Shoutout to the old timer who showed me a rounding hammer trick at a meetup last Saturday

I was at a local binders gathering in Portland and this retired craftsman named Gene watched me struggle with my rounding hammer for a good 10 minutes. He finally walked over and showed me how to choke up on the handle and use a lighter tap for shaping spines. I had been using way too heavy a swing for years and cracking my leather every third book. Has anyone else picked up a simple tool habit from an older binder that changed their whole process?

2 comments

2 Comments

gavin_knight3913d ago

Honestly, that bit about the lighter tap for shaping spines really clicks with me. I had this old timer at a shop in Cincinnati show me the same thing with paring leather, told me to stop muscling through it like I was splitting logs. Ngl, it's wild how changing your grip and backing off the force can save your material and your hands at the same time.

the_blair13d ago

My buddy Dave over in Eugene had the same problem with his sewing awl for years. Some old timer named Walt at a workshop showed him to hold it like a pencil instead of gripping it like a hammer. Said he'd been fighting the thread the whole time. Now Dave says his stitches look cleaner and his hands don't cramp up after three hours of sewing.