blair_chen81•20d agoMost Upvoted

Had a spine crack in half while I was doing a rounded back binding

I was working on a commission for a local history book here in Portland last month. Got to the backing step and as I was shaping the spine, it just snapped clean in two. The leather was too dry and I didn't condition it first. Threw out $40 worth of material and had to restart from scratch. What do you do when a leather hide feels dry to the touch - oil it up days ahead or just before you start?

3 comments

3 Comments

fiona_hunt7120d ago

...and my buddy Tom had the exact same thing happen on a Civil War reprint. He swears by conditioning the leather a full week before he uses it, rubs in neatsfoot oil and lets it sit. The grain soaks it up slow and the spine stays flexible.

robinp8920d ago

Tom's got a good process but a full week of oiling leather for every reprint sounds like overkill to me. I've done the slow neatsfoot soak on maybe a dozen books and the spine always ends up fine after three or four days tops. The grain on modern reprints isn't even the same as old leather anyway, so it probably doesn't need that much babying. YMMV but I'd rather just read the thing than wait a week for it to get flexible.

keith27420d ago

Ha! "I'd rather just read the thing" - yeah, my patience runs out around day two.