Always hated PVA glue for bookbinding. Now I get it.

Used rice paste for years on my rebinds. Tried PVA on a cheap practice notebook last week. That hinge is still holding strong after 50 opens. Am I missing something about paste now?

3 comments

3 Comments

leor864d ago

I started out with paste too, actually learned it from an old bookbinder in Portland who swore nothing else touched his work. So I stuck with that for like 6 years on all my personal projects and stuff. Then I got a batch of used library books with these stupidly loose hinges and tried PVA on a whim because I needed something that would actually grip and set fast. Night and day difference honestly. The real trick I found is to mix a little bit of methyl cellulose into your PVA, maybe 10% by volume, that gives you the open time of paste with the strength of PVA without it being too slippery. Another thing is to thin your PVA just a touch with water for spine applications, you want it to soak in a little not just sit on top. I still use paste for certain paper repairs and old delicate stuff but for modern rebinds and anything that needs to flex a lot PVA is just better.

simon_jackson813d ago

Huh, I see it a bit different though. Respect to @leor86 for sure, but that methyl cellulose mix feels like overcomplicating something that doesn't need it. PVA straight out of the bottle works fine for me on most stuff if you just give it a good stir and don't cheap out on the brand. Paste is still my daily driver for anything with old paper or fragile stuff, I just can't trust PVA not to get brittle over time no matter what you add to it. Different strokes for different folks I guess, but I've never had the issues people talk about with paste being too weak or slow.

jana7694d ago

Jump right into it: PVA with methyl cellulose is the hack most people sleep on. @leor86 nailed it with that mix, gives you the best of both worlds. I started out hating PVA too but now I keep a bottle of that stuff mixed up on my bench for anything modern. Paste still wins for old paper though, no arguing that.

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