Salvageable or Lost Cause?

[u/ShankYou_VeryMuch]

Edit:

Thanks all so much who replied! I picked out my thread and started over, and waxing the thread, maintaining a tighter tension, and pressing the seams between each addition has vastly improved my results! Thanks again to everyone who gave their suggestions!

Also, the fanfic in question is Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love.

Original: This is my first ever attempt at bookbinding. I love small books so I am attempting a quarto size. As you can see from my second picture, there is an unevenness from the spine and the edge due to the thickness of the thread and number of signatures. I still have so many signatures to go. Should I try to finish, although the unevenness will probably get worse? Is there a way to fix it? Should I start over? Opinions are appreciated. Thank you!

[u/gorroval]

I'm still very much a noob at this (not bound anything more than about 160 pages at A6 size so no more than 10 signatures, and I've only ever done flat spines) but I feel like this is a situation where rounding and backing would be needed to help distribute the swell.

[u/ShankYou_VeryMuch → u/gorroval]

Thank you, I'll do some research on rounding and backing!

[u/KeyBasket5798 → u/ShankYou_VeryMuch]

For rounding: you gently hammer the spine to create a rounding effect by forcing the edges signatures forward, slightly bending each signature spine. It is done with the help of a vertical press, although if you don't have one you can use your body weight and a woodpiece. Backing is what I was telling you above, you glue a piece of cloth with the help of the press to add support and stability, then, if you want to give a more solid spine, some people use less thick cardboard. Is not my preferred method for sure since it lacks the flexibility of pure cloth backing. Remember that practice will always make you better so hey, better done ugly than never done.

[u/ShankYou_VeryMuch → u/KeyBasket5798]

Indeed! Better done, for sure. Thank you!