THE (ALMOST) UNDELETED

I got this one a few weeks ago - I'm planning on reading at some point, but it's hard work to turn the pages and it makes painful noises when I do - I don't think it does the distorted 50-year-old binding any good at all.

He's been under my big pile of heavy art books for 2 weeks and it's made zero appreciable difference. I have a few old books like this - Is it possible to flatten them at all? - Any ideas?

Not much to be done with an old book in that condition. It probably got moisture in it along the way. If stacking bit shit on top of it does not help, then Im out of ideas. A book seller in our town has an old press for flattening old beat up books. You can barely see it in this photo. Its on the right on the counter, made of gray steel. Its got a wheel that compresses two plates together with a giant screw mechanism.

Other than that, there's not too much to be done.

Yeah - it definitely looks like it's been a bit damp at some point. Hmm - Might be worth bringing my clamps home from work and popping it between a couple of bits of wood for a few months then. (Reading slowly has benefits )

Cheers!

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Himachil wrote:Yeah - it definitely looks like it's been a bit damp at some point. Hmm - Might be worth bringing my clamps home from work and popping it between a couple of bits of wood for a few months then. (Reading slowly has benefits )

Cheers!

Sounds like the best idea. the problem is that the fibers of the paper have become warped and constricted due to water. That looks like a pulp fibre book, which has long fibers and makes the problem worse. Plus your shitty British binding methods dont help too much.

Seriously though, British editions are generally glued and not stitched, and spines are generally never reinforced. That makes this kind of damage more likely. American binders generally do a much better job at reinforcing in that area of the book.

Yes it is glued - it's not bad atm, but I reckon if I actually read it the pages will start to fall out.

Himachil wrote:Yes it is glued - it's not bad atm, but I reckon if I actually read it the pages will start to fall out.

Too bad. Damage like that is hard to fix, unless you go to a preserver and throw down.

Actually, is that an American book, or is it British?

Very British

It is a bit rare, but nowhere near enough to justify going to a professional or anything.

You like the old stuff, no?

The other week I picked up a few more 1940s tools, which are now at work in my 1950s toolbox.

And I've been using them

How did you guess

Just a shot in the dark.

Actually I have a collection of old tools too. I love my old hand drill more than my cordless ones, and I use hand saws more than I use chain saws, mostly because I can get anywhere with them.

Though, I have removed all the diseased trees in my back yard now, and will have to start planting soon.

Hey Himachil. How did the flattening of the book turn out?

Will let you know -

He's still at the bottom of a very heavy pile of oversize art books .. and will be there for some time

Not too hopeful though tbh - reckon the damage is water damage so the pages might have physically changed shape

Any luck with the book?

It's still under my art book's

Himachil wrote:It's still under my art book's

Your art book's what?

OH GOD GOD GOD!!! THE HORROR! THE HORROR!!! THE APOSTROPHIZED PLURAL!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!



Happens to the best of us.

Tell me about it - the last band I was in was unfortunately called The Butcher's Hand - even more unfortunate, dispite my repeated pleas to the other members, every shirt, sticker, website, you name it - they left out the apostrophy, making us a bunch of butchers handing someone something?

SandChigger wrote:OH GOD GOD GOD!!! THE HORROR! THE HORROR!!! THE APOSTROPHIZED PLURAL!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!



Happens to the best of us.

Since I picked up a cheep tablet Poor ebony-Hun been using hand-itsy recognition. the only poplin is -it's 2005 era Widows tp handwriting recognition... and my handwriting is petty untidy at the best of lines and especially when I'm trying to with quickly .

So -i the got an excuse this time _

It was the best of lines,
It was the worst of lines...

I'll bet if you stuck it under Hyppo's ass that it would be flatter than the day it was pressed.

Nekhrun wrote:I'll bet if you stuck it under Hyppo's ass that it would be flatter than the day it was pressed.

Good god man! I want to read it afterwards!

Nekhrun wrote:I'll bet if you stuck it under Hyppo's ass that it would be flatter than the day it was pressed.

It would probably come out lumpy and really, really moist.

And yet another thread devolves into a discussion of Hyppo's bum sweat....

That moisture probably is not entirely sweat, Chig.

Eeeeeeew!

(We need the puke smiley over here, too! QUICK!!!)

I think I'm going to have you guys' heads examined. y'all talk way too much about her.

Nah, this is the first time she's bobbed to the surface (Isn't it cool how some turds do that?) in ... months, isn't it?

SandChigger wrote:Nah, this is the first time she's bobbed to the surface (Isn't it cool how some turds do that?) in ... months, isn't it?

I knew I could get this thread going.

I finally got around to buying a proper bookcase for my increasingly unstable pile of art and gaming books today.

Red Planet has been at the bottom of said pile since May 2009 and it has made precisely bugger all difference.

I might thief some distilled water from work and try lightly dampening it - see if anything happens.

Be careful not to dissolve the glue in the binding. that'd be a real mess.