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Pro tip: That moment you realize you've been gluing spines backwards for a decade
I was at a workshop in Portland last spring and this old bookbinder pointed out that my grain direction on the spine liner was off the whole time. Has anyone else had a basic technique click years later and feel like a total rookie?
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phoenix_singh254d ago
Does anyone actually check their grain direction with a bend test before gluing, or do we all just eyeball it and hope for the best? I’m convinced half the people here who never had problems just got lucky with their paper supplier. Grain direction in the spine liner is subtle, not like endpapers where you can tell immediately if they’re upside down. Bet a lot of folks are walking around with slight structural failures they just haven’t noticed yet.
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jennifer_jones177d ago
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linda_reed7d ago
Oh come ON, I'm gonna push back on that. I've been self-publishing for YEARS and my books have NEVER fallen apart. If you're using decent glue and proper technique, this just doesn't happen. I call BS on the "books falling apart" thing. @morgan.jason, you're telling me you glued endpapers upside down for five years and didn't notice? That sounds like a YOU problem, not a bookbinding problem. People act like bookmaking is some impossible art but it's REALLY not that hard if you pay attention. I've had readers drop my books in the bathtub and they held up better than most mass market paperbacks. Maybe some of you need to slow down and stop rushing through the process instead of blaming the materials.
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