Vent: I spent 6 years gluing spines wrong before a 70 year old binder set me straight

I learned bookbinding from a mix of YouTube videos and a 1980s manual I found at a library sale. For 6 years I clamped my book spines tight before gluing them, thinking that was the right way to get a clean edge. Last month I took a weekend workshop in Portland with a retired binder named Carl. He watched me set up my jig and just shook his head. He said I was crushing the spine so tight the glue couldn't wick into the folds properly, leaving weak spots. He showed me to just barely snug the clamps, let the glue flow in naturally. I pulled one of my old books off the shelf and the spine split right down the middle when I opened it. I wasted so much time and material on books that were bound to fall apart. Anyone else learn a basic step wrong for way too long?

3 comments

3 Comments

davis.olivia17d ago

I read somewhere that old school binders call tight clamping "crushing the spine" and that's exactly what Carl called it lol. Crazy how one little thing can make such a difference.

lucast8117d agoMost Upvoted

Isn't it funny how small things like that pop up in totally different parts of life? @davis.olivia That's basically what happens when you tighten a jar lid way too much, you're just crushing the whole thing.

torres.blair17d ago

I mean I gotta push back on that a little... "crushing the spine" sounds dramatic but it's really just a tight clamp. Bookbinding is about pressure distribution not literally crushing anything. If you're actually crushing the spine you're probably doing it wrong or using too much force on a weak structure. Carl probably just picked up some old timer's way of saying things that sounded cool but isn't really accurate to what's happening. People love to romanticize manual work with these weird terms. It's like calling a hammer a "bone breaker" yeah technically true but not really the point of using it...