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Just realized I've been gluing spines wrong for 2 years
Saw a workshop video from a binder in Portland and noticed they used a thin layer of PVA instead of the thick goop I've been slathering on. Has anyone else been overdoing the glue and getting stiff spines as a result?
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jason_robinson1mo ago
Ha, a buddy of mine had that exact problem. He was doing repair work for a library and just globbing on the PVA like it was going out of style. His binding spines would crack the first time someone opened a book all the way. Took him a full year and a million complaints before he watched a video and saw someone just brush on a whisper-thin coat. He called me afterwards, totally pissed, because he'd basically ruined a stack of reference books and had to do them all over again. Old habits die hard, I guess.
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Oh man, that's totally a thing! I did the exact same thing for like three years before someone pointed it out to me. The difference is pretty wild once you switch. I used to pile on the PVA like I was frosting a cake and wondered why my spines were basically boards. Thin layer is the way to go, you really only need a skim coat to get a good bond without killing the flexibility.
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