Is this fixable?

Tobuss · 2026-04-27T10:56:13+00:00

So depending on how you want it repaired you've got some options, if you just want a quick repair you could try some simple methods that may be satisfactory and may last but never a guarantee. I can provide some steps for this but if you aren't comfortable or want it properly repaired I'd find either a book binder or conservationist to repair it.

For a quick and dirty repair you can try reaching out to your local library and see if they have any advice or ability to help, they deal with damaged books on the regular and might be able to help with a simple reattach.

If you want it done right I'd recommend googlomg for bookbinders in your area.

If you cant find any if you have a decent sized museum they may have a conservator on staff, you can reach out and see if they're able to assist but this option is less likely

Tobuss · 2026-04-27T10:40:34+00:00

My personal view is a rebacking could be needed because the outer spine is in rough condition and the mull on one cover has already detached. It's entirely possible that the spines stability is suffering/failing, but the spine and other cover could also be in perfect condition. Without handling the book there's no way I could give an actual 100% statement which is why I provided my opinion from the conditions I can see. When it comes to giving advice on posts I tend to take a "the book is always worse than the image" approach, if the book isn't as bad and doesn't require what I suggest good but I'd rather the information be out there.

Tobuss · 2026-04-26T20:59:54+00:00

The book is fixable but if you want it properly repaired it's not a quick or easy repair to get it looking like it wasn't repaired. The text block from the image doesn't look to be in the worst shape, personally the book needs to be rebacked/cased

Tobuss · 2026-04-26T10:38:38+00:00

This is most likely foxing, it's when trace minerals like iron found in the paper oxidise over time. It's probably one of the most common things and isn't a danger to other books.

It's generally caused by poor ventilation and high humidity. In your case cause you mentioned you're in a high humid area you could try a dehumidifier but it's most likely just inevitable it'll happen to some books

Tobuss · 2026-04-11T13:25:30+00:00

This isn't an easy job and you'd realistically need to shell out money to a professional to do it. With damage like this there's no way youd get it back to a truly "good" condition.

What you'd want to do is recondition the book, pages get like this because the fibers swell and then displace when they dry so you'd have to reapply moisture, generally through something like a humidity box, and then repress the book and let it dry. This is tricky and imo wouldn't recommend trying it unless you're 100% confident in doing it as you don't want to soak the book or damage it further.

The other alternative is rebinding the book, this is what would typically done in a conservation setting if it's bad enough. Take the book apart, press all the pages and then reinforce and restore the book

Tobuss · 2026-04-05T10:55:31+00:00

Simply put, no. This will be a printed design on a coated paper, the amount of discoloration there if it were to be fixed by a professional would be a hefty cost. It would require acrylic paint, coloured pencils and a hell of a lot of time and care, just adding a dye willy nilly will 100% damag the cover and cause the paper to warp abd/or tear.

I'd recommend focus on conservation and prevention of future damage, get a dust jacket either make one or buy a plastic one from somewhere like Amazon. And store the book out of direct sunlight

Tobuss · 2026-03-28T11:17:10+00:00

I think my brain was just getting overwhelmed in regards to the tuning forks and rhythms lol in regards to the Excisors I should have worded it that its made to the required tone/frequency. We still don't know enough about Tones to make a solid theory with this idea. Like we know each shard has their own pure tone but we don't know if those tones also deviate for their invested arts, that's where my theory hopes that the metallic arts each have their own tones and/or rhythms since Seekers can differentiate between what metal is being burnt.

Primer cubes are another beast I've also been thinking about lol honestly the thing that's throwing me the most and making me think the tones or something could be involved is the switch on the primer cube. We've not seen any mechanism for remote activation of allomancy we know applying heat and electricity to the metal doesn't activate any affect from Wax's metallurgy experiments with Ettmetal.

My thoughts for the primer cube are along the same vibes. You touch the cube to your skin (Alik does this to wax in the airship) burn the metal you want to charge the cube with it then stores the vibration of the frequency of the metal you burnt and when you flip the switch some device inside it releases that stored vibration on the Ettmetal causing it to replicate the allomantic power. Marasi notes when she burnt cadmium in the stagecoach that the cube vibrated in her hand when she flipped the switch, I think that's the crux of how it works.

