I keep seeing people skip the rounding step on book spines and it drives me nuts

I was at a small craft fair in Portland last month and looked at a few hand bound journals. Three different sellers had books with flat spines that looked stiff and would not open well. I asked one of them about it, and she said she thought rounding was just for looks. That's not right at all. A rounded spine, done with a backing hammer after sewing, makes the book open flat and last longer by spreading the stress. I learned this the hard way when my first dozen notebooks started to crack at the hinge after a few months of use. Now I spend that extra ten minutes per book to shape it properly. Does anyone have a favorite method for getting a nice, even curve without a fancy press?

2 comments

2 Comments

barbara_sanchez884d ago

Is it really that big of a deal though? I've used plenty of flat spine notebooks and they open just fine for me. Maybe it only matters if you're really rough on your books. Feels like a lot of extra work for something most people won't even notice.

evah404d ago

Yeah, that "just for looks" thing is wild. My friend's whole batch of sketchbooks split right at the hinge because she skipped that step too.