A batch of glue went wrong and ruined three books I was really proud of

I was working on a set of three leather journals for a friend's birthday gift. I mixed up a fresh batch of PVA glue, the same kind I always use, but something was off. It felt a bit thin, but I went ahead with it. By the next morning, the spines were a sticky mess and the leather had bubbled up in spots. I think the glue might have been old or I got the water mix wrong. I had to start over from scratch with new materials, which set me back about $60 and two full days of work. It was so frustrating because the tooling on the covers had turned out really nice. Has anyone else had a glue batch fail like that out of the blue? How do you test your glue before using it on a big project?

3 comments

3 Comments

fisher.mason2mo agoMost Upvoted

Oh man, that's a gut punch. Wasting good materials and seeing a project you're proud of get ruined is the worst feeling. For testing, I always do a small smear on a piece of scrap leather and let it dry fully. It's saved me a couple times when the mix felt wrong.

taylor.phoenix2mo ago

Scrap leather testing is the adult version of licking your finger before touching an iron. Looks stupid, but you'll only ignore that advice once. I've seen guys ruin a whole custom saddle because they were too impatient to wait for a test patch to cure. The panic when you peel it up and the finish comes with it is a special kind of regret.

sam_anderson1mo ago

And once you mess up, that guilt just sits with you all day.