Showerthought: old school hand sewing vs. machine stitching in bookbinding

I've been seeing more and more binders skip the sewing frame entirely. Just glue and a machine. But I pulled a 1920s novel apart last week and the hand stitching was still solid. My buddy says machines save time and hold fine for most jobs. Is hand sewing really worth the extra 2-3 hours per book or are we just being stubborn about tradition?

3 comments

3 Comments

hernandez.morgan22d ago

Your buddy's right that machine stitching holds for most modern books, but that 1920s novel you pulled apart tells a different story. Do you really think a library binding done on a machine today will still be intact in 2124, or is durability just not a concern anymore for folks who are fine rebinding every few decades? I've seen saddle-stitched magazines fall apart in five years, but a Coptic stitch can outlast the paper it's holding together.

charles67822d ago

Is it really that serious though?

david73922d ago

That Coptic stitch likely outlasts the glue - do you see any future for hand sewing in mass production?