Every case binding, the pasted-down endpaper goes on flat and then within ten minutes there are ripples running parallel to the spine that never fully press out. 100gsm coloured paper, PVA straight from the bottle, pressed between boards under weight for a day. Is my paper too light, my glue too wet, or am I just slow?
100gsm is light for a pastedown, especially anything coated. 120-140gsm text weight with the grain right is far more forgiving while you're learning.
Paste the board rather than the paper if you aren't already. Less water goes into the sheet, the sheet stays dimensionally stable, and you get one clean placement instead of chasing a floppy wet endpaper across the bench.
Hadn't considered which side to paste at all. Trying it on the next one.
Also test a scrap with a wet brush first. Some coloured papers are dyed in a way that bleeds onto the board or the text block, and you only find out at the worst possible moment.
@coptic_cleo · 3w ago · 3 replies
Too wet, and probably the grain again. Paper expands across the grain as it takes on moisture and shrinks back as it dries, so if the endpaper's grain isn't parallel to the spine that expansion happens in the direction with nowhere to go.
In order: get the grain parallel to the spine, cut your PVA with paste so it has more open time and less water, and press with waxed paper plus a blotter between the board and the endpaper. Then change the blotter after 30 minutes. That last step is the one people skip, and trapped moisture against the board is what makes ripples permanent.
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@seamripper_sol · 3w ago
Changing the blotter at 30 minutes was the missing piece. Still ripply at ten minutes but flat by morning now.
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@clay_bertram · 3w ago
It's normal for the sheet to look terrible while wet. Judging it before it dries is how people talk themselves into using less glue and getting a bad bond.
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