Took me 3 hours to fix a warped spine on an old encyclopedia set

I was rebacking a set of 1950s encyclopedias for a library in Portland and the spine cloth kept bubbling up no matter what I did. Thought it was my glue mix but it turned out the book board itself had a slight curve I missed. Has anyone else run into hidden warping like that and found a quick way to check for it before starting?

2 comments

2 Comments

theabennett1mo ago

Huh, that "check for lift on a flat surface" trick Diana mentioned is solid. But here's something I've been doing for years that nobody talks about. I use a thin metal ruler laid across the board diagonally from corner to corner. Even a tiny warp will make the ruler rock back and forth, way more sensitive than just looking at it from the side. Caught a board that was twisted like a potato chip once, completely invisible from the edge view. Saved me from what would have been a total do-over on a set of 1920s medical journals.

diana_bell741mo ago

Oh man, that bubbling issue is the absolute worst. I spent a whole afternoon on a set of vintage textbooks once and kept slapping on more glue thinking I wasn't using enough. Turned out the boards had this tiny curve along the bottom edge I never would have caught if I hadn't set the whole thing on a flat surface and actually looked at it from the side. Now I always do a quick check before I even mix the adhesive - I just lay the book board flat on my worktable and see if any corners lift up. It takes like two seconds but it's saved me so much frustration. Your mileage may vary of course but for me it's been a game changer.