A binding job at the Asheville book fair taught me to always test my wheat paste first
I was at the Asheville book fair last October and a woman brought me her grandmother's 1890s family Bible with a cracked spine. I mixed my wheat paste the same way I always do, but the flour was a new bag I'd bought that week. Twenty minutes after I glued the spine piece down, the whole thing started to lift and curl at the edges. I had to carefully peel it back off in front of her and redo it with a fresh batch, and she just stood there watching me the whole time. Now I boil a tiny test batch and let it sit for a day before I touch anyone's book. Anyone else had a batch of paste go bad on them mid job?