I have not tried using a piece of paper; it worked well for you. You went slowly and carefully. I've tried using a playing card and an index card, with disappointing results. It's hard to get that inner corner right. I've had good results using a Swiss army-type knife. The shortness of the blade required me go slowly, maybe an inch or two at a time, with the knife on the inside, moving the blade sideways from left to right. It's been suggested to start at the back of the book, since it's easy to make mistakes when getting the knack of it--too late in my case! You can also buy a special knife for this from sellers of book binding supplies (note to self). But if the paper method works for you, so be it!
You're probably in the majority -- I wouldn't expect most people to just happen to have an envelope-opener on hand. But either that, or probably a simple butter knife, would best handle this task just fine I'm sure. Either side of a butterknife's blade -- it's your choice, whether you want the saw-teeth or the (dull) smooth back/top edge (non-blade) side of the blade. And then I would do it in the same motion that you did, starting from the outside and gently easing your way in toward the spine of the book. Think of it NOT like cutting with scissors, but more like pulling that string on a pack of chewing-gum to tear open its wrapper. SIDENOTE for Jennie V of Missouri : (2:05) a sheet of paper that is NOT acid-free would actually work just fine, I assume. I'm guessing the reason you were instructed to use only acid-free paper (as opposed to some kind of sharp knife) was to preserve the delicate/ancient pages.
I have not tried using a piece of paper; it worked well for you. You went slowly and carefully. I've tried using a playing card and an index card, with disappointing results. It's hard to get that inner corner right. I've had good results using a Swiss army-type knife. The shortness of the blade required me go slowly, maybe an inch or two at a time, with the knife on the inside, moving the blade sideways from left to right. It's been suggested to start at the back of the book, since it's easy to make mistakes when getting the knack of it--too late in my case! You can also buy a special knife for this from sellers of book binding supplies (note to self). But if the paper method works for you, so be it!
You're probably in the majority -- I wouldn't expect most people to just happen to have an envelope-opener on hand. But either that, or probably a simple butter knife, would best handle this task just fine I'm sure.
Either side of a butterknife's blade -- it's your choice, whether you want the saw-teeth or the (dull) smooth back/top edge (non-blade) side of the blade. And then I would do it in the same motion that you did, starting from the outside and gently easing your way in toward the spine of the book. Think of it NOT like cutting with scissors, but more like pulling that string on a pack of chewing-gum to tear open its wrapper.
SIDENOTE for Jennie V of Missouri : (2:05) a sheet of paper that is NOT acid-free would actually work just fine, I assume. I'm guessing the reason you were instructed to use only acid-free paper (as opposed to some kind of sharp knife) was to preserve the delicate/ancient pages.
Thanks!
Wow, interesting man