My uncle told me to never skimp on the grain direction for my cover boards

I finally listened on my latest project, a copy of 'The Hobbit', and the difference in how the boards lie flat is huge. Anyone have a good source for pre-cut boards that are properly marked?

2 comments

2 Comments

mason_stone95d ago

Learned that the hard way making a sketchbook last year. The cover warped like a potato chip after a week. Now I check every single board with a pencil before I even cut it.

jackson.brooke4d ago

My first real bookbinding project was a journal with boards I cut myself from some old mat board. I didn't even know grain direction was a thing. It sat on my shelf for a month and the front cover curled up so bad it wouldn't close, just like mason_stone9 said. I had to trash it. Now I only buy from Talas online because they clearly mark the grain on every single board, and I haven't had a warp since. It's a total game changer for getting things to lie flat.

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