poorly machined, so the pressure was uneven and left marks on my leather covers, forcing me to scrap a whole batch of commissions.

A week in 2004 when my old boss taught me to hand-sew a text block

I was just starting out, working for a small bindery in St. Louis. My boss, a man named Frank, set aside three full days to show me how to sew a 12-signature text block by hand, no shortcuts. He had me use linen thread and a curved needle, counting every stitch. What stands out is the quiet focus of that whole week, just the sound of paper and thread. It felt like learning a real language. Does anyone still take that kind of time to teach the basics, or is it all about speed now?

Found my old stitching frame from 2008, the wood is warped beyond use now.

Back then I just used whatever scrap pine was in the garage, didn't think about humidity. Now I see everyone using maple or oak and sealing them properly. What wood do you all use for frames you want to last?

Honestly, I think the 'perfect' grain direction rule for book cloth is overrated

Ngl, I bound a whole run of poetry books with the grain running the wrong way because the pattern looked better, and after two years in a Seattle library, they're holding up fine. Has anyone else tried this and had a different result?

A museum in Boston made me question my whole approach to spine rounding

I was at the Boston Athenaeum last month, just looking at some 18th century bindings they had on display. The guide pointed out how the spines were almost perfectly flat, not rounded at all like we usually do. He said the original binder used a specific sewing technique on thick cords that kept it square. Now I'm torn between sticking with the classic rounded spine for durability or trying this historical method for authenticity on period pieces. Has anyone else tried a flat spine on a thicker text block and had it hold up?

Shoutout to the local library's archive for showing me something wild about old paper

I was helping them repair a 1920s city directory, and the archivist pointed out a tiny watermark in the corner of a page. Under a light, it showed the paper mill was in Holyoke, Massachusetts, which apparently supplied over 70% of the country's writing paper at one point. I had no idea a single town had that kind of hold on the market. Has anyone else run into paper from a historically huge mill like that?

Can we talk about the old book repair station at the St. Louis library

I saw them using a bone folder from the 1950s to set a crease and it hit me how much we rely on simple, well-made tools that last forever.

Unpopular opinion: That $60 Japanese hole punch was worth every penny

I was using a cheap office punch for my Coptic stitch projects and it was tearing the paper. I bit the bullet and got a 2mm Japanese screw punch from a local art store. It makes a clean, sharp hole through 10 sheets of book cloth and paper like it's nothing. Has anyone else found a specific tool that changed their game for the better?

I thought the 'book press in a vise' hack was just a bad joke until I tried it

For months I saw people online saying you could use a regular bench vise as a book press, and I figured it would be a total mess. I finally tried it last Tuesday on a small 150-page text block, and the glue set perfectly even. Has anyone else actually made this work for bigger projects, or did I just get lucky?

Serious question, why does glue seep through thin paper every time I bind?

Seeing bookbinders in Vienna work with antique presses hit me hard.

I was in Vienna last month and visited a bindery that's been around for centuries. They still use presses from the 1800s, all iron and wood. It made me think back to when I began, we had some old gear too, but it's mostly plastic now. The feel of leather under those old tools is different, smoother somehow. I miss that touch in my own work. Maybe we should bring back some of those ways, even if it's slower.

I thought I was saving money on thread, but my books are falling apart

Last fall, I bought a lot of cheap plastic-based thread for my book projects. After a few months, the bindings on several journals came loose. I found out this thread does not break down in nature and adds to waste. Switching to natural fibers like linen saves your work and helps the earth. Have you tried any eco-friendly threads lately?

My bookbinding buddy laughed when I sewed a signature inside out

Now I look at the grain direction twice before stitching.

My quest for greener bookbinding supplies hit a snag

I'm trying to use only recycled materials, but the paper often tears. Any ideas for stronger eco-friendly paper?