Week from hell: three spine failures in five days

Man, what a terrible week. I was working on a set of five restoration jobs and three of them had the spine crack right at the hinge after I glued them up. First one was an old 1920s novel, thought maybe it was just brittle paper. But then a textbook I did the same day split open too. Turns out my PVA mix was way too thick because the temp in my garage dropped to like 45 degrees. Had to peel everything apart and start over on three books. Has anyone else had glue act up like that when it gets cold?

3 comments

3 Comments

blair_nguyen1mo ago

Cold glue is the worst, had that happen last winter and wanted to cry.

beth2761mo ago

Last winter my garage hit 15 degrees and I had a whole case of wood glue turn into slushy goo. Had to sit each bottle in warm water for twenty minutes before I could even get it to pour. Did your glue ever recover or did you just toss it and start fresh?

alicemurphy1mo ago

Oh man, @blair_nguyen, was it the nozzle or the whole tube that froze on you?