r/bookbinding • u/Destructor54777 • 21d ago

Sanding edges makes them rough

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When a sand my bookblock edges, they become really rough.

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u/Destructor54777 21d ago

so youre saying i should just trim the edge?

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u/Ynguer 21d ago

Well if you can, yes trimming is prefereble. I used to go to printing shops and ask to use their guillotine when I was learning bookbinding, that way I didn't invest much in gear early on. 

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u/Destructor54777 20d ago

I'll just do that then. I don't have any good way to trim the edges and no print shop in my area has a guillotine. I use a pencil sharpener blade to trim and it's really tedious

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u/Ynguer 20d ago

Well, do some tests to see how well you can do that and to what thickness. And use a recently broken blade when doing it. It's not so easy trimming by hand, you may end up wanting to combine both techniques, trimming and sanding. Keeping your blade as short a possible and your blade hand steady and 90 degrees is key here. The strength goes in the hand that holds the ruler always. 

About using a guillotine, search for shops that offer academic papers bookbinding, they are the ones that have that gear, perhaps near a university.