Removing the text block

It was odd and slightly cathartic taking a book apart. But here is the process at the beginning.

 

To start I needed to remove the pages from the less than adequate text block. As I mentioned in the first post here the pages of my paperback edition of The Hobbit had started coming off the binding in clumps. As I removed the cover I realized the binding was a hot mess. 

The glue was really thick and in some ways it was easy to remove the pages because of it. There were a fair number of pages with globs of glue so I had to find some kind of tool in the art closet to remove the glue from the edges of the page. I found a plastic tool with a flat side I used to scrap the glue off of the pages. Yay art closet!

 At the end of the book the last few pages were not just glued on the edges but also the glue had bled onto the pages them selves. Separating them was very difficult resulting in having to sacrifice the edges of a few. This left me with a reconstruction project to recover the page edges so they would someone match the existing pages. I used gift tissue paper and pva glue (I used Elmers) to recreate the pages edges.

 

Because the pages' inside edges won't be seen by the reader I wasn't too worried what they looked like. With this process I was able to give these once damaged pages some strength to then glue onto the text block as a whole.

The next step is the gluing of the binding back together. This is the first step to reinforcing the text block for binding. I then used two pieces of scrap paper, one for the front and one for the back to protect the book. 

Clamped into the press with the edges exposed I then used a paint brush to paint on the glue. This process was repeated twice after which the glue dried in between reapplication of the glue. This picture shows the rough edges and the binding after the last drying. The next process I'll add strings to make the binding even stronger. 

Full disclosure I am a complete novice at bookbinding. I used YouTube videos for the inspiration and know how. At the end of this project I'll share a post of those YouTube videos that most helped me on my first book binding adventure. As you can see, I'm not going into deep descriptions, as I feel you are best suited to watch the YouTube videos.