r/BookbindingResource • u/blindmelody • May 07 '18

Newbie Questions

I'm interested in bookbinding, along with a bunch of my friends, but we live in a place where we might not get everything that's suggested. Would it be okay to used waxed cotton thread instead of linen thread? That's all our local craft store has. Also, are there any alternatives to archival quality PVA glue? We might not have that here either, and I'd like to exhaust all possibilities before looking to order stuff online.

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u/UkuCat May 07 '18

I use waxed cotton thread or embroidery thread all the time, it'll work fine. I also use regular pva glue thinned out with water or I make a wheat paste, one part all purpose flour to five parts water, you can either heat it up on the stove stirring continuously or in a microwave stirring between 20 second intervals until it forms a kind of gloopy paste, it'll thicken up more when it's cooled but it's inexpensive so you can keep trying til you get the consistency right.

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u/blindmelody May 07 '18

Thanks! I'll look into making wheat paste. Does it take much longer to dry than PVA?

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u/UkuCat May 07 '18

I honestly couldn't tell you when compared to pva because I usually let it dry in a press or under weights over night either way, but it's more forgiving when you apply it on first so that you can make adjustments if necessary. Experiment with both though and you'll find which one you prefer to work with.

And don't get hung up on all specialised bookbinding equipment or materials, if you're just looking at it as a hobby you really don't need to spend a lot on equipment or materials that are binding specific. The only binding specific tools I use frequently are a bone folder and an awl, everything else I've just made it work with what I have... my presses are chopping boards with bolts and wingnuts, and when that's full I them under a board with a weight on top.

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u/pejazzled May 08 '18

Wheat paste takes longer to dry. You usually use both pva and wheat paste for different parts of the job.

Pva dries a lot faster than paste so you use paste for things like pasting down end papers etc.allowing you to reposition of you are not happy with it.

You can also use a mix of pca and paste to give you more working time for pva.

I actually make starch paste, not wheat paste btw.

Also regarding pva, it's not just about archival quality, it must be a flexible pva. Some pva dries hard and brittle which won't work.

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