How to Repair & Rebind a Damaged Paperback as a Hardcover Book
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- Опубликовано: 3 окт 2024
- This video walks you through the process of repairing a damaged paperback and rebinding it as a hardcover book. It is intended for complete beginners and shows you how to take the book apart, repair torn pages, re-glue it using the double fan method, insert cords into the spine, rebind it as a hardcover book, and reattach the original covers.
For more on a basic introduction to case binding, see my series below: • Case Binding
My video on making the paste used in this project:
• Making Bookbinding Paste
My video on page repairs:
• Mending Paper Tears
My video on perfect (double fan) binding:
• How to Bind a Perfect-...
Cigarette papers also make an excellent medium for repairing torn pages. It adheres well and is clear that does not interfere with the text and is strong. I have used it many times on tears.
Probably a matter of which brand of cigarette paper you are using. My guess is you're using blue Ritzla, which tends to be transparent. Not thicker paper like Canuma or Gizeh...
@@orychowaw Tell me you smoke weed without telling me you smoke weed
Hahaha
Wow! That was fun! Beautiful restoration .
That was terrific. One of the least ego driven tutorials I have seen on this topic.
Simply outstanding.
Thanks so much.
I really enjoyed it as well😊
You sound like a gentle soul and a pleasant person, its odd but I can watch your videos for hours explaining binding methods for nothing but the relaxing feeling I get from them ☺️
Lol... I SO MUCH CONCUR! See my lengthy post above. She's a gem😉
Thank you so much for the refresher course! I just ordered a book and it arrived in terrible condition. I complained and got a refund and they told me to keep the book so I'm going to rebind it with your tutorial.
I have wanted to bind my paperback set of Harry Potter books. They are very worn and I’ve taped the covers back together in the past. They are special to me and I haven’t got the heart to replace them. Definitely will be using this video to help me repair and bind them.
I am thinking about doing that too with the preloved Narnia book I've got hehe
I am so glad to have stumbled on your channel. I am also in South Africa and I'm sure you know the state of the textbooks our kids are supposed to work with! Every year I have at least one textbook to McGyver together again and always return the textbook in a much better condition than what my kids received it.
Your diligence in preserving this precious book was heartwarming...
So happy to happen on this helpful how-to. I have several paperbacks worth preserving in this way. Your choice of book, one of fifteen million copies sold, is laudable; you do Alan Paton a great honour.
This is awesome! I too am a South African and I am getting into bookbinding.
How's it going, 6 months in?
@@custerranch Sadly it has slowed down somewhat. I got really busy at work and have not had the chance for the last month to work on this. I'm hoping to have some time in the next two weeks or so to carry on with it.
Are you a bookbinder?
Wish I'd seen this sooner after it was first posted. I use a similar method to re-bind paperback books, and have a couple of suggestions. One, when cutting into the spine for cords, cut at an angle of 45 degrees or even shallower to help lock the cords in place. Also, I use a much finer saw, not hard to get, I got mine at the local hardware store; it has a thin and somewhat flexible blade intended to make flush cuts in woodworking. Also, many paperbacks, at least here in the U.S., are bound using hot-melt glue, so it can be useful to use a heat gun (carefully!) to soften it and remove both the cover and the glue. I scrape the softened glue off with an old butter knife. Another thing is the clamping. I made clamps with pieces of 1x3 lumber, held together with carriage bolts and wing nuts, much easier to use than C-clamps (or, I believe, G-cramps in the UK).
My problem with carriage bolts and wing nuts is that I don't have a drill!
You are amazing! I wish more people were interested in saving and protecting the world's precious books. I'm trying to learn in small steps myself. I'm not ready for this level but I'm glad to know it's here when I am. Thank you so very much for posting it. 💙
Wish I came across this posting earlier.I am confident I can have a try at bookbinding of a damaged paperback. Thank you for the very clear and easy to follow guidelines.I look forward to learn more.
Thank you for sharing this practical step-by-step process. I think I'm confident now to tackle rebinding a paperback book similar to the one you just did. It doesn't seem so scary after all. I really appreciate your videos!
You're welcome, and good luck with your project!
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Grrt thanks for your from egypt realy be informed the best pepol is the usifual for anather pepole great thank you im love rebuliding the old books
Greetings! The book as we know it today was born in your beautiful country. Enjoy your book repair and book binding adventures; you echo the skills of your ancestors. Ma’a salama
Thanks. I have a number of perfect bound books that are falling apart, and I was trying to find some way of improving the binding and recovering them. This is exactly what I was looking for. So many are just taking the backing of a good perfect bound book and using that for the spine of the hardcover. Many, especially the older Puritan Paperbacks series, have a poor-quality perfect binding with no super or stitching.
