Old bookbinder at a shop in Austin told me I was ruining my glue

I was at this tiny bindery off South Congress showing off my first full rebind, and this retired guy walks over and just says 'you glued that spine like you're trying to waterproof a boat.' He showed me how I was using way too much PVA and it was cracking the joints. Anyone else run into a random old timer who completely changed how you do one step?

2 comments

2 Comments

vera_sanchez4d agoTop Commenter

Did he mention any specific brand of PVA or just the technique?

harperb463d ago

You mentioned "any specific brand of PVA" which makes me think you're thinking of the stuff for woodworking or school glue. But in this case PVA is polyvinyl alcohol, not polyvinyl acetate, so it's a different thing entirely. Most people just buy it as a powder from art supply places or online, brand doesn't really matter since it all works the same for the technique.