That time my spine crack ruined a $200 project in 10 seconds flat

I was tipsy on a Tuesday night in my tiny Brooklyn apartment and decided to glue up a leather journal I had been working on for weeks. The spine cracked clean down the middle as soon as I opened it to check the stitch line, right after I had literally just set the glue. Has anyone else had a late night binding session totally backfire or am I the only dummy working past midnight?

2 comments

2 Comments

adam_thompson531mo ago

Actually, the glue might not be the main issue here. If you were tipsy, you probably rushed the clamping or didn't let the PVA set long enough before test opening. I made a similar mistake on a sketchbook last month - waited 20 minutes instead of the full hour, and the hinge tore right where the spine met the cover. The other thing is, if you used a quick-dry glue on leather, that stuff can shrink weird and make the spine brittle. What type of adhesive did you use, and how long did you actually leave it clamped before checking?

uma_johnson29d ago

Oh man, "rushed the clamping" is exactly what I did last week on a notebook I was making. I was only a little tipsy but I thought "eh, 30 minutes is probably fine" and nope, the spine popped open like a cheap suitcase. I used standard PVA that time and it still failed because I was impatient. Also totally agree on the quick-dry glue thing, I tried that on a leather journal once and the whole thing got stiff and cracked after a week. It's like the glue just decided to give up halfway through.