TIL a lot of folks are cutting their headbands way too short

I mean, I see it all the time in project pics. People cut the headband material exactly to the spine width, but that's wrong. You need to add at least 3/8 of an inch on each side for the turn-ins. If you don't, the ends of the headband pull away from the text block after a few openings. I learned this the hard way on a batch of five notebooks I made last month, and three of them started to fail. Has anyone else found a better allowance, or is 3/8 inch pretty standard?

3 comments

3 Comments

miamitchell29d ago

Respectfully, 3/8 inch each side has always felt like overkill to me. I do tighter turn-ins around 1/4 inch and haven't seen any pulling away on books I made three or four years ago. Maybe it depends on the glue you use or how aggressive you are with the initial pressing, but those extra fractions add up fast on a run of books.

felixfisher1mo ago

Remembered my grandpa's old workshop manuals from the 60s. Every single one had headbands hanging loose like little tongues. Drove me nuts as a kid, I thought they were broken. Makes sense now, they probably cut the material too tight and the glue just gave up after years. Those books saw some serious use, so I guess that 3/8 inch rule is pretty tested.

thea_mitchell201mo ago

little tongues" is everywhere, like cheap furniture joints.