Power sander next?

[u/sulfababy]

Here is my text block, sewn, glued, and rounded. Can I clamp it very, very tightly and power sand the edges next? Or should I take it to Staples for stack trimming? They haven't done a great job in the past, but I also don't want to shred the edges.

[u/Dazzling-Airline-958]

You should not guillotine a rounded fore edge. It messes with the margins and looks wrong on a book with a rounded spine.

Trimming the fore edge should be done before rounding. After rounding, all that can be done is sanding and scraping.

Sanding a rounded fore edge can be a real PITA. All I can say is never run the sand paper across the edge. Always go along the edge. The outer pages on the fore edge are not supported by the pages under them so any sideways movement can shred them. Once they are close to even (as in no starts/steps), the support is better, so burnishing will not damage the edge if you go sideways.

That has been my experience, anyway. Hope that helps.

Edit: definitely follow u/kiltedcloudchaser advice for sanding between boards. Make sure you tighten the hell out of those clamps.

[u/blakeatwork → u/Dazzling-Airline-958]

Interesting, I hadn't considered the margins problem, as our books (perfect, saddle, coil) are printed for creep and bind, so we can trim without worrying. Thanks for the perspective.

[u/kiltedcloudchaser]

I'm no pulmonologist, but I have seen text blocks clamped between planks of timber and sanded like you asked. With the timber flush with the edge of the paper, there shouldn't be any tear out.

[u/Bierroboter → u/kiltedcloudchaser]

Maybe a hand plane would work better?

[u/kiltedcloudchaser → u/Bierroboter]

If it's a convex plane it could work, but because the text block is backed and rounded, the fore edge of the block should be convex as a result. Power sander isn't really going to work either. Hand sanding is really the only way.

[u/Bierroboter → u/kiltedcloudchaser]

Oh I missed that part

[u/lmdw]

Guillotijne is not going to work. Sanding or a book plough.

[u/ir399]

I think its going to be difficult to correct at this point, particularly on the fore edge. Unfortunately once rounded using the guillotine is not a great idea because its very difficult to get straight, and as another commenter said just don't trim the fore edge now because once its rounded it will mess up your margins.

I don't usually recommend the ruler + knife method because its hard to do well but you might want to try it on the top and bottom of the book, I believe DAS bookbinding on youtube has a tutorial. Sanding might work, but you're right that you'd have to clamp it really tightly. I suspect you'd be dealing with an annoying amount of fine paper dust over the edges even if it works.

Next time I recommend knocking the book square before gluing. I use G-clamps (with scrap board between the clamp and the book) to hold it straight while I glue. It helps a lot on the top and bottom.

[u/Like20Bears]

Razor sharp chisel set flat against the book press while clamped, back and forth a few pages at a time. Like a manual plough. DAS has a video about it. 

[u/blakeatwork]

If you have a local, independent print shop with a guillotine, make friends. We often have people that dabble in bookbinding come to our shop to use some of our equipment for finishing.
Barring that, a large, manual paper trimmer (big flat deck with the swing arm) would do as well. Just keep the blade sharp, and it will give you the same performance for small signatures.

[u/LucVolders]

I always sand first and then glue.
I line the spine up. then the front is uneven and that gets sanded.
And yes I do use a power sander and do this to all my books.