I was pasting my endpapers wrong for two years straight

Last month I watched a buddy whip up a notebook in 20 minutes and his paper lay perfectly flat. I had always been slapping the glue straight onto the board and then pressing the paper on top. He showed me how you gotta brush the glue onto the paper first and let it sit for 30 seconds before placing it. Has anyone else had a moment where a small step change totally fixed their work?

3 comments

3 Comments

john_fisher1d ago

Oh man, "slapping the glue straight onto the board" - I felt that in my soul. I was doing the same thing for like a year and a half with my sketchbook covers, just frustrated why the paper always buckled or peeled up at the edges. It wasn't until I watched a bookbinder on YouTube mention letting the glue soak into the paper for a full minute that everything clicked for me. Now I brush it on, wait, and the paper just melts into place without any bubbles or curling. It's one of those little tweaks that makes you feel both stupid and brilliant at the same time, you know?

shane_hayes18h ago

Feeling both stupid and brilliant at the same time" is exactly right. That's the perfect way to put it. After I figured out the leather resting trick, I went back and re-did a belt I had been struggling with for months. Same leather, same stamp, but that ten minute wait made it look like a professional job instead of a kid's craft project. It's wild how a tiny move changes everything, and you spend the next week kicking yourself for not spotting it sooner.

shane_hayes21h ago

Dove into leather working last year and kept wondering why my tooling stamps left garbage impressions. Finally watched a guy on youtube who wet his leather, let it rest for 10 minutes, then stamped. Turns out I was rushing straight from the water bucket to the stamp and all the moisture just squished out instead of holding the shape. Now I wet it, walk away and grab a coffee, come back and the pattern sinks in clean every time. Makes you feel like a total goof for all those ruined projects before.