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My uncle the accountant told me to use wood glue for bookbinding
My uncle Frank, who balances checkbooks for a living, watched me struggling with a text block and said wood glue works just as good as PVA. I tried it on a practice journal last Tuesday and the pages came apart after 3 days. The spine cracked in half when I opened it to page 47. Has anyone else gotten bad advice from a relative who doesn't bind books?
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noahmartin1mo ago
My buddy's dad who restores old furniture told me the exact same thing. I glued up a whole stack of signatures with Titebond II and it turned into a solid brick that wouldn't open past 30 degrees. Had to throw the whole thing away.
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the_sam1mo ago
... and my grandma tried to glue a book spine with Elmer's school glue and a hairdryer. Said it would "cure faster." The heat made the glue bubble up and shrink, and now the book looks like it has permanent sunburn blisters. I guess relatives think all glue is the same because it comes in a bottle. Next thing you know, my cousin will tell me to use roofing tar for leather binding because "it's waterproof.
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Man, relatives love giving "expert" advice on things they've never done. @the_sam's grandma with the hairdryer is basically my uncle Frank in another font. It's like how my neighbor once told me to patch drywall with spackle meant for nail holes - works for one tiny thing, falls apart for the real job. People think if the bottle says "glue" it's all the same, like how they think all screwdrivers are just for prying things open.
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