Resurrecting old "perfect bound" books

[Chuck(G)]

Some of my old (yes, vintage) perfect-bound books are starting to have the bindings disintegrate, where the spine of the cover becomes detached and the spine itself begins breaking into parts.

What's the fix?

Right now, I'm trying some polyurethane glue between the spine and the cover, but I'm not sure how that's going to work out.

Any suggestions?

[patscc]

I wouldn't use Poly glue, if it's the stuff I'm thinking of, the stuff that sort of expands in volume.

Have you seen this ?
http://www.ehow.com/how_116103_repair-book.html

Acid-free glue comes from dirt-cheap to seriously expensive, Elmer's (Yes, the stuff you ate in kindergarden) makes a whole line, here's an example:

http://www.elmers.com/GlueGuide/detail.asp?id=82&source=EL&selMaterial1=&selMaterial2=&aid=11

Good luck.
patscc

[channelmaniac]

There are a lot of techniques to repair books - rice paper, rice glue, and more. My wife took a class in that at a local university. You might check to see if they have something at a university near you.

RJ

[Chuck(G)]

The site noted seems to refer only to traditional sewn-binding books, not softcover "perfect" bindings. Perhaps some acid free glue and some sort of flexible mesh?

A lot of old databooks and references are bound with perfect bindings.

[patscc]

Can you post a sample picture of the deteriation ?
I'm thinking something like the real thin fiberglash mesh tape Fibatape makes for drywalling. It's self sticking, which might help with application.

patscc

[Chuck(G)]

I'll try to get around to posting a photo this week. But yeah, the fiberglass sheetrock tape would be just the ticket. Stong and durable.

[Bill_Loguidice]

I've been seriously considering going to one of those office places and having them cut and rebind the spines so I can lay the books flat. I see no particular advantage to restoring a badly damaged book to original condition in my case.

[patscc]

[Chuck(G) said...fiberglass sheetrock tape would be just the ticket[/quote]
Coincidentally, the "white" kind they make is the thinnest they have. If you can't find it locally, PM me and I'll put some in a letter and mail it. I'm "remodeling", so I've gobs of the stuff.
patscc

[Chuck(G)]

I've been seriously considering going to one of those office places and having them cut and rebind the spines so I can lay the books flat. I see no particular advantage to restoring a badly damaged book to original condition in my case.

That's not a bad idea, and I've had the local Kinko's do that. But the paper has to be thick enough to take the treatment; a lot of my databooks use very thin paper--they'd tear out in an instant.