Three years ago I botched a leather spine repair so bad I had to start over from scratch

I was working on this old 1890s hymnal for a client in Portland. The spine was completely detached, leather was crumbling. I thought I could just glue it back and patch it. Nope. The glue bled through the endpapers, the new leather didn't match the color, and the whole thing looked like a mess. Client was not happy. Had to peel everything off, order new materials, and do it right the second time. Cost me an extra $60 in supplies and two weekends. Anyone else learn this lesson the hard way?

2 comments

2 Comments

dakota_nelson4326d ago

Have you ever thought about how the heat and humidity in your workspace might have made that glue bleed worse? When I was working on an old diary, I didn't realize my basement was too damp... the adhesive just wicked through the paper like it was thirsty. I ended up having to let everything dry out with a dehumidifier running for a day before I could even start over. That extra moisture probably softened the glue too, making it harder to control on that old hymnal.

willow40723d ago

Wait, you actually had glue wick through like that? That's wild. I figured that only happened with cheap craft stuff, not with a diary. So the dampness basically turned the adhesive into liquid? Man, I would've panicked if that happened to me. Good call on the dehumidifier though, I would've just made it worse by trying to wipe it off. How long did the whole drying out process take before you could touch it again?