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Repairing a Book

It's usually behind-the-scenes librarian work, but for serious Bible students, there may come a time when repairing a book becomes practical.  

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Book repair and building new books are very similar, and once you've learned to do a full repair on a book, you'll realize that putting a completely new cover on a book, or adding a section to an existing book, follow the same basic process.

I'll try to go through a clear and simple process in detail, but for now, here's the resources you need to learn book repair yourself:

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One thing you'll quickly find that you need if you're doing a full repair is some kind of bookcloth.  If you'd like to make your own, here's a useful video that presents a simple method:  

And... to add a whole section (called a signature) of notes pages or additional resources, print them two pages to a sheet on the rag marker paper mentioned in the Bible Tips page.  Then fold the whole stack of sheets in half, trim to the size of your Bible, and follow this procedure:
 

This is a lot more practical to do at a point when your Bible needs repaired anyhow.  I envision someone who's used their Bible for a decade or so, has done their notes concisely and still run out of space and has probably added as many notes pages as the spine can take.  While they are repairing their Bible, they decide to add a section for additional notes, possibly including some printed resources like maps, diagrams, etc.  And they are willing to put some time and effort into the repair. 

A note: If you're adding a signature, consider the effect it will have on your covers.  If you're doing a "full repair", i.e. the back cover or front cover has become completely disconnected and must be reattached to the outer section, you can make the whole thing fit the new width of the spine.  If your set of covers are still attached to one another, however, consider the effect of increasing the width of your text block. 

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