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Honestly just hit 50 books bound and the spine glue failures are way higher than I expected.
Ngl, after the first 10 were perfect, I got sloppy with my PVA application time on the next batch. Anyone else have a specific glue window they swear by for quarter-bound leather?
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jade_jenkins3mo ago
My cousin does bookbinding as a hobby. He swears by letting the PVA get tacky for about 90 seconds before pressing the spine. Says it's the difference between a clean hold and a mess. He ruined a whole set of Dickens once rushing it.
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lee8473mo ago
Rushing it worked fine on my last project, @jade_jenkins.
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nancyn691mo ago
Yeah I tried that shortcut too once, @lee847, and let me tell you it didn't end well. I had a whole batch of spines that just peeled apart after a week, had to redo all of them from scratch. The tacky time is honestly the most underrated step with PVA. You gotta let it sit until it gets that sticky drag when you touch it, usually takes me around 60 to 90 seconds depending on the glue and the paper. If you press too soon the glue just soaks right into the pages and leaves no strength. Even 30 seconds can make a huge difference between a book that stays together and one that falls apart on you.
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