Ruined 40 signatures of handmade paper because I glued the spine before the grain settled, 3 years of practice out the window

Logan Schmidt · 2026-10-08T23:35:04.193599+00:00

Three years back I was binding a run of 40 journals for a small shop in Burlington, and I glued up all the spines in one night to save time. The next morning every single one had warped, because I never let the paper sit in the room long enough and the grain fought the paste. I lost the whole batch and about $300 in materials, plus two weeks of evenings. My old teacher used to say the paper tells you when it is ready, and I stopped listening. Now I let stacks sit for a full day with a weight on top before I touch the glue pot. What is your rule of thumb for letting paper adjust before you commit to the spine?

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Ruined 40 signatures of handmade paper because I glued the spine before the grain settled, 3 years of practice out the window | Bookbinders - The Design Community Hub