Serious question: I finished my 50th rebind and realized I was still doing one step wrong the whole time

Hayden Ellis · 2026-10-02T05:55:03.814523+00:00

Last week I finished my 50th full rebind, which sounds like a lot until you know that most of them were paperback to hardcover jobs for friends and a few paying folks. I sat down with my notebook to tally them up because I wanted to see how many spine linings I'd redone and the number that came back to me was 31. Thirty one books where the hinge cracked or the text block pulled loose within a few openings, and every single one had the same thing in common. I was gluing up the spine with PVA and then pressing the book flat right away instead of letting it dry in a rounded position first. A binder at the local guild meeting up in Fort Worth showed me her process and she said the spine needs to dry with the boards open a little so it keeps that curve. I tried it on three books since and the hinges feel completely different, way more give. I'm not saying this is the one true way but it changed how I think about drying time. So for the folks doing case bindings, do you press flat or let it sit open? I want to know if I've just been lucky on the last 19.

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Serious question: I finished my 50th rebind and realized I was still doing one step wrong the whole time | Bookbinders - Free To Speak