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Had my worst week ever in the bindery thanks to one dumb humidity mistake
Honestly I ruined 14 signatures of a hand sewn book last Tuesday because I left my PVA glue pot open overnight in my basement here in Duluth and the air got way too dry. The glue skin got into the spine folds and every section cracked when I pressed them, plus I lost a whole sheet of marbled endpaper I made back in March. Check your hygrometer before you glue up. Has anyone else had a glue batch go bad on them, and did you just toss it or try to thin it back out?
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adamthompson1d ago
Been there with the glue skin, and yeah, it can be saved sometimes. If the skin is just on top and the glue underneath still flows, I skim the film off with a palette knife, add a few drops of distilled water, and stir it slow for a bit. But once it has gone thick and stringy all the way through, I toss it, because you never get the right open time back and the bond gets weak. For the cracks you already got, I have had luck warming the spine folds with a hair dryer on low and pressing them again with a bone folder, though the marbled endpaper is probably a lost cause. Lesson I learned the hard way too: keep the pot sealed and check the hygrometer before you even mix.
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