I was getting bad spine cracks on my case bindings until I tried scoring the book cloth with a bone folder before gluing.

After three ruined covers, I found that a light score line 1/8 inch from the edge lets the cloth fold cleanly without those ugly white stress lines, so has anyone else found a better way to prevent this?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_brooke14d ago

Wait, you ruined three covers before trying that?

kelly_henderson8320d ago

Scoring the cloth is a solid fix, I had the same problem with my last two projects. I switched to using a dull butter knife instead of a bone folder for that step. The wider blade seems to spread the pressure out just enough to weaken the fibers without cutting them. It gave me a cleaner fold line with no white cracks at all. Why do they make book cloth so pretty but so darn finicky to work with?

the_taylor20d ago

Honestly I went through five covers convinced I just needed better glue. Tbh the scoring trick felt like admitting defeat at first, but seeing a perfect fold on that first try changed my whole process. Now I keep a dedicated dull knife in my tool box just for this step. It really does make all the difference with that stiff cloth.