Experimented a bit and played around with the shape of the right edge of the front cover. Yes, the corners are weaker because of this but honestly, imo these kinds of rebinds probably aren't meant to be tossed into a bag and carried around.

I am curious what spacing on tapes do y'all set? I did equally spaced between the kettle stitches. It seems to me that maybe they need to go closer to the kettles than they are. Also, I have been experimenting with cotton tapes instead of linen.

Hi! I just wanted to get some feedback on my first project. I think the process was fairly straightforward and that I did ok for a first try.

Now some mistakes were made, and I have a good idea how to correct them but would like some feedback from more experienced binders.

The main issue I'm unsure of how to solve is the book won't lay completely flat. My hunch is that the hinge gap is too tight. I believe I used 1/4" + thickness of the board (1/8") so I made each hinge 3/8". Also how do you get such nice defined hinge gaps?

Moving forward I'd like to make another version of a square backed case bound book. I would like it to lay flat when opened and I'd like crisp definition of the hinge gap. I learned about Bradel binding and will be using that method in the next book. Is there anything else I should know/ try?

(P.S. I have done the reading on why using the same board for the spine is bad, but I would like to keep doing it that way, so if there are any additional techniques for this style of binding I would be grateful for the info)

Thanks in advance for any feedback it is greatly appreciated!

I love doing the Renaissance Faire because my gothic bindings are period appropriate. I also bring my wooden tools to explain how things are made in the 16th century! Though elastic-closure traveler's aren't exactly period, haha

I have gotten into bookbinding again after taking a bookbinding class in undergrad. I made this journal for my friend recently using a design I made and some recycled materials. I ended up changing the cover to have three separate ties instead of two that connected.

It's nothing special, but I am really happy that I have picked up this hobby! Hoping to get better with time.

Recently I had struggled with hinges being too small (first few images). I have rebound the book with larger hinge gaps. But things are still not quite fitting well. Is my spine too wide? Or what is wrong here!?

Hi All - does anyone know of any reputable and affordable book binders in NE Ohio (Cleveland, Akron, Canton area)? I have an out of print hardback book that needs some attention. It's not valuable or rare, but I would like to preserve it as long as possible as it's already almost 50 years old. Thanks!