DAE realize they were folding signatures the wrong way for years?

I was binding a 200 page journal last month and noticed the pages were slightly off at the spine, then it hit me that I had been folding every signature against the grain since I started. I checked my paper stash and sure enough, the fibers were running the wrong way on my last 6 projects, which explains the cracking I kept blaming on my stitching. Has anyone else messed this up, and do you guys mark your grain direction before folding or just eyeball it?

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angela_sanchez2012d ago

Ugh, the "folding every signature against the grain since I started" part hit me hard because I did the exact same thing and never once thought to check. I kept getting these hairline cracks along the fold and just assumed my stitching was too tight, so I started loosening everything and the books still fell apart. When I finally learned about grain direction it felt so obvious I was mad at myself for not knowing sooner. Now I always do the tear test on a scrap before I fold anything, it takes ten seconds and saves a whole project. Sorry you had to learn it on a 200 page journal, that one stings.

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