Wow!! I was always told that if you reinforce a paperback book with strings like this, you will lose so much of the gutter that it might make it very difficult to read, but it looked completely normal after you did it!
Thanks for your comment! I think you may be thinking of overcast stitching, which is sometimes used, but eats up the margin and doesn't open flat.
Such a good, simple idea! Glue the boards to a little strip of paper. Nice, straight pencil lines to follow, nothing goes all wibbly wobbly when you add the cover cloth. Very nice. Thank you for the tip.
Thank you very much - for all the videos, not just this one. I could profitably spend a year or so consolidating various books from the collection which are of the age where they're starting to fall apart as soon as you read them. At present I'm in a race with a book which may well self-destruct before I finish.
All bookbinding information is interesting, and it seems that everybody has their own nuances and something new to say. A subject which doesn't get as much attention as one might expect is titling for hobby binders who are not in a position to commit to gold blocking. I can turn my hand to gilding and wood engraving, both of which offer possibilities without being especially practical options ... it would be very instructive to hear your thoughts for approaches which go beyond the pasted paper label without getting to hot foil one day.
I actually followed that tutorial but as an absolute amateur of course. What I did differently was I printed the inside if the cover (containing the author information) on the sheet i used for the end paper and in the end I covered the whole thing with transparent contact paper because I was afraid my covers will peel off. Thanks for the idea. I really didn't want to throw my book and thanks to you I saved it. ❤
I can bindge watch this...❤
I have just found your channel and very much enjoy watching you work and learning your techniques. Thank you for sharing.
Excellent work! I really enjoyed this video. Makes me appreciate books even more. Thanks for sharing.
I enjoyed this very much when you first put it out, but I haven't heard anything new from you for a while - I hope you are hale and hearty! Greetings from UK.
wow thank you so much for this lovely wholesome in depth tutorial - can't wait to finally fix my notebook!
Also first time seeing this string method - super stoked to try that out! i was thinking it might reinforce even more if they would be glued to the sides and perhaps flattened with a bonefolder so that there is more surface to the paper with the glue? probably then has to be glued on thicker paper.
Very interesting and enjoyable to watch. I think I would like to go on a bookbinding holiday course 😊
VEREY VEREY VERY VEREY VEREY VEREY VEREY THANK YOU .😊
Thank you for the string demonstration. I'm doing that to my book. It's ok if the book is flat, rather than the traditional curved spine because seperate signatures and a cable thread holding them together allows for the more extreme angle of bend when the book is opened. Simulating that curved spine on a rigid glued paperback binding only increases the wear and tear. Theres a reason why paperbacks have flat spines.
That was fascinating. Thank you. First time I’ve seen one of your videos. I happy to subscribe. Thanks again.
Hello from Australia! I have so many books I have wanted to repair, and you have given me the confidence to start. Can't wait to watch the rest of your videos.
Thank you for this! I have so many well-loved books that are falling apart and this is exactly what I need
Thank you. I learned a lot here.
Nice video. Thank you. I've found that brown paper painted with Indian ink also makes a nice black paper for book covers. It's waterproof and has a bit of a sheen to it, which I quite like.
I have a large sized book where the binding for the pages is still holding, but the cover (front back and spine) fell off from what I can only guess is age. While this still seems slightly intimidating to do; knowing that I have this guide makes things so much easier. Especially when I look at the pile of other books needing attention as well.
Hello, I am new here and I have a question: is there any way of reinforcing a paperback cover if I want to keep using it as a paperback (thus not converting it into a hardcover), while it is in rather good shape but generally used, and a bit worn in the corners, for instance? I would rather not use plastic films, that I have seen in some videos on other channels. I have made some tests with applying tissue paper or tissue on the whole inside part of the cover, but I am not very pleased with having to use these on large areas; I guess these materials are rather for mending tears, for instance. If you already covered the topic in a video, please let me know where to look.
PS: I really like your channel and I find it very useful, I made my first book project (repair a paperback and convert it into a hardcover) using your tutorial! Thank you!
This process works very well to bind your school or collage notes that you need to keep.
Excellent information as always. Watching and listening to you is also immensely relaxing. Thank you again!
Thanks for your kind words - I'm pleased it was helpful!
Brilliant. Exactly what I was looking for! Thank you so much for making this video.
