That guy who insisted glue was cheating changed my whole approach to bookbinding

I was at a small binders meetup in Portland about 6 months ago, and this older guy in a worn out apron kept saying real binders only use thread and spine linings. He said glue was for people who couldn't sew properly. I bit my tongue at first, but then he started lecturing a newbie about how her glued paperback conversion was 'lazy work.' I finally asked him how he thinks the spines on library books hold up for 50 years without falling apart. He didn't have an answer, just huffed and walked off. Has anyone else run into these purist types who act like glue is some kind of sin?

2 comments

2 Comments

jesse_williams6217d ago

Ever glued my fingers together trying to fix a torn cookbook page, so clearly I'm a real pro at this.

alice_hart17d ago

The real trick is waiting until it's fully dry before you try to pull your fingers apart. That's when you learn if you used enough glue or not.