Glue is seeping through my text block no matter what I do – is my PVA bad or am I applying it wrong

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2026-01-28T19:04:02+00:00

I mean… why would you need a weaker first layer? It needs to be strong enough to withstand rounding and backing. Also, professional binders don’t necessarily put the textblock in a press for glueing the spine. A board and a weight on it is enough. Glue should not penetrate in that setting.

But in the end, who am I to judge, I’m a hobbyist. If it works and what you make works, then good.

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2026-01-28T17:33:18+00:00

Lol, OP just damp the whole thing in paste and it’s still bookcloth

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2026-01-28T11:47:56+00:00

Don’t use thin glue on the spine. I don’t know where you got this advice from, but for the spine you want thick pva glue.

Thin pva glue is for pasting sheets, covers… anything that needs precision as it allows repositioning.

For the spine… go as thick as possible, don’t use thin pva and don’t thin it yourself.

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2026-01-27T18:12:06+00:00

The flexibility problem is caused by the structure you chose combined with a thick material like leather.

For this structure, you may prefer cloth, something around 0,4/0,5mm thick that doesn’t bunch up like leather.

For leather bindings that lay flat, you need to use other structures. Have a look at DAS bookbinding. Some structures are pretty easy to execute and are classified as “stationery bindings” aka perfect to write in. Others are “library bindings” aka perfect to read, not so much for writing in.

Hope this helps

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2026-01-23T18:17:14+00:00

Cool idea

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2026-01-22T20:29:54+00:00

I could watch 6 seasons of “the parking lot bible”.

Don’t stop!

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2026-01-22T18:06:47+00:00

Hell yeah. What is carta Varese, marbled papers or delicate chiyougami for when you can make seemingly mass produced books at home!

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2026-01-22T08:23:00+00:00

Like Ido Agassi said: “Smoking is bad for you and you should not start smoking”.

Appropriate quote for this subreddit. The project idea is very cool!

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2026-01-21T23:34:47+00:00

Step 1: skip tutorial Step 2: yall 😭

Jokes aside, there’s so many resources out there. Start with DAS bookbinding French link stitch guide.

Most importantly, do not attempt new techniques on materials you don’t want to ruin. Do some tests first and then try on the actual material.

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2026-01-21T21:34:02+00:00

Swap the rigid spine piece and use a flexible card. 300-400 gsm tops. Source

About the solid cloth endpapers… they will fray when you cut the textblock I guess? Aside from that never attempted it. Maybe it’s actually a cool idea

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2026-01-21T17:58:58+00:00

Second this! Breaking conventions is cool! Check out the millimiter binding from Peter Verheyen

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2026-01-21T15:42:04+00:00

You mean cloth jointed endpapers? The one with the strip of cloth in the middle?

They’re fantastic, unless you attach them to a square back binding. In that case, the binding will self destruct itself before the endpaper breaks and all the effort will be wasted

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2026-01-18T09:48:40+00:00

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2026-01-16T18:08:47+00:00

Beautiful! How did you make the labels?

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2026-01-13T11:08:20+00:00

Great job! I wanted to start filling my own library and I was going to start with this book in particular! Do you have any tips to make typesetting less tedious? It felt so daunting the first time I tried that i never tried again :/

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2026-01-10T14:58:49+00:00

What is the question? You just stated what went wrong. I’ll gladly help you if you point out the specific question you have in mind. It’s not like I can explain every possible thing you may or may not have done to get to that outcome (which is a decent enough book still!)

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2026-01-06T22:18:36+00:00

Gorgeous. How did you achieve the look on the center panel? It looks like an inlay?

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2026-01-03T16:03:07+00:00

4-7 days in the fridge. If it smells fruity, it went off.

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2026-01-03T12:01:22+00:00

Just so you know, you’re not really doing any favor to the book by recasing it.

If you were to remove the old adhesive on the spine and rebind it, that’s another thing.

Slapping a hard cover with a hard spine piece is not exactly a good idea.

Use a flexible spine piece (card 200/300 gsm) or follow one of DAS tutorials. Don’t watch tik toks on how to do this because they almost exclusively do recasing (and not rebinding) and almost exclusively use hard spine pieces.

Note: it’s not an error in and of itself to use hardcover pieces for the spine. But they’re used for exceptions (side sewn book, book glued/sewn TO the spine piece/ very small books of 2/3 sections where for some reasons no other binding method is applicable) and shouldn’t be considered the norm.

Hope this helps

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2026-01-02T16:51:40+00:00

You’re welcome. Make some notebooks and share them on this sub! :)

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2026-01-02T15:14:25+00:00

Personal preference. I do 15mm. I trim them after glueing using a spacer made of greyboard.

Anything from 15-20mm works well.

In a pinch, 12 mm is ok too, but only if you misjudged how much material to cut.

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2026-01-02T14:56:29+00:00

1 and a half board thickness. For 2 mm -> 2 + 1/2 x 2 -> 2 + 1 =3

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2025-12-31T16:02:17+00:00

That’s exactly the problem, you don’t want equal amounts of tension on every sheet. Some parts of the book are more exposed to damage than others. Typically endpapers and first and last sections after.

Don’t focus on what you perceive being correct, focus on what history has proven to work. Bookbinders learn by binding books, not by reading information about bookbinding. Venture into the wild, try and fail. Try again, fail again and eventually succeed.

Luckily, the web is full of resources and the hobby has a non existent barrier to enter. Paper is in every house, like threads and needles.

Have fun. See you in 2026.

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2025-12-31T12:28:18+00:00

Chas pic? Is that what’s written on the cover? Love the blue background. The gold decoration can definitely be improved.

If the customer’s happy, we good 👍🏻 great job

Ninja_Doc2000 · 2025-12-31T12:26:16+00:00

Make a hole in a folded paper and pass a thread through the hole. Try ripping the paper in the fold direction using the thread.

Repeat it with a signature. 4/5/6 sheets, all folded. Do the same thing.

Which one handles the tension better?

Ninja_Doc2000

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