Unpopular opinion: double-fan adhesive binding is overhyped for small runs
I see folks on here pushing it for 10-copy editions, but the setup time alone takes 3 hours for something a simple sewn boards binding could do in 45 minutes. Last week I did a 5-book batch with proper sewing and the spines held up way better than any glued job I've seen. Has anyone else dumped the fan for quicker methods?
Totally agree. Ran into the same thing with a short run of poetry zines last month. Double fan took forever to set up and the glue was messy, but a simple stab binding gave me better results in half the time and the pages lay just as flat. People act like fan binding is the only way to get a strong spine but a well done sewing is way more reliable, especially for small batches.
Actually glue isn't always messy if you use the right kind - PVA is way easier to work with than rubber cement for fan binding. But yeah, stab binding is definitely underrated for small batches, it's such a clean finish. Just a heads up though, sewing can still leave some pages not laying totally flat depending on how tight you pull the thread.