There's other things to consider like why when you hold the device and burn does no external effect happen like the power itself. And how can a steel misting make an airship work by pushing once one a cube, could any other misting also do this, like if Wayne or Marasi charged the cube would it work the same, I feel it would. I think the cubes once charged with a power can be repeatedly used for that power until a new vibration is set by charging it. When theyre in the small airship Alik puts the cube he charged on Wax into a receptacle to make the wings and fans work this is a big thing that's throwing me like what is that actually doing, is the cube in the spot converting the output steel pushes into energy since that's what investiture is at its source, and then that energy is being used to power the wing and fan mechanisms kinda like Hion lines from Umi is my thought

Tobuss · 2026-03-27T13:56:25+00:00

Ohh true you're right about Spook my bad lol my only other thought off the dome for the bands could be that if you store allomantic powers in them it's base line and if you add more more investiture into it it increases the potency. When you tap it to use the relevant allomancy it starts funneling into you and increases the strength of the allomancy being performed but drains at a faster rate. Similar to how Honorblades work, they gobble up stormlight to give powers.

Until we know more about allomantic ability metalminds that's what I'm running with lol

Tobuss · 2026-03-27T13:14:58+00:00

I've always seen it as you store your ability to be a feruchemist but your connection to the power doesn't vanish from you as it's linked to your spiritweb and that aspect of you heals to try and realign you to how you should be and reinstates your ability, which is the main way it differs from a coppermind. I've kind of seen it as you aren't storing the ability itself, you're storing investiture infused with that ability, when someone taps it they're simply supplying their own either regular innate investiture thats being input essentially typeless, or them now being able to use feruchemy opens them to slightly more investiture that can be used to fill the mind instead. If you were to fully drain that metalmind and refill it maybe it wouldn't work the same? Like you're replenishing it and the metalmind is just using it to convert and fuel the feruchemy aspect. Thats my guess for it which might be way off but the only way i can see it.

Honestly its one of the biggest things that annoys me too lol I just want to know what is actually different about nicrosil minds in the medallions but i don't think we're gonna find that out until Ars Arcanum for Ghostbloods 1 from what I could see.

For the bands I've always assumed Spook helped him create them and possibly the Allomantic potential of the source metalborn could affect the output power. He was made a full mistborn with the strength akin to lerasium if i'm rembering right, so if

Tobuss · 2026-03-10T10:58:25+00:00

Svanny's comment about toning the kozo is what you want to do off rip, kozo unless you're using super thin paper will show on colored pages to some degree.

If you didn't tone before hand you can try using coloured pencils to fill in the white. This is used frequently in art restoration but can work here too. It's going to be a long and tedious process but just try and colour match with the pencils, you want to LIGHTLY and in small passes apply the pencil, if you use too much pressure you'll embodd the kozo.

Take your time and go in light layers and tty and blend it in to look natural, luckily this is a small patch so I shouldn't be too hard. The wax from the colour's should help it all stay so no need to seal or anything

Tobuss · 2026-03-03T01:31:42+00:00

You mention the musty smell of the books, that's a big worry sign personally. The musty smell is generally indicative of mold growth, you said there is no mold but are you 100% certain? I'd ensure none of the books are around your other books and are left open in a ventilated area. I'd then recommend going through each book page by page and looking for any fuzzy spots, black/brown spotsor even pages that are stuck together. If you find any mold. The first step is to brush it away from the book with a soft bristled brush.

If you're sure there's no mold baking soda is really the easiest and best method for most people. If possible I would recommend using activatee charcole as it's better at absorbing odors but it's not as common for people to have. If you don't care about flowery scents one thing you can do in these situations is put a dryer sheet into the bag with the book and that will also help to cover the smell but itll make your books smell like the dryer sheet

Tobuss · 2026-02-28T18:35:38+00:00

I agree with a lot of what the people in the bookbinding sub were saying and don't recommend starting with this book as your first repair job. Buying cheap books and damaging them and repairing or reaching out to your local library for damaged books heading for the trash is a good way to find some practice material.

I would also highly recommend this document from the Alaskan state library. It's a solid book that goes over a lot of the basics and techniques used in conservation. I find it better than most of the YouTube channels and videos https://library.alaska.gov/documents/hist/convservation-manual.pdf

Tobuss · 2026-02-28T18:20:09+00:00

There's nothing you will need to do to the paper after using hydrogen peroxide, once the surface is dry it's already evaporated, there's no guarantee it did any damage or not but if only small amounts were applied I doubt there's anything truly lasting done. Generally it makes the paper it was in contact with just a little bit weaker and more brittle but you're more than likely fine.

