Changed my mind on backing material for leather bindings

Always used cardboard for stiffness (it's cheap and easy), but after trying millboard, the difference in durability is huge, so which do you prefer and why?

4 comments

4 Comments

paul871mo agoTop Commenter

Honestly, I'm sticking with good old cardboard. Millboard's fine if you're making a museum piece, but for most projects that just sit on a shelf, it's overkill. Cardboard lets me experiment without crying over wasted money, and I can get it from any recycling bin. If a book gets that much rough handling, it's got bigger problems than the backing material.

gavin_kim1mo ago

Ever have a project actually fall apart from using cardboard? I get the cost thing, but sometimes cheap materials just don't hold up over time.

andrew9211mo ago

Yeah, my first big project was a cardboard bookshelf that folded in half like a cheap lawn chair after two months. Looked cool until it turned into modern art. Learned the hard way that some things need more than good intentions and packing tape. Now I save cardboard for mockups and things I know are temporary. It's fine for testing shapes, but if I want something to last, I spend a few bucks on real board.

barbara_kim931mo ago

So what happens when you make something you actually want to keep for years, and that cardboard starts to sag or get bug-eaten? My buddy made a nice shadowbox with recycled stuff, and now it's all warped in the middle. Not everything gets handled rough, but display pieces aren't always just left alone forever.