The 80 year old bookbinder in Portland told me to stop pressing my spines, we argued for an hour

Joseph Fisher · 2026-10-10T17:40:03.231399+00:00

Last Tuesday I drove out to see a retired binder named Walt in Portland who has been at it for over 50 years, and when he saw me putting a finished text block in my press he got real quiet and then said I was killing the paper. He claims modern binders press way too hard and too long, that a light nip is all you need, but my old teacher drilled it into me that firm pressing is the whole game for a flat, tight spine. Now I keep going back and forth on who is right, so what do you all do, do you press hard and long or just a light touch?

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The 80 year old bookbinder in Portland told me to stop pressing my spines, we argued for an hour | Bookbinders - Topic Shares