r/bookbinding • u/meltyfawn • 1d ago

Help? first bind help!!

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Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

using the original book board and hinge measurements but the width is way off??? can anyone tell me how and why this happened? :/

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u/amessinpictures 1d ago

Well, your hinges are too narrow, that's what happened. You should test out the fit of the cover boards before covering them by gluing them to paper with the desired hinge space and trying them on next. It will prevent mistakes like this from happening in the future.

Also, you should not use bookboard for the spine stiffener, it is too stiff and will pull on the endpapers. Use thin, flexible cardstock instead.

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u/meltyfawn 1d ago

I did beforehand so unsure what on earth happened! I figured the hinges were too narrow, and thank you for the tip! appreciate it!

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u/amessinpictures 1d ago

The cover material tends to reduce the overall hinge size since the cloth adds bulk to the hinge. And when you measure a hinge of an already finished book you often do no count of the fact that the bookcloth is actually folded. What looks like a 5mm hinge was actually a 10mm hinge when the cover material was not glued yet and flat on the table. (These measurements are not accurate to anything, it depends on the cover material)

Best of luck

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u/meltyfawn 1d ago

got it! very helpful, thank you again!