My mentor in Chicago told me my glue was way too thick and it hit different

Tbh I've been binding for about 4 years and always used PVA straight from the bottle. Last week I visited this old bookbinder in Chicago named Frank who restores 1800s texts. He watched me glue a spine and just said 'that's gonna crack in 6 months' and handed me a mix he'd thinned with water. Ngl it felt embarrassing but he was right about everything, my joints were way too stiff. Has anyone else had a veteran call out a basic habit you thought was fine?

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the_mason18d ago

Yeah but think about it from the opposite side. Maybe your mentor sees thick glue as a shortcut that hides bad technique. I switched to thinner glue last year and it forced me to get better at pressing and aligning because the stuff dries way faster. It's like training wheels coming off.