Am I the only one who switched from PVA to wheat paste on a hollow back and never went back?
I was fighting spine cracks on every hollow back book for 8 months until a binder in Portland showed me wheat paste instead of PVA, and the hinges actually flex instead of snapping. The paste dries slower so you get maybe 20 minutes to work the spine, which made all the difference on a 700 page rebind I did 2 weeks ago. Anyone else find PVA just too stiff for hollow backs, or is it a humidity issue in my shop?
Wheat paste all day for hollow backs. PVA turns into a rock and the spine has nowhere to go but crack. Humidity might play a small part but paste is just the right tool for that job.