PSA: I saw a bunch of people at the craft fair using PVA glue for full leather spines

I mean, I was at the market in Springfield last weekend and three different booths had these leather bound journals with spines that looked stiff and shiny. I asked one guy about his process and he said he just uses regular bookbinding PVA for everything. That glue gets brittle over time, especially on a flexible spine. I had a repair job last month where a 5 year old journal's spine cracked clean through because of that. Has anyone found a good flexible adhesive for leather work that doesn't cost a fortune?

3 comments

3 Comments

brown.susan2d ago

Used to think it was fine, learned the hard way.

betty_ward2d ago

Yeah @brown.susan, that lesson usually hits you right in the wallet.

the_sage21h ago

Seems like a lot of life's rules are written in red ink. People have to feel the cost themselves before it sticks. The wallet is just the most common teacher.