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DIY BOOK
REPAIRS AND BOOK RESTORATION - INTRODUCTION
For some of you, the challenge of repairing an old leather or
cloth bound book yourself might appeal, so in this section we will help guide you through
an elementary DIY book
repair.
CHOOSE THE
RIGHT BOOK TO START! Our
first tip is to start with a small-ish damaged book that doesn't matter
too much - just in case it all goes wrong! (and remember if all goes wrong, you
can always send it to us to sort out!)
There are
many types of book binding and each requires a different
approach and methodology for restoration. Because there are
so many, we are going to concentrate on the most common type
of hardback binding for these DIY repair instructions. This is
known as the "Hollow
Spined Flexible Binding."
To identify
whether the book you want to repair has this type of binding, lay the book on a
table and then open it up in the middle. Look along the spine
and if there is a hollow tube (through which you can see)
running along the length of the spine, then you have a "hollow
tube flexible binding" book, and this set of instructions is
relevant.
So grab your
book and get ready!
Clear a well lit
table, where you can leave the book, the repair materials and
tools untouched whilst you go through the process.
Before we start
please familiarise yourself with the parts of a book shown in
the diagram to the right and then select the repair type from
the list below the diagram. |