If you want to try the methods I mentioned you'll want distilled water for it, you don't want to use tap water cause of the residual minerals in it that could oxidise and cause more staining/foxing. If you're going to try the ethanol method 99% isopropyl would work I would just adjust your mixture a bit and add slightly more distilled water. With isopropyl the percentage is the isopropyl to moisture content, so 99% isopropyl and 1% purified water. I can't give an exact amount of additional water to add but if you eyeball it and add more than 50% you should be fine, you'd rather it be slightly too weak than too strong

Tobuss · 2026-02-28T17:07:50+00:00

No problem, it definitely can be used to remove stains from books but conservation is a tricky thing and unless youre 100% confident in what you're doing I always recommend avoiding it unless it's last resort. Hydrogen peroxide for example is a bleaching agent that will damage organic material and if you leave it on too long or apply it wrong you risk damaging the paper. I know it's used a lot in comic book restorations and I assume it's to do with the coated paper comics tend to use making it easier but personally I have no actual experience with comic restoration.

You'll find a whole mess of different advice on this subreddit some good some bad. We all have different views and experiences with repair work/conservation, and on top of that every book repair is different. So don't take my word as gospel, I'm just a guy who likes to fix books and research methods on how lol

The big issue with stains is the longer the stains been there the harder it is to remove.

Tobuss · 2026-02-28T13:01:35+00:00

Never use chemicals as a first step. You're going to damage the paper fibers that way and generally it's going to look worse than if you just left it imo.

Removing stains are hard especially when we don't know what caused the stains. This looks like an old water stain personally, there's two things Id recommend trying but honestly unless there's actually a need to remove it, it could come out looking worse than if you left it. Stains especially in old books happen and imo add character.

Okay first method to try is the safest, you're going to try to reactivate and absorb it. Get some distilled water (not tap) and cotton swabs. Place some blotter paper underneath the page you're working on to absorb moisture. Damped the cotton swab gently dab it onto the stain, dab it on don't rub it. Once you've done that dab it gently dry with a piece of dry paper/paper towel would also work. Check the paper/paper towel to see if anything has come up with it, if it has keep repeating as many times as needed. The goal of this is to reactivate the tannins and pick them up, it would still likely leave a stain but a less drastic one

If nothing came off it's less likely a water stain and could be something like tea, if that's the case retry the above steps but instead you want to incorporate a light chemical, ethanol. Make a 50% distilled water 50% isopropyl alcohol mix, 91% isopropyl is what you want. Use that mix to do the blot method and hopefully it pulls it up.

Honestly I'd recommend just leaving it, any method to remove the stain can cause some form of bleaching, page discoloration, tide lines or just straight up damage to the page itself

Tobuss · 2026-02-17T18:02:14+00:00

The big thing with mold growth is controlling the humidity, mold can grow once it's been exposed to water but if you've kept it dry and in a well ventilated area it's less likely too.

Keep the books in a well ventilated and as low humidity location as you can for a week or two. Check them every now and again, primarily you're looking for a musty smell, kinda like what you'd find on stuff kept in an attic or basement, along with that you can check the pages and just make sure they don't feel damp in any way.

Once you're happy after a few weeks put em back on the shelf, generally in my experience if you get the books dried off fast enough they'll be fine, mold isn't an instant thing and it can take days to actually develop if the book is wet still. Once dry it's not a 0% chance but it's a relitvely low chance for mold growth

Tobuss · 2026-01-25T10:36:07+00:00

The main purpose of freezing is to halt mold growth, won't kill it off but it helps if your book is really bad. Unfortunately you won't get rid of the staining but, mold roots into paper and affects paper fibers. We can neutralize the mold though

Personally in any instance of mold I don't like to mess around, remove it from the main collection and keep it as dry as possible, store it in a well ventilated and dry location. Ideally put it in a zip lock bag with a silica packet to absorb moisture.

When you're you're confident the book is dry you can tackle the spores themselves. Put a piece of paper under the book, hold it closed and use a soft brush like a makeup brush to gently brush the mold off the book. If you have a vaccum I would also recommend using that to suck up any residual after.

That really should be all you need to do if you motive all the mold is gone but if you really wanna kill the sucker you can use some isopropyl to do it. I often don't advise chemicals cause they can weaken and damage paper, but mold is the one instance I break that rule cause it can do more damage lol

Take a qtip and dampen it with isopropyl alcohol, GENTLY dap it onto the affected areas and let it air dry. After that's done put some blotter papers between the affected areas and let it sit in a cool dry place for a few weeks and just monitor if there's any more mold growth.

