Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Dalliard
If you are prepared to rip the spine off the book, your task will be a lot easier, otherwise it is a lot of work.
It is far from being impossible though.
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Not sure who you are addressing this to. On paperbacks, I just cut the spine off. Takes 15-30 seconds. On hardbacks, I have to cut the covers off before cutting the spines off. Cutting the covers off is easy, just run a knife over the "hinges" formed by the endpapers. If there is a corded ribbon (I forget the technical name and I'm too lazy to look it up right now) at each end of the spine, I rip those off. If the spine has been rounded, I can usually "break" it in several places by bending it back sharply which will usually let me flatten it enough to cut it off in the guillotine. If it is too stubborn to flatten or the book is too thick for the guillotine (it will handle only 1 1/2"), then I "split" the book into sections by "breaking" the spine and scoring it with a knife enough to let me snap it apart (same goes for really thick paperbacks). At worst, it only takes a minute or two to prepare a hardback for the guillotine. It takes about 15-30 seconds to actually cut the spine off.