I do like you "acrylic leather" cover. My daughter showed me a similar technique to produce what she describes as "vegan leather": you take your supermarket bag paper and gently wash it in tepid water to which hair conditioner has been added. This makes it supple enough to scrunch up into a ball. Smooth it out and let it dry. Dip a paper towel in boot polish and lightly dab it over the crests.
You get a crinkly, suede like finish so not suitable for mounting the original covers but with a light finish of burnished beeswax it looks quite effective.
While I haven't watched the video on the acrylic leather, one technique I've picked up from costuming that I've had a lot of success with is taking a thin sheet of craft foam and roughing it up with a scrunched up ball of tin foil (ideally with some heat from a heat gun or hairdryer, to help better lock in the texture), then giving it a light coating of a very watered down PVA glue. From there you can paint it with acrylics to simulate leather, give it a final PVA coat to protect the paint, and you'll have a pretty convincing faux polished leather. It's also surprisingly durable, as the thin PVA glue seeps pretty deeply into the foam.
Revisiting this after a year to remind myself of the process. May I suggest that instead of tearing the pages from the text block which risks ripping a page you remove the cover and then, using your yellow handles knife with an extended blade, slide it between the pages towards the glued spine - much in the same fashion that you trimmed off the ends of the bool bands.
This is what I really wanted
Thank you for sharing.
Von Brazil.
Good job 👍
What a fabulous channel. I love books and saving them is always a priority. This particular video is such a lovely watch. Very skilful and I'm subbing your channel. Sending you best wishes from the UK🤗👍🏴🏴🏴
Lastly, any hint on making the vice boards with the raised edge on them? I'm sure a router would do it, but perhaps there's an easier trick you could share with us on how you made yours. Thanks again.
P.S. I also love the way you aim the entire process at the beginner but are always careful to mention there are other ways to do various steps you've mentioned.
Thanks you very much! Very clear and practical
As an added protection, you could have also burnished the novel's covers with a little bee's wax for a little sheen and moisture protection...very nice work
Amazing job! Such a good tutorial :)
No doubt..i have seen this whole video..you are so explicit with clear and easy steps. I love books and im surrounded with the scent old books...in my opinion your explanation is best on youtube..can you tell me which glue you use pls..many thanks
20.00 time mark is the most clever way I've seen.
Beautiful
Thank you
Thanks so much for this. I have a question, perhaps odd, perhaps not. If I wanted to bind a book of original artwork that I made over time, on the same sized paper,, as a special gift, say 40-50 pages, would you advise using this method, or have you posted a different method that I missed? I've looked at several videos on RUclips, and so far this seems the closest to what I imagine I would need to do. Thanks in advance! I really enjoyed watching this process!
I am really enjoying your videos! Could I ask, what is the advantage of "tipping in" (?) the end pages instead of binding them in with the rest of the pages? Is it just to facilitate easier adjustment of the alignment if necessary?
Great job. Thank you.
very useful
Obrigado por compartilhar este processo passo a passo prático. Acho que agora estou confiante para refazer a encadernação de um livro de bolso semelhante ao que você acabou de fazer. Afinal, não parece tão assustador. Eu realmente aprecio seus vídeos!
Good video thanks
thank you
thanks .
Hi! Thank you for making this video! What are the cords/string you used? Thanks again.
You're welcome. Any string should do, but preferably something cotton or organic (not sure that's the right word - basically not plastic or nylon) that takes glue well.
Thank you for the video... How can we fix if the paper bAxk spine is torn half?
Hi, I followed your video and made a large paperback into hardcover. It’s a little larger than a sheet of A4.
Didn’t have any problems doing it but a while later I’ve noticed that the top and bottom corners of the hardcover are starting to curve away from the book.
I’m thinking it’ll need repressing to get it flat again, but do I need to damp the book slightly to reactivate the glue or shall I just press it?
Thank you for such an instructive and informative series of tutorials. I am also based in South Africa, and wish to find out where I could locally purchase some basic bookbinding materials such as Wubelin, bone folders, PVA glue and mull. So keen to try bookbinding as a hobby.
Same here, also been looking locally
On the torn pages, I have taken a tiny amount of glue on the edge of the tear and glued it closed, without added paper in top and it held well.
I have a scrabble dictionary to repair. I was just going to stick the part that came adrift back onto the softcover but I think it will come apart again. So I think I need to take it apart and put it into a hardcover. Doing an Oxford hollow would be best? Should I also do the string on the spine?
