Trying to Repair an Old Book (never again 😅)

My first attempt (maybe last) at antique book repair 🙈

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CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
1:05 What Should I Do?
2:04 Spine Cleaning
4:04 Book Cloth & End Bands
5:07 Text Block Repair
7:25 New Book Cover
10:45 Casing In

VIDEOS MENTIONED

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• Yarn (for end bands)
• Scrap Paper

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Sea Lemon
PO Box 1333
Scottsdale, AZ 85252
USA

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Links above marked with (*) are affiliate links, which means I may earn revenue or credits (at no extra cost to you) via those affiliated sites.

[ofrainandotherthings]

as a book restorer, i hesitated watching this video. i was positively surprised, you did a good job! :)
i wished you kept the old covers though! all those "flaws" they had are such an important part of the book's story, that's why we try to preserve as much of it as possible.
i love how you mentionned your struggles and how long it took! it's all handmade and with expensive high-quality materials. this is the reason, book restorations are so expensive...

[juliebelmonte]

Yes when you are making a gift for someone else you tend to get a lot of stress. You want the gift to come out perfect 🥰 and it did. Congratulations the book is beautiful.

[daveturnbull]

All in all I'd say you did a pretty top class job there. Maybe not up to professional standards but I'd certainly be proud as punch if I managed to do something that good. About the only thing I might have tried is to see if I could remove the end-paper remains from the inside of the cover and then paste them onto the insides of the new one.
The stuff they used to clean the spine looks like some form of bookbinding paste ( wheat paste or methyl cellulose) but rather than messing around making a load of that you could just use some walpaper paste. The main function of it is to soften and re-activate any remaining original glue thus letting you remove it.
One final tip for case bound books is to put a knitting needle along the hinges when you put it in the book press - it helps to define the hinge and gives a more proffesional look.
I'd certainly be very interested in seeing you have a go at some more restoration projects - your friendly chatty explanations and willingness to show us when things go wrong tend to help me understand stuff fairly quickly.

[butthad]

I hear a lot of self doubt in this video, but I just want to reassure that you are a very talented and competent book binder. You are literally the reason I even know how to book bind, I don't think I would have been able to learn it without your easy to follow videos and you were able to teach me how when I was 13 and now I'm 22 and still into it

[vincentferrari]

Okay hear me out for a second.

I know you said you weren’t likely to do more of these, but in the many years I’ve been watching your videos this is my favorite video you’ve ever done. I enjoyed it start to finish and it put a huge smile on my face to see the end result.

I know it was stressful, and the pressure, and the technical skill and all that but I just loved this video so much and thought you should hear that and hopefully it would influence your decision about doing them in the future 😊

[kittyneko]

I remember reading you can restore the yellow pages with an aqueous bath, but man that sounded tiresome. Also, in my experience, water just makes it worse. I can’t touch books that old. I worked in a library and my boss wanted me to make lists of hymns printed in extremely old hymnals. I had it propped open at my desk between my monitor and my keyboard. While I was typing, the book slammed shut on its own and I could feel the mold spores hit my eyes. So someone had Benadryl in their desk, so I took some of that because my eyes were watering, my nose was running. I took the Benadryl and started falling asleep, so I had to go home.

My boss did hire a man who would give old books insanely beautiful new covers. Molded colorful leather with gold leaf writing. We all piled into a conference room where he explained his process and materials. Afterwards, as we were filing out, he picked some more books to restore. As he walked out the door, he handed my boss an invoice and left. Her eyes got really wide. The sticker shock showed all over her face. But they were really beautiful covers.

[addisonkhanh]

I'm honestly blown away by the end results, watching this whole process and how you were so meticulous with every step made me really want to get back into book binding again! I used to watch your tutorials back in middle school to make my friends sketchbooks. It's like I've forgotten beautiful books like that can actually be made by hand so I'm so happy that I clicked on this video

[wintersdream]

You did a great job. I've done a few restorations but from my own collection. I suggest to anyone that esnts to try this go to a thrift shop and find a couple you dont care about for practice.

[greengohm]

Never again? Are you joking? I expect... no, I demand more of those restorations on this channel! The end results are absolutely amazing! I have similar project in the works now, but I've been lacking the confidence to continue. Thanks to you I might just get back to it! Again, this restoration came out fantastic - thank you for sharing it with us!

[linamoses]

I always appreciate how you reference the videos you’re working from. Shows humility and respect for other’s content. I hope people do the same for you. I’ve learned so much from your content

[BettyAlexandriaPride]

This was beautiful and I'm in tears. I was in a car accident in 2016 and lost my father. Coming up on year 6, I want to make archives of his music that may not be in the best condition. While I'm not a book maker at all (followed in his footsteps and became a musician/ music educator), I was really inspired by this. I found your channel last night/ this morning while cleaning and doing work for my classes.


I've been binge-watching and probably bought a few too many packs of paper off of Amazon. 😅 I love it, keep up the amazing work.

[robertphillips]

Nice work! Your instinct for replacing the poultice with PVA for a project like this is exactly how recasing is done by a library binder. Not so much for archival restorers, as you probably know.

The paper spine lining of the original was just an economical reinforcement for the animal glue used to integrate the signatures and keep the rounded and backed shape. The hollow tube variation is usually only employed for looseback bindings of heavy volumes (or where a book must be anchored via chain or cable to one location, and a tough fabric is substituted for the paper envelope!), to help case and text block stay better attached.

Oh, if you ever want to add a well-defined shape to the joint at casing-in, try shishkabob skewers -- they're usually about 2mm square cross section. Of course, only if the joint size and cover material permit!

[mcuna]

I really enjoyed this. If you decide to do more book restoration videos, that would be great. I love what you already do, but I am interested in both topics, and I like how you explain things. Thanks for another wonderful video. 😊

[CadetRedShirt]

Needing some tips for a similar situation, hopefully there is some good news in fixing this book! 💕

[thornshar]

Great job! Ok maybe you don't have to do another if you don't want to, but if you should ever decide to, I'd be very interested! Frankly, some of the professional channels you mentioned are impressive to watch, but kind of too intimidating and unapproachable. You're way more experienced than I am in bookbinding, but your narrative style and your background make it way more relatable for me, precisely because you find it somewhat intimidating. I have a few old books that I have bought at used bookstores over the years, which probably should be rebound, but I haven't gotten the nerve to try it yet. When I do, I won't start with something that's important to a family member. :) Great job again, glad it worked out!

[Zadlmond]

Ive been trying to learn bookbinding, and its been hard to find good resources to start with. Thank you so much for including the chanels that helped you in this project!

[mjpete]

I have enjoyed watching your videos for quite some time, I am a recent subscriber, once I was told how important it is to a channels prosperity and I can honestly say that I enjoy watching your videos listening to you explaining your processes is very reassuring and encouraging as well! Thank you for sharing all of your amazing expertise with your viewers. I know that you have so much more to show and share. Thank you.

[BilbosOreo]

Bravo to you!!! Beautifully done!!! And that you did it for your mother-in-law is a testament to your sweet character as well! I adored my M-I-L, so it warms my heart to see you do this!

[generallylevel-headed]

That red is absolutely perfect and this book is simply radiant! Love it 😍

[Jackjonesis]

I watched this when you first posted it and found it helpful. I have repaired many an old book since then and rescued them from the trash. I think the difference for me is that they have all been books that have a sentimental meaning to me or others which makes the task go better. Thanks for all the help you have been over the years.