rcsaddles Report post Posted March 10, 2011 (edited) I had a lady bring me an old book missing it's cover. She wants me to make a leather cover. I have a few questions. First and foremost, will it decrease the value of the book if it is covered in leather? Not sure she is worried about that but I am. Second, I am thinking that I make the cover, including the title on binding and front cover, gouge the lines where it will fold and glue the spine of the book to the leather. Also any suggestions on what weight of leather would be helpful. I am thinking of 7-8 oz skirting leather. In other words,HELP!!!!!! Does this sound reasonable? I have not done one of these before and not sure what to do. As always, any and all suggestions are welcome and thank you very much for the help. God Bless Edited March 10, 2011 by rcsaddles Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ferg Report post Posted March 10, 2011 I had a lady bring me an old book missing it's cover. She wants me to make a leather cover. I have a few questions. First and foremost, will it decrease the value of the book if it is covered in leather? Not sure she is worried about that but I am. Second, I am thinking that I make the cover, including the title on binding and front cover, gouge the lines where it will fold and glue the spine of the book to the leather. Also any suggestions on what weight of leather would be helpful. I am thinking of 7-8 oz skirting leather. In other words,HELP!!!!!! Does this sound reasonable? I have not done one of these before and not sure what to do. As always, any and all suggestions are welcome and thank you very much for the help. God Bless My personal thoughts on this, I am sure you will get more ideas. If possible you need to make a lining that will accommodate some of the pages, front and back, that may not be real important to the contents. The lining would be stitched to the cover, the book held in place by the pages slipped into the lining. If you are not going to carve the cover, use a light weight (3/4 oz.) fine grade of leather, you can buy book binding leather. I would then consider gluing the cover to the spine of the book but only if there is none of the original spine left. Before starting something like this, read as much as you can on book binding and covering/recovering old books. There is a wealth of information about this subject on the Net. One last note: I wouldn't use anything heavier than 6/7 oz for the cover if you are planning to carve. ferg ferg Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rcsaddles Report post Posted March 11, 2011 Thank you ferg. I never thought about doing a web search. Yea, what was I thinking? I'll look in to finding more info. Again, thank you Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Somawas Report post Posted March 11, 2011 Don't do it, would be my advice. Or only do it in connection with a bookbinder. My ex-wife took some classes on bookbinding. It's a specialized craft in its own right. I'd let a bookbinder do it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
terix Report post Posted March 14, 2011 I agree, Somawas! If it's a valuable book, why not make a slipcase? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
