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Ruined a $60 sheet of goatskin last Tuesday by getting the paste too wet
I was paring a spine piece for a rebind on Tuesday night and rushed the wheat paste, so it went on way too thick and soaked straight through the leather. By morning the grain had lifted in two spots and there was no saving it, so that sheet went in the trash. I've done maybe 40 rebinds and this is the first time I've wrecked a piece of goatskin that cost that much. My paste has been too thin for months and I overcorrected, which I'm guessing some of you have done too. How do you all judge the right consistency, by feel, by the drip test, or something else?
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brooke_murray11d ago
Oh man, that sinking feeling when you peel back the leather and see the grain already lifting. I heard a conservator talk about paste once and she said she mixes it by eye until it looks like heavy cream, then tests it on a scrap of oak tag before it ever touches leather. She also said the paste should grab a little when you drag your finger through it, not run off like milk. I tried that drag test after wrecking a piece myself and it has saved me twice now. Wheat paste also gets weaker as it sits, so a batch from last week can fool you.
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