That day my PVA glue decided to fail mid-rebind

Last month I was finishing a leather journal rebind and went to glue the endpapers. The PVA had been sitting in my garage through a cold snap and it came out lumpy and stringy. I tried to warm it up in a water bath but it was already too far gone. Had to scrape it all off and start over with fresh glue. Anyone else ever had a batch of PVA just turn on you like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

noah_barnes1mo ago

Is it really that big of a deal though? PVA glue costs like $10 a bottle. You scrape it off, you buy a new one, you move on. I've had tubes of superglue go bad and I just toss them, no harm done. Feels like you're making this into a bigger thing than it is.

charlie_roberts871mo ago

15 dollars for a half gallon of Lineco and you bet I was mad when it turned into cottage cheese halfway through a project. Noah's right that you can just toss it but he's clearly never had to explain to a customer why their family Bible has a weird lumpy spine because the glue seized up at the worst possible moment. Yeah you scrape and start over but the damage is already done to your schedule and your sanity.