Got roasted by a master bookbinder for my spine rounding technique

Was at the Austin Bookbinders meetup last month and this older guy named Frank watched me round a spine on a 400-page text block. He straight up said "your shoulders are too tight, you're crushing the signatures instead of fanning them." I was pissed at first but tried his method of using less force and more angle. Now I'm getting way cleaner spines and the books open better. Has anyone else had to unlearn a bad habit after getting called out like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

miles58111d ago

The whole "crushing instead of fanning" thing hit me too after I read this old article from the Guild of Book Workers newsletter, turns out most of us grip way too hard without even realizing it. Glad you stuck with Frank's advice, that lighter touch makes a massive difference.

mark_smith5911d ago

Frank's advice about angling instead of forcing fixed my spine work too after ruining three books.