Tried bone glue for the first time on a restoration job - total mess or am I missing something?

Picked up a 1920s textbook to reback last week. Decided to go traditional with bone glue instead of my usual PVA. Heat pot, double boiler, the whole setup. That stuff set up so fast I couldn't even get the mull on straight before it turned to jelly. Had to scrape it all off and start over with PVA. Is bone glue actually worth the hassle for certain books or is it just nostalgia? Anyone here use it regularly and get good results?

2 comments

2 Comments

jana5096d agoTop Commenter

Nah I gotta disagree a bit here. Bone glue is tricky for sure but once you get the temp right it's not that bad. You gotta work fast and have everything ready to go before you even heat it up. That jelly set is actually a sign it was too cool or sat too long.

michael8035d ago

Wait, you're telling me that jelly set means it was TOO COOL? I've been ripping my hair out thinking I was overheating it or my batch was bad. Man, that explains like three ruined tabletops over the last year.