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Changed my mind about PVA glue after a disaster at the library bindery
I used to think PVA was the only way to go for paperback recasing. Then last month at the local library's bindery swap meet, a guy named Dave showed me his stack of books that had split right down the spine from PVA drying too stiff. He pulled out a jar of EVA glue and let me test it on a worn out novel. The pages flexed way better. Now I'm switching for anything that needs to stay flexible. Any of you had luck with EVA for paperback repairs?
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baker.christopher8d ago
My friend Rick runs a small bookshop downtown and tried EVA on a batch of old paperbacks last spring. He said the spines stayed flexible even on the ones that got left in a warm car for a day. Told me he hasn't touched PVA since.
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young.michael8d agoProlific Poster
Stopped reading right there at "warm car for a day." You left paperbacks in a hot car for a whole day? That sounds like an accident waiting to happen, not a test. I've seen what heat does to old glue, it turns into goo or just cracks apart. If EVA really held up through that, then okay, I'm impressed. But my first thought was "you trusted a stack of old books to sit in a car all day?" That's bold. Rick must have a lot of faith in that glue.
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