Why nobody talks about using a bone folder on every single page fold

I went to a workshop in Portland last spring and this old bookbinder named Frank watched me work for a minute. He said 'you're skipping the bone folder on the final fold of every signature, aren't you?' Man, I had been doing that for like 8 years, thinking it was fine. Now I run the bone folder down every single fold and the spines come out way cleaner with no gapping. Has anyone else had a master craftsman call them out on something obvious like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

emmaking3d ago

oh man Frank sounds like a legend honestly. i had a similar thing happen when i took a class from this woman who repairs old maps and she watched me cutting paper with a dull blade for like an hour before she finally said something. it's so embarrassing when you think you've been doing it right for years and someone just casually drops that knowledge. the bone folder thing makes so much sense once you actually do it though, i started doing it on every fold too and it's like night and day for how the signatures lay flat. idk why it's not just standard practice taught from the beginning.

josephbailey2d ago

Wait bone folders aren't standard from day one?

violag802d ago

Oh man, I totally feel you on this, and @josephbailey I think most of us just never got that little nudge early on. I had a similar wake-up call when a printer friend pointed out I was pressing way too hard with the folder and actually crushing the paper grain, so I eased up and everything started fitting better.