Took me 3 years to realize I was gluing my spines backward

I was at a guild meetup in Portland last spring and this old timer picked up one of my books and just laughed. He pointed out that my spine hinges were facing the wrong direction on every single rebind I had done. I thought the decorative part of the cloth went on the outside cover, but I had been flipping the whole thing inside out. The kicker is I learned from YouTube videos and never questioned my method. A whole shelf of books with the grain going opposite to the opening direction. Has anyone else discovered they were doing some basic step completely backwards before someone called it out?

3 comments

3 Comments

davidkim1mo ago

Saw three of my own books crack last month and it made me a believer.

gavin4691mo ago

Wait do people actually care enough about spine grain direction to call it out at a meetup? Seems like as long as the book opens fine who gives a damn.

nathan1001mo ago

@gavin469 I think you're missing the point though, it's not about whether the book opens fine, it's about the structural integrity long term. I've got about 18 books I rebinded that way and after a year the hinges started cracking because the grain was fighting against the opening direction. The old timer at that meetup probably saved that guy from a shelf full of ruined books down the road.