Damaged Book HingesREATTACHING PARTIALLY OR FULLY DETACHED SIGNATURES

Method 1:

  • Find the center of the signature and cut the sewing threads to release the pages.
  • If any of the leaves have separated, hinge them together with Japanese tissue to restore the complete signature.
  • Make sure the pages are in the correct order.
  • Tear a piece of Japanese repair tissue the height of the signature and about 3/4 - 1” wide.
  • Fold the Japanese repair tissue strip around the outside of the signature (there is no paste involved here).
  • Using thin thread, sew the signature to the repair tissue with a 3 or 5 hole pamphlet stitch.
  • Put a piece of waste paper on top of a piece of wax paper then put both between one side of the Japanese repair tissue and the separated text page.
  • Apply paste to one side of the folded repair tissue.
  • Position the repaired signature with its pasted repair strip into the text.
  • Close the book and let dry.
  • When the first half of the repair strip is dry, repeat on the second half of the repair strip.
The reattached signature may not sit into the text block exactly as it originally did. If the signature protrudes past the edges of the text block, trim the reattached signature to the correct size.