That one time a customer's grandma showed me how to do a rounded spine

I was working on a rebind of an old family Bible for a lady last spring. Her grandma came along to pick it up and saw my attempt at a rounded spine on another project sitting on the counter. She pulled out a bone folder from her purse and spent 20 minutes showing me how to tap the signatures into shape with just the right angle. I had been struggling with that technique for 6 months, and one old lady with 40 years of experience fixed it in 20 minutes. Has anyone else had a random pro teach you a trick out of nowhere?

2 comments

2 Comments

spencer_chen61mo ago

Watched a random old timer at the hardware store fix my crappy paint job in about 5 minutes once. I was trying to get a smooth finish on a shelf I built and it looked like a mess. He just grabbed a clean brush and showed me how to lightly drag it across the wet paint to level it out. I had been using too much paint and brushing it in circles like a maniac. Changed my whole approach after that, your mileage may vary but it really clicked for me.

mia521mo ago

Yeah I thought I knew what I was doing too til someone showed me the right way.