Appreciation post: I still hand-cut my cover boards after a machine ruined a project in 2021

Three years ago, I was working on a custom poetry collection for a client in Portland. I decided to try a new automated board cutter to save time, but it shaved off a crucial 1/8 inch on the grain direction, making the cover warp within a month. Last week, I saw a post here praising those machines for speed, and I get it, but I can't agree. Since that project, I've hand-cut every single board with a knife and straightedge. It takes me about 15 extra minutes per book, but the control is perfect. Has anyone else had a bad experience that made them stick with a slower, manual method?

3 comments

3 Comments

wesley_fox921mo ago

@the_susan nailed it - grain always wins in the end. Hand cutting for the win every time here.

johnrivera2mo ago

That's rough about the warping. I actually think the grain direction matters more than the cut method though. A sharp knife on a straightedge can still go wrong if the board's grain is off to start with.

the_susan2mo ago

Right? Grain is everything. I had a board that looked perfect, but the grain ran at a slight angle. Cut it with a razor and a metal ruler, and it still splintered halfway down. It's like the wood wanted to tear along its own path no matter what I did. You can have the best tools in the world and still lose to a tricky piece of wood.