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Old bookbinder at the estate sale told me my thread was too thick, he was spot on
Found a guy selling off his whole bindery setup at an estate sale outside Richmond. He saw me buying some linen thread and told me I was using the wrong gauge for my endbands. I ignored him at first, but a week later I tried his thinner thread on a restoration job and the endbands laid totally flat. The difference was night and day. Anyone else got advice from an old timer that actually saved them time?
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claire_grant3416d ago
Buddy of mine runs a small frame shop, does some conservation work on the side. He told me this old book restorer came into his shop once and watched him hinge a print with that cheap document repair tape. The guy just shook his head and told him Japanese tissue and wheat paste was the way to go for anything that might need to come apart again. My friend blew it off for like six months thinking the old guy was just being fussy. Then he had to redo a whole batch of prints where the tape had yellowed and turned brittle and he couldnt get it off without tearing the paper. Finally switched to the tissue and paste and yeah, it takes a little more patience but you can reverse it a hundred years later no problem. That old bookbinder knew his stuff, sounds like yours did too.
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gavin36516d ago
Good on the old guy for knowing his craft, but isn't it a bit much to expect every hobbyist to use museum-grade materials for something that's just sitting in a frame on their wall? Half the time people are just trying to keep a kid's drawing from curling up, not preserve a national treasure.
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