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That guy at the craft fair told me my grain direction was backwards on 3 of my books
He pointed out all my covers were warping because I was cutting the boards the wrong way against the grain, has anyone else had a random stranger point out something obvious you missed for years?
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terrybennett14d ago
Read somewhere that bookbinding grain direction is one of those things nobody tells you until it's too late, like woodworking grain but for paper. Guy probably saved you a ton of headache down the line.
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the_lee14d ago
Honestly, that's a solid catch from the guy at the fair. The grain thing is huge for bookbinding, but it's not quite the same as woodworking grain. Paper fibers expand across the grain when they get damp, so if the grain runs wrong on the cover boards, they'll warp bad. Wood grain is more about strength and splitting, but paper is all about moisture movement. You're lucky he spotted it early, three books is nothing compared to a whole stack of journals that'd look like potato chips later on.
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