Am I the only one who thinks glue pots are better than glue brushes for spine work?

At a workshop in Portland last spring, a master bookbinder told me glue pots force you to control the application better than brushes ever could. Now I'm torn, since brushes gave me smooth coverage but pots stopped me from flooding the joints. Which side do you lean toward for rounding and backing?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_charles1mo ago

Stick with the pot, man. It’s like the difference between using a squeeze bottle for ketchup versus a spoon, sometimes less control actually gives you better control.

paulschmidt29d ago

Heard about this on a podcast a while back, some chef was saying the same thing about cast iron versus non-stick pans. It's funny how we think more control means better results, but sometimes getting out of your own way is the real trick. I've been trying to learn that with my guitar playing, just let it flow instead of overthinking every note. That ketchup analogy is pretty spot on, you end up with a mess when you're fighting the tool instead of using it.

caseym4811d ago

30 years of playing and I'm still learning that lesson with guitar too, man. It's wild how when I'm not gripping the pick so tight or thinking about every finger placement, the music just comes out better. That same principle applies to so many things, we just gotta trust ourselves and the tool more.