Rant: I spent 2 years using the wrong grain direction on my book boards

I was at a workshop in Portland last spring and the instructor just casually looked at a book I'd brought and said 'your boards are going to warp within six months.' I had no clue grain direction even mattered... I thought it was just a fancy rule old timers liked to argue about. Turns out every single book I'd made since I started binding had the grain running the wrong way across the spine. Anyone else figure this out way later than they should have?

2 comments

2 Comments

fiona_hunt714d agoRising Star

Ugh, that is brutal but I totally feel your pain. I went almost three years before someone pointed out my mistake, and I had this whole stack of books I thought I was proud of. I just assumed if the paper felt stiff enough and the boards were glued down well, it was fine. Then I came back to one of my first bindings a few months later and the covers were basically curling in on themselves like a dried up leaf. It's not like anyone tells you this stuff when you start, and half the tutorials online skip right over it. I remember just staring at the inside of my board and feeling like an absolute idiot for missing something so basic. You're definitely not alone on this one, it's a hard lesson but now you'll never forget it.

fiona_hunt714d agoRising Star

I mean, isn't that how we all learn though? You can watch a hundred videos but until your own book falls apart you just don't get it. That's the kind of mistake that sticks with you forever.