Finally got my first perfect rounded spine after 6 months of trying

I was skeptical that a bone folder and some patience could replace a backing press, but I spent last Saturday working on a leather bound journal and it came out cleaner than any jig setup I've tried. What trick took you longer to nail than you expected?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_henry21d ago

Does everyone just not have access to a cheap backing press or something? I mean, I get that a bone folder is fine for small rounds on thin sections, but for anything over like 200 pages or on a thick text block, that spine is gonna look lumpy after a day of use. I tried the bone folder method for a while and got decent results on a few softbound notebooks, but the moment I switched to a proper press the difference was night and day. The edges were crisp and even across the whole spine, not just where I could apply pressure with my fingers. Maybe the perfect round you got is real, but I'd bet it won't hold up long if you actually flip through the book a lot.

lily51121d ago

So what was the trick, just patience with the bone folder or something else in your technique?