Great video....please to more : )
Hello Macrina, I that term, "Perfect Bound". I cannot figure out why it is called that, because it is far from perfect. My book is relatively new, it came apart like a writing pad, though some pages were torn. At least your book is decades old. Mine - 2 years old. 🙄
I learnt from another bookbinder, use a water-dampened cotton tip and carefully run that along the dog-ear on both sides. What that does, is "relax" the fibres allowing the dog-ear to spring back by itself. It also reduces the risk of fracturing brittle paper. When it has dried, you can hardly tell if there was a crease ever there. It works brilliantly.
Beautiful result, that has transformed it from being a little more than waste paper into proper book again. If my book turns out anything like approaching your repair, I will be pleased. I know it won't be an easy job.
Weird how Penguin got the grain for the paper incorrect, but the covers were OK. 44:54
Thank you Macrina, for a literal step-by-step instruction for what I must do to fix my book.
Thank you, and thanks for that tip on the dog ears - I think I've heard about it, but never tried it. And perfect bound books (and publishers who couldn't be bothered about grain direction!) are often infuriating!
@@AnnesiBindings Macrina, another of my paperback maths books are badly made. Not long after getting them from new as a set, the cover started creasing up. I'd never seen long creases down the cover like that and wondered why, since I didn't deliberately do it. Then I saw your video then a few others and the penny dropped. Another thing about these books, the quality of the print is poor. It's not a consistent density, with some pages lighter than others. This probably annoys me more than the cover. They are facsimiles of American books, made in Asia.
It's really infuriating when books are badly made and there's nothing one can do about it!
@@AnnesiBindings I have three of these books by Hodder & Staunton. The trigonometry book is the one in pieces, but looking at the Algebra book, that one is "fragile" and I've only just started using it. 😒 This is what has prompted me to actually do book maintenance in a more serious way. Purchasing these books again, isn't an option, because replacements will do the same thing as what I have now.
'Perfect' for the publishers. If it breaks quick enough, you may go out and buy another one!
Could you use something like a blow dryer to melt the glue?
Yes, you can. I just didn't have one handy, so I came up with this.
i enjoy your videos and found them very helpful. please keep them coming. will you be doing videos on using leather?
Is it the same process whe it comes to a thicker book?
After one has the pages freed from the original binding, is there anything one can do about the acidity of the paper? Can it be treated somehow?
i couldn't find PVA GLUE so i decided to use White Glue, IS IT WORKING ?
4:50- I was wondering why my dog was barking outside lol
Great!
Wont wheat paste mold?
Clever hands
Please show the type of glue that the previous video used
It would be AWESOME if you could provide links to the specific PVA glue and anything else we would need for book binding....thanks! :)
Please show the glue and the link to get it
It was fun watching you work with South African materials! You got an amazingly good result with the Spar bag painted with acrylic. Was it Dala brand? I’m so glad you saved those lovely classic Penguin covers
20:00 it looks like a white centipede
I'm sorry if I missed it but why do you need to put string in the spine of hardcover book?
She said it was because the grain direction of the pages was wrong.
@@louise7176 Thank you.
This is very non-specific. How long should it dry?
Are you just relying on the endpaper strength for the hinges of the book?
You mean the way the majority of hard bound books are bound? Sure looks like it!
@@jeffreycrawley1216 Hardbounds are usually re-inforced with cloth tapes wrapping the spine and set into the boards.
@@davidwelsby8395 David, I did say majority . . . I took 10 books at random from my bookcases: 5 pre-WW2 and 5 post-war.
Of the pre-war ones only three had tape or mul cloth reinforcement between the endpapers and the boards - mind you the other two were Utility bindings.
Of the post-war books, none of them had any reinforcing including my heavyweight 2001 (can I really have had it 20 years?) edition of Collins Concise dictionary.
Cutting corners to save costs I suppose.
What kind of string did you use?
The kind of string was not specifically mentioned but I would assume something that isn’t elastic. Something that you cannot stretch so something a little bit more firm. Perhaps something the thickness of twine so not too thin and brittle but not too sick either. Perhaps go to your craft store and test it out. Buy a few different types of string and figure out which one is best. Hope this can maybe help even though I don’t have an exact answer sorry I meant to say THICK
How appropriate using a fishing knife, you are scaling and etc.. just like you would a fish, except you wouldn't put the fish back together, haha. What glue just for a weakly glued cover on a new paperback ??? JSTN from Chicago
I dislike! She spends so much time speaking details and details, and detais about things not so important. The fases really interesting she accelerates the video. It is lacking the list of materials.
Just an amateurish odd job...
the book i want to rebind is also a penguin books one, and has an almost identical cover (its The Picture of Dorian Gray, edition from 1950) lol 😂