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Forgot to account for swell in a batch of leather covers
I was binding three journals last Saturday in my garage shop and glued up some goatskin covers that felt perfect. By Monday morning they had warped so bad the boards were peeking out a quarter inch on each side. Had to rip the leather off and start fresh with heavier board and a spacer. Anybody else deal with leather moving after glue up or did I just pick bad hides?
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mary_foster921mo agoMost Upvoted
Dude, I feel your pain so hard. I had this exact disaster with a batch of bookcloth once, thought I was being clever cutting everything flush and then BAM, warped corners everywhere the next day. Now I always rough cut my leather and leave it flat on the shop bench for at least 24 hours before I even think about gluing. Learned that lesson the hard way after I had to scrap a whole set of handmade covers that looked like they were trying to turn into canoes. You definitely didn't just get bad hides, leather's just got a mind of its own sometimes.
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