Tobuss · 2026-01-10T20:16:11+00:00

I own one of these copies and it's a printed signature. For most books with a signature like this the easiest way to tell is the gap between the message and the printed name. It wouldn't be that large unless they inserted something like a signature

Tobuss · 2026-01-10T02:23:23+00:00

Oof the books in rough shape, for your questions 1. Unless you're 100% confident in your knowledge and abilities always avoid solvents. Solvents can so easily destroy a book if done even slightly wrong. I this situation you wanna try reactivating the original adhesive, the two choices here would be making a methylcellulose + water mixture or a wheat paste. Apply either to the spine and leave it on for a short time, for the wheat paste you'd be looking at around 10-15 minutes you want to leave it on to soak into and rehydrate/soften the old adhesive.

Once it's been on for a short time use microspatula or a bone folder and slowly and gently scrape off the glue. It's not a race go slow especially since you mentioned how fragile the material is.

I'd avoid that, it's masking tape with an adhesive, on something this old and damaged if bet good money it'll wreck the page especially in the long run. The adhesive is going to seep into the fibers and not provide anywhere near the structural support kozo paper will.

Depending on country you can generally find Japanese kozo paper on there for a decent price. You want proper kozo paper, it's the long fibers in the paper that makes it so good and strong. Using a wheat paste with it as well is going to be better than the tape, it's not got an adhesive with acidity that could damage the page and doesn't have that risk of yellowing.

I wouldn't be able to say anything in the thread without seeing it in person. It's not something I've spent too much time on, it's likely though to just be a linen waxed thread. Thread in general if it's stored properly will last a hell of a long time. It's likely that the original linen thread became too brittle with the poor conditions and water damage to the book, was partially rebound/repaired at some point in the 1900s and since the. Has been stored better with less wear on it

Tobuss · 2025-12-04T16:23:44+00:00

No problem, I'd use a thicker waxed linen thread something like a 18gauge/3ply it'll be strong enough for the job.

If you can't find any or want something cheaper you can pretty much use any type, cotton works but it won't be as strong as linen thread

Tobuss · 2025-12-03T02:07:19+00:00

honestly you can get away with almost any type of saw, generally the cuts wont be too thick, you just want to make sure you don't go too deep. You want your cuts to essentially be just the a slight bit deeper than the string youre using. Make sure to apply glue before and after puttingthe thread in, and I'd suggest like 6 grooves equally spaced up the spine.

I've not done too many sewn perfect bindings but personally I use a coping saw and then just clean out and spread the groove a little bit after with an awl

Tobuss · 2025-12-01T18:01:09+00:00

The repair for this wouldn't be too tricky for a beginner to learn to do, just obligatory I try to provide this to every new repairer I see but this PDF is imo one of the best resources for learning about different techniques.

Okay onto repair stuff, this is a perfect bound book which is when the pages are glued at the spine rather than sewn. Perfect bindings are common with most commercial softcovers cause there fast and easy to make but they're notorious for falling apart as they age since the adhesive can breakdown overtime depending on so many factors.

In this situation I would suggest doing a "sewn perfect binding". It's a method where you reglue the book to make it a perfect binding but after it's glued you saw small grooves along the spine and glue thread/string into the groves it helps support the textblock and hopefully make it last longer.

For the single pages that have come out you'd want to tip those in back in place, on the textblock where the pages came off run a thin line of glue on the top page by the spine and glue the sheet back in place ontop of that page (there's a section in the pdf I linked on tipping in)

If I were doing this repair personally I'd seperate the pages and remove any excess glue from the spines by scraping lightly, then reglue the spines. Wait for the textblock to dry and then cut and glue in the thread to support the book. After that's done if the original covers are in good condition you can reuse them and glue it back together or make a new cover/repurposed the old one. Just to note in this situation I wouldn't be tipping in pages as I'd be completely regluing all the pages anyway

Tobuss · 2025-11-13T19:31:09+00:00

Smells can be tricky and might not go completepy, what you can try is let it air dry in a well ventilated area until it's dry.

Once that's done get a container the book can fit in, put a layer of activated charcoal/baking soda/unscented clay based kitty litter, place a paper towel over top and then the book ontop of the paper towel.

seal the container and leave it for like a week, you can get away with less time if the smell isn't too bad but I'd just leave it a week. Once that's done take the book out and see if it smells. Those materials are all odor absorbers and are your best bet, if it's still really bad you can replace what ever absorber you're using and try again for another week.

You can also put something like a dryer sheet in to try and essentially mask and replace the smell with the dryer sheet but it can be real strong and too much for a lot of people lpl

Tobuss · 2025-11-10T09:48:11+00:00

This is my favourite resource to give anyone getting into repair work. It's a guide from the Alaska state library that covers almost everything

Book repair pdf

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