Why does nobody talk about how hard it is to fix a warped book board after it dries?

I had a copy of an old atlas I was rebinding last Tuesday, and everything was going fine until I glued the book board and left it to dry overnight. When I came back the next morning, the board had warped BADLY like a shallow bowl, not even close to flat. I tried clamping it with some heavy weights for 6 hours, but it only got a little better. Then I tried dampening the opposite side and pressing it again, which sort of worked but left a weird texture on the surface. I think the issue was I used too much PVA glue on a thin board, but I'm not sure. Has anyone else dealt with a warped board that just won't flatten out, or do you have a go to fix that actually works?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_joel24d ago

Dude same thing happened to me last month with a thin board and too much glue, total disaster.

olivers2824d ago

Too much glue on a thin board" perfectly describes my atlas problem too. @the_joel, did your board ever fully flatten out or did you just have to start over with a new piece? I tried misting the concave side with water and then pressing between two heavy marble slabs for a full day, which did help a little but the surface ended up slightly rippled instead of smooth. What kind of board thickness would you use next time to avoid this mess entirely?