Eventually, many of these books require some degree of repair. Both hardbacks and paperbacks can become spine cocked. Open up the front and back covers and flatten onto the surface along the creases. Paperback books make up the bulk of most peoples personal libraries. The thicker the book, the bigger the spine copy can be. And once it was broken, there was no fixing the result. Plastic laminate covers for paperback books are extending the life of the. The repairs you make with methylcellulose glue can be reversed in the future if need be. Conservators usually prefer this kind of glue as it does the least harm to valuable texts.
Make sure the adhesive side is face down so that the white paper is facing you. To break the spines of paperback books and treat them like. It is evident how much a book has been loved by how blemished or damaged it is. Broken spines can also be spotted by noting white crease lines down the spine of a paperback title. On a finished book it is exactly the same height as the pages in the book. There are several ways to check for broken or poor condition spines. A stepbystep guide to book repair for beginners youtube. If you didnt get it right, just repeat the process again with another very thin line of glue. If you look from the top of the book down inside into the spine at the binding, id look for discolored, broken and flaking glue, separating fibers or threads of the string used to sew the binding together, and i would flip through the book and lightly tug and some of the pages to ensure they are securely bound.
The broken sword by lee westbrook a copy that has been read, but remains in clean condition. How to fix the cover of a paperback book pen and the pad. Place your book in a press such that the spine faces you as shown in figure 194. Break in a hardcover book without ruining the spine. Paperback books are especially vulnerable to the wear and tear caused by voracious readers. Then close the book, rubber band it tight and leave it overnight. Heres how to solve this problem without ruining the book s spine. Pages are intact and are not marred by notes or highlighting, but may contain a neat previous owner name. Ive learnt to read books carefully, but dont let it ruin the reading experience, otherwise you worry too much about how to hold your book and. The cracked spine is filled with everything a book lover could want, each item as eclectic as the people who work there. Why i break the spines of books courtney cantrells. There you have it a paperback book with a spine that wont crack too easily. How to repair a paperback book mending a detached cover open the cover on a flat surface.
Brush archival glue onto the spine of the textblock. You can use some duck tape it comes in lots of colors now. Even harder to put down than behind closed doorswith two in a row, paris moves directly to the thriller alist. A book with its spine cracked is one where the book automatically falls open to a place where the binding has been substantially weakened.
Just lay the book on its spine, as shown to the right, and alternate between opening a few pages from the front and back. Popular red spine books meet your next favorite book. Leave it pressed firmly between two book ends or the weight of other books seated vertically on a shelf while it dries. Place a piece of wax paper between the cover and pages. I ve been able to open my books normally while reading without. Alternative methods of binding that are cheaper but less.
Rubber band the book securely and rest it on its spine edge or in the case of a rounded spine, the outside edge with the spine facing upward. Paperback books can easily get damaged if not handled properly. You can do this by pushing the bubbles out of the side of the spine with your fingers. How to repair a books binding tightening a gap between the pages and spine gather your equipment. Still, i am very determined at preventing cracked spines. The spine width is more complicated, as it depends on the number of pages in the book, the pagesperinch ppi of the paper the pages are printed on, and the thickness of the cover material. Preserving paperbacks preventing cracked spines word revel. Most book spines will have the title and authors name on the spine of the book.
How to effectively repair the spine on a paperback book. I had a friend who was so up her own backside and would never bend the spine back on a book or fold pages. How do i straighten out a paperback books cover that is. When courtney bought a new book and brought it home, she treated it with such care that, when she was finished reading it, it still looked as though it had just come off the shelf at the. Spine repairs ii selfadhesive bookcloth good for simple repairs when boards still well attached and book spine solid. This should limber up the binding without breaking it, and make reading.
Where can i get this fixed, we have no book repair shops around where i live here are some pictures of. For just a loose page or two, use a technique called tipping in pages. Look for the terms soluble if you desire this kind of glue for a repair to a valuable book. I have a paperback book with a spine that has split in half. On a paperback book, as soon as you open it, a crease appears on the spine. Be forewarned, this glue might not be the easiest to make. If they are wellmade you can use some supple kind of glue like tacky glue a craft glue that stays flexible to glue it all back together. It is important to repair a damaged paperback book as soon as possible, before the cover or individual pages separate from the spine and become lost forever. Western books generally have the spine on the left hand side of the front cover. A hollow construction prevents the cover material from damage because the book can easily be opened up and closed without bending. To keep your book intact, put it in a ziploc bag before putting into.
They are highly portable, thus taking an amazing amount of abuse. Apply a thin coat of archival glue along the spine of the cover. Glue spine and cracked pages with neutral ph archival glue, bind, dry overnight, then tape with clear packing tape. How to repair a damaged book cover ifixit repair guide. All perfect bound paperback books and hardcover books have a spine. The corners of the book get bent, pages get warped and in many cases, they even come out, the. Paris, the new york times and usa today bestselling author of behind closed doors and bring me back.
