I finally learned why my spines kept cracking after 2 months

I've been binding books for about 3 years now, mostly for myself and a few friends. Last month I noticed 4 out of my last 6 books had cracked spines right at the hinge. I thought it was my glue or the paper type, so I wasted about $40 on different supplies. Turns out I was lining the spine too tight and not letting the book open naturally during drying. Has anyone else fixed this by just switching up their drying setup?

2 comments

2 Comments

hugobarnes9d ago

Actually, binding too tight forces the spine to break in a controlled way and makes the book lay flatter over time. Maybe your spines were finally settling in and you panicked too soon.

cole_hall9d ago

A few extra days of drying time with a looser hinge setup fixed that exact issue for me. Controlled break-in is one thing, but cracking at the hinge isn't settling in, it's a structural fail.