Dropped my first attempt at a leather spine yesterday, glue got everywhere.

I was working in my garage around 9pm and the pressure foot slipped off the spine of this restoration job, sending the whole thing into my glue pot, now I have to re-cut a new piece because the leather was soaked through in 3 seconds flat, has anyone else had a clamp fail at the worst possible moment?

3 comments

3 Comments

olivia_white9318d ago

Oh man the pressure foot thing is brutal! Had almost the exact same thing happen on a 1920s Dickens rebound last month. The clamp just gave up and the whole text block slid right into a puddle of hide glue, turned the endpapers into a sticky mess in about two seconds. Had to scrap the whole thing and start over with fresh boards and all new paper. It's like the universe picks the worst moments to test your patience, right when you think you're finally cruising through a job. Did the spine leather soak all the way through or did you catch it quick enough to save any of it?

young.thomas19d ago

That glue pot disaster sounds like a total nightmare, sorry you had to deal with that. I've had clamps slip at the worst times too, it always seems to happen when you're rushing to finish something. What kind of glue were you using that soaked through so fast?

jessica92119d ago

oh man @young.thomas you're totally right about the timing thing, right? like it's always when you're already running late that everything goes sideways. and to answer your question, it was some cheap PVA from a big box store, the stuff they sell in those big jugs. i should've known better honestly, but it was on sale and i was being cheap. that stuff is way too thin, it soaks into wood like water into a sponge. lesson learned though, i'm only using Titebond now, that stuff at least gives you a fighting chance before it sets. this hobby is just constant trial and error with setbacks like this haha.