Sewing on tapes versus cords for a 400 page rebind. I went with tapes and I would not do it again
Everyone at my local guild in Portland keeps saying cords are the only way for a book that thick, and I wanted to prove them wrong so I went the other direction. I sewed on linen tapes for a 400 page rebind of a 1930s dictionary last month. The sewing went fine. The trouble came at the rounding stage. The tapes held stiff and kept the spine from taking a nice even curve, so I ended up fighting it for two nights and the shoulder is still a little flat. Cords give you more flex where it counts.
Not saying tapes are bad for everything. For a slim octavo they are great. But for a heavy book I should have listened. What are you all using for anything past 350 pages?