PSA: I was using the wrong bone folder pressure for years until a client's book fell apart

I was pressing way too hard on my leather spines, and it finally clicked when a customer brought back a six-month-old journal with the cover coming loose. How do you judge the right amount of force for different materials?

3 comments

3 Comments

wendy3911mo agoMost Upvoted

Six months and it just fell apart? I mean, that's barely any time at all.

morgan8981mo ago

Ugh I felt that one deep in my binding board soul! I totally get it because I ruined a project in half that time once. It was a little notebook I wanted to give my sister and I got SO excited about the spine that I just flooded it with glue like it was a pancake. @the_elliot nailed it with that knuckle test thing because I definitely squeezed that bone folder like I was wringing out a wet towel. Six months is nothing and I'm basically a walking cautionary tale for rushing things.

the_elliot1mo ago

Another bookbiter joins the "I killed my own project with good intentions" club. Welcome. I once pressed so hard on a leather spine I could hear the fibers crying for mercy. Turns out that bone folder is for guiding and smoothing, not for showing the book who's boss. Now I do the 'knuckle test' - if my knuckles are white, I'm using too much force. Paper and cloth get a light touch, leather gets a medium press, and if I'm working with paste papers I basically just breathe on them.