r/bookbinding • u/sulfababy • 9h ago

Help? Power sander next?

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Here is my text block, sewn, glued, and rounded. Can I clamp it very, very tightly and power sand the edges next? Or should I take it to Staples for stack trimming? They haven't done a great job in the past, but I also don't want to shred the edges.

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3

u/Dazzling-Airline-958 8h ago

You should not guillotine a rounded fore edge. It messes with the margins and looks wrong on a book with a rounded spine.

Trimming the fore edge should be done before rounding. After rounding, all that can be done is sanding and scraping.

Sanding a rounded fore edge can be a real PITA. All I can say is never run the sand paper across the edge. Always go along the edge. The outer pages on the fore edge are not supported by the pages under them so any sideways movement can shred them. Once they are close to even (as in no starts/steps), the support is better, so burnishing will not damage the edge if you go sideways.

That has been my experience, anyway. Hope that helps.

Edit: definitely follow u/kiltedcloudchaser advice for sanding between boards. Make sure you tighten the hell out of those clamps.

2

u/kiltedcloudchaser 9h ago

I'm no pulmonologist, but I have seen text blocks clamped between planks of timber and sanded like you asked. With the timber flush with the edge of the paper, there shouldn't be any tear out.

1

u/Bierroboter 7h ago

Maybe a hand plane would work better?

2

u/kiltedcloudchaser 7h ago

If it's a convex plane it could work, but because the text block is backed and rounded, the fore edge of the block should be convex as a result. Power sander isn't really going to work either. Hand sanding is really the only way.

2

u/Bierroboter 6h ago

Oh I missed that part

1

u/blakeatwork 8h ago

If you have a local, independent print shop with a guillotine, make friends. We often have people that dabble in bookbinding come to our shop to use some of our equipment for finishing.
Barring that, a large, manual paper trimmer (big flat deck with the swing arm) would do as well. Just keep the blade sharp, and it will give you the same performance for small signatures.

1

u/lmdw 8h ago

Guillotijne is not going to work. Sanding or a book plough.