Visited that big bindery on 14th Street and noticed something off about their rounding technique

I went to the open house at Greenleaf Bindery last Saturday and everyone was raving about their fine binding work. But I stood there watching one of their senior guys shape a spine and I gotta say, it looked rushed to me. He was using this heavy brass hammer and just pounding away without any real feel for the paper stack. Idk, maybe it's just me being picky, but I learned from an old German binder who insisted on using a bone folder and gentle hand pressure for rounding. The result on the Greenleaf book was this sharp, almost unnatural curve instead of that soft gradual shoulder I like. Has anyone else seen modern shops ditch the hand tools for heavy hammers and notice a difference in the final spine shape?

2 comments

2 Comments

matthewkim13d agoMost Upvoted

Man, that's rough to hear. I saw the same thing at a shop a few years back and it bugged me too. A heavy brass hammer just slams the spine into shape without any of that careful control you get from a bone folder and your own hands. It's like they're trying to save time but losing the craftsmanship in the process. I bet that sharp curve you saw will cause issues down the road with the book opening flat. You're not being picky at all, that's just knowing what good work looks like.

taylor_young13d ago

Oh man, I used to be totally on the other side of this actually. When I first started out I figured a heavy hammer was just how the pros did it, you know, like more force equals a better shape. But then I watched a demo from this old guy who used nothing but a bone folder and some light tapping, and the difference was night and day. That soft, gradual shoulder he made just felt right in the hand, while the hammered ones always have that stiff, unnatural look you're talking about. It definitely changed my mind on what good rounding actually is.

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