Pro tip: stop pressing your signatures with a bone folder right after gluing

Sean Flores · 2026-10-03T10:45:04.603295+00:00

I run a small bindery out of my garage in Fresno and I keep seeing new binders press their signatures flat the second they come off the glue brush. It looks fine at first, but two days later the spine has that wavy crinkle and the pages pull away from the mull. I ruined about 15 books over my first 6 months doing this before an old guy at a supply shop in Sacramento asked me one simple thing: how wet is the spine when you press it? Now I let the spine sit for 10 to 15 minutes under light weight, just enough to hold it straight, then go in with the bone folder once the glue has started to set up but isn't stiff. The difference in how flat the text block dries is night and day, and I haven't had a crinkled spine since I switched. Also stop pressing the whole book in one shot, do the spine first, then the boards, otherwise you're fighting the hinge. What are you all doing for drying time on PVA versus methyl cellulose, because I feel like my PVA is grabbing way faster than it did last winter?

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Pro tip: stop pressing your signatures with a bone folder right after gluing | Bookbinders - The Community Guide