I was using way too much paste for my endpapers for years

I was binding a custom journal for a friend last week and the endpaper just would not lie flat after drying, it kept bubbling up. My mentor from my apprenticeship, Frank, happened to stop by the shop. He took one look, poked at the paper, and said, 'Kid, you're drowning it. You only need a whisper-thin layer, like you're barely touching the brush to the glue.' I'd been applying it like I was buttering toast. I tried his method on a fresh sheet, using maybe a quarter of the paste I normally would, and it adhered perfectly with no wrinkles. Has anyone else had a specific tool or technique tip that completely fixed a stubborn problem like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

adams.vera1mo ago

Frank's a legend, but I have to respectfully disagree with the whisper-thin approach. Every paper stock has its own personality - some need that thin layer, sure, but others actually benefit from a slightly heavier coat to really sink into the fibers. Had a batch of handmade Indian cotton papers last summer that literally refused to bond unless I gave them a solid, almost assertive application. The bubbles you got were probably from uneven spreading or too much moisture in the paper itself, not the absolute amount of paste. Thin is great for lightweight machine-made stuff, but pushing back on the one-size-fits-all idea here.

wright.luna2mo ago

Frank calling you out for drowning the paper is hilarious. I had the same exact moment trying to glue down book cloth, my table looked like a paste crime scene. My fix was using a cheap foam roller from the hardware store instead of a brush, it puts down such a thin, even coat. What other jobs have you totally over-glued?

diana_king2mo ago

Frank's "whisper thin" advice saved me from my own paste flood last month. @wright.luna, a foam roller is genius, I'm stealing that for my next book cloth disaster.