All you need to grow and develop your business online. Then you have to get something called bookbinders sizepaste. Book spine calculator book thickness calculator what. Some books cannot have printing on the spine of the book because they are not thick enough and the type will be too small to read. A copy that has been read, but remains in excellent condition. If you have a book that will not be kept forever and the spine breaks. Place book with spine facing down onto a flat surface. Viewing 12 posts 1 through 12 of 12 total author posts march 8, 20 at 4. An exlibrary book and may have standard library stamps andor stickers. Hamlet, a nineteenyearold thespian with a colored past and bright future. The breakdown is the next chilling, propulsive novel from b. Ever see someone curve back the cover a brand new paperback novel. As the title suggests in this book, broken, we are learning the secrets of each one and why they are broken.
Books with hundreds of pages are harder to keep pristine. Lay the spine of the book on the exposed sticky film, making sure it is centered as much as possible. Never broken by hardship or battle by tobey, nelson w. This article outlines some common issues with gluebound books and.
I have a book, that i would rather like to keep, but because it is old the spine has broken in half. Some hardcover books need a little breaking inespecially if you experience creep text getting lost in the gutter of the pages. In particular, either one or both covers are torn or have come off, or the entire cover is detached from the pages. One of the major advantages of hardcover books over paperback is its durability. Using a small paintbrush, evenly apply archival glue along the spine of the textblock and let it dry for ten minutes. Given a choice between a hardcover and paperback book with the same cover design, i will almost always pick the paperback. Preserving paperbacks preventing cracked spines step 1. Remove the entire cover on a paperback you can leave the covers but remove the spine.
Cass is having a hard time since the night she saw the car in the woods. This kind of repair is used when the spine if offloose, and the hinges attaching the boards to the textblock are weakened or detached. So long as the pages are not falling out, or ripped, then i. Just dont open to book too much otherwise youll crease the spine. Next day, open the book, slowly remove the piece of plastic, and you should have a paperback whose spine is in much better shape. This is like stretching before exercise, it keeps your book from getting hurtand cracking the spine. Ive looked at several tutorials on how to repair paperbacks, but they are all for the situation of either. Clamp the hole stack together in a vice, a press or with boards and clamps whatever you have to your disposal. The picture at left shows, from top to bottom, a spine cocked hard cover, a spine cocked trade paperback, and an undamaged hard cover. The stack is then bound together along one edge by either sewing with thread through the folds or by a layer of flexible adhesive. Believe it or not most book restorations for that type just use an acid free white pva glue like elmers. If youve got loose or torn pages, a detached cover, broken binding, or dirty smudges all.
How can you patch up a paperback book thats falling apart. To reduce the amount of creasing, however, dont let the two covers front and back touch each other when reading. Buckram with glue stronger cloth and better when boards are detached 18 filmoplast t at right and archival products ccloth slit to custom widths. Pages get bent, covers are scratched, or other things in our bags find their way between the pages and weaken the books spine. Additionally, paperback books with a pronounced angle to their spine may also be passed on. If you place the spine of your book against a flat surface, then you can open both the front and back covers of the book. Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book of codex format from an ordered stack of paper sheets that are folded together into sections or sometimes left as a stack of individual sheets. How do i keep books with a cracked spine from worsening. Book rebindingbook pagesbroken bookbook repairbook spinepractical giftsreading materialcrafty projectsbook making. Please request diggypods free sample book, so you can see a book spine sample with the hinged binding. Turn your book with the film attached so that you can press the bubbles out of the film on the spine.
I tend to buy sadlooking used paperbacks and though the pages themselves are in good condition, they are often old and worn on the spine. Not appropriate for special collections rare items. The one drawback they have measured against hardcovers is that their spines crack very easily. Then do the same section by section with the pages, from the front and back. This lesson covers everything from double fan glue binding to splitting the original spine so it sticks better. You wont be able to see a broken spine as easily from the exterior of a hardcover, but youll find the same internal symptoms as those described for the. I, on the other hand, fold mine back, fold pages when i mark my place, and still enjoy the book and pass it on to others to read. The broken sword by lee westbrook 1996, paperback for. Cut into the spine and use cords to help reconnect the sections. Paperbacks take up less space in my bags and bookshelves, are much lighter and are much handier when reading. When pages begin falling out of books it indicates a failing spine. Modern paperback bound with a modern, white, petroleumbased glue this specific book. Important pva does not stick long term to plastic heat glues and vice versa.
1205 559 696 1357 206 421 144 1404 134 594 1348 1025 428 901 1251 316 1458 1330 435 1490 690 1063 1312 1242 366 1012 652 1291 1153 733 109 325