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Can we talk about how glue temperature affects spine rounding?
Last week I was repairing a 1920s text and my PVA wasn't setting right. Watched an old binder at the bench next to me heat his glue pot to exactly 145 degrees instead of the usual 120. He said cold glue makes the spine fight you when you round it. Has anyone else noticed a difference with glue temps for rounding?
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mila_harris27d ago
Gotta admit, I used to think glue temp was mostly about how fast it dries, not how the spine behaves. Watched a guy at a workshop crank his pot up for a 19th century rebind and I just shrugged it off back then. Then I tried it myself on a tricky text with thin sections and the rounding went SO much smoother, no fighting or weird puckering. Totally changed my mind on that whole piece of the process.
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... yeah, @mila_harris you're totally right about that. I had a similar thing happen with a 1930s novel that had really stiff paper. Was using PVA at my normal 120ish and the spine just wouldn't take a nice curve, it kept springing back. Cranked it up to 140 like you said and it was night and day... rounded up smooth as anything. Now I keep my glue a little warmer for anything with stubborn signatures.
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