My old mentor in Baltimore told me a spine should move, and now I think I've been gluing too stiff for years

Drew Grant · 2026-10-24T14:50:03.538172+00:00

Ran into my old binding teacher at a supply shop in Baltimore about 2 weeks ago. I showed him photos of a leather journal I finished and he poked at the spine in the pic and just said "that book won't open flat in 10 years, you glued it like a brick." I asked what he meant and he told me a spine has to move, not hold. He's been binding since 1978 and said too much glue in the joint kills the flex. It hit different because I've been proud of how tight and clean my joints look. He told me to try a hollow back on my next batch of 12 notebooks and see the difference. I've never tried one because I figured the extra step was overkill. Now I'm second guessing every case binding I did this year. Who here runs hollow back spines and did the first one come out ugly?

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My old mentor in Baltimore told me a spine should move, and now I think I've been gluing too stiff for years | Bookbinders - Librear