FAQ’s-Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some of the most common questions we hear from our customers. Remember, no question is too small if you don’t know the answer. 
1. Do I have to pay in advance or can I pay after the work is done?
2. What do you call that part of the book where … ?
3. Can I have the genealogical records from our Family Bible preserved?
4. Can I add some note pages to my Bible when it’s being rebound?
5. Can you turn a glued, paperback Bible into a sewn, leatherbound Bible?
6. Can you repair the tears on my bonded leather Bible?
7. Can you do wide yapps (extended edges) on a Bible?
8. Can you fix what my dog chewed up?
9. Can you do a rush job for my pastor?
10. What does it mean when a Bible has no copyright date?
11. Can you add some index tabs to my Bible?
12. Can I just have the spine replaced on a Bible?
13. Do you have an actual store that I can shop in?
15. Can you duplicate fancy design work on the covers of books?
16. Do you have Highland Goatskin?
17. Do you offer leather liners?
18. Can you do a cover with a snap or a zipper?
19. Can I reprint your articles on my website or blog?
20. Are you related to Haley’s Lock and Key in Lafayette?
If you don’t see your question on this page, e-mail us. We’ll get back to you promptly.
1. Q. Do I have to pay in advance or can I pay after the work is done?
A. The normal time sequence is that we would contact you just before we’re anticipating being ready to ship. We would make payment arrangements then, to give your payment time for processing.
We accept most major credit cards, PayPal, checks drawn on a U.S. bank, or money orders. We also now have a way to accept direct electronic transfers through Intuit PaymentNetwork, by the same trusted company that brings you Quickbooks and TurboTax. If you have a preference, let us know and we’ll make a note of it. If you would like to mail us a payment, you can do so at any time after approving the official estimate.
We are happy to begin work on your book or Bible with no up-front payment in most cases, except for leathers that must be special ordered, mostly Harmatan goatskin and kangaroo and leathers in which we do not stock all the colors.
Click here for ordering information.
Click here to make a payment with a credit card or direct transfer.
2. Q. What do you call that part of the book where … ?
A. Don’t worry if you’re at a loss for words when describing your book. We can usually understand. But if you need a short glossary of terms, you can visit our blog post on the subject. Pictures always help, too. You can e-mail them to us.
Click here to read our article about bookbinding lingo.
Click here to send us an e-mail and attach pictures.
Click here for a free quote, now that you know what it’s called.
3. Q. Can I have the genealogical records from our Family Bible preserved?
A. If the pages are becoming brittle and the edges are breaking off, of if the pages already have chunks missing, it’s sometimes better to have a good photocopy made and inserted before the information is lost for good. We can do this for you, and also make additional blank copies, all on acid-free archival quality paper, which will help you continue the tradition.
Click here to visit our Family Bible Restoration page.
Click here for a free quote to restore your family Bible.
4. Q. Can I add some note pages to my Bible when it’s being rebound?
A. Yes, we can add pages in the front and / or pages in the back, up to four in each place (eight writing surfaces), on archival quality paper.
Click here for a free quote for rebinding with note pages added.
5. Q. Can you turn a glued, paperback Bible into a sewn, leatherbound Bible?
A. Well, that sounds like turning straw into gold. We can usually take a paperback Bible and give it a leather cover, but there are a few considerations.
First, the paper used in a paperback Bible can be anything from a higher-quality paper to a cheap pulp paper. Obviously, we would get better results if the quality of the paper is better.
Second, we do not stitch Bibles, but we do use a form of repair called cord insertion, where we insert glue-soaked binding cords into the spine at 45 degree angles, which strengthens and repairs it for the long haul. It works equally well on glued spines and spines with broken sewing.
Finally, if your Bible has very little inside margin, or if you have made lots of notes there, you should understand that this repair does take up a little of the that margin space, though we try not to make the insertion too deep.
We do want you to have a good, long-lasting relationship with your Bible, and if we can take your worn-out copy and give it a resurrection so that you’ll read it more often, we’ve succeeded.
Click here for a quote to convert your Bible from a paper softcover to a leatherbound softcover.
Click here to see our Bible rebinding categories and browse our leather recommendations.
6. Q. Can you repair the tears on my bonded leather Bible?
A. Bonded leather is a composite material made of 70% leather fibers (leather dust) and 30% glue. Once it begins to disintegrate, it is not really repairable. We may be able to shore up a spine tear so that if used delicately your Bible will last till the recession is over, but we can’t resurrect this material. We generally would recommend a genuine leather replacement cover.
Click here to see our video on leather strength.
Click here to see our page on what’s so good about genuine leather.
Click here for a free quote to rebind your Bible in genuine leather (or imitation leather /cloth).
7. Q. Can you do wide yapps (extended edges) on a Bible?
A. We can extend the edges of the new cover to about 3/8″ or 1/2″ at most, beyond the page edges (usually that would be a semi-yapp). We do not guarantee the exact measurements, nor whether the cover will fold down over the pages. This works better with some leathers than with others.
Click here for a quote for a Bible rebinding with extended edges.
8. Q. Can you fix what my dog chewed up?
A. How much did he swallow? Fortunately, most dogs like the covers better than the pages. They would rather feed on the leather than on the Word. Replacing the cover is not a problem.
If we need to replace pages, we will look for a breaker copy of the same edition as your Bible in order to borrow pages and replace the chewed ones.
Click here for a free quote for repairing dog damage.
Click here to send us an e-mail with pictures of the Bible attached.
9. Q. Can you do a rush job for my pastor?
A. Yes, we love to help pastors and missionaries. A Bible is the tool of their trade, and we know how important it is to have their Bible back quickly. As much as possible, we will try to do a rush job for the pastor, but it needs to be with a leather we have in stock, and hopefully not a special project with complex specifications.
Click here to see what we can do for a Bible to repair or restore it.
Click here for a free quote to rush a Bible for a pastor.
10. Q. What does it mean when a Bible has no copyright date?
A. This means there was no reason for to copyright the material. For Bibles, this would most likely be a King James or earlier translations, where the copyright has long expired and the text has become public domain.
Click here for a quote to restore an older Bible.
Click here to see our Historical Bible Rebinding styles.
11. Q. Can you add some index tabs to my Bible?
A. We do not drill the fore-edge of your Bible to index it, but we can replace the little half-moon shaped thumb tabs if you’ve lost some of them.
Click here for a quote to repair or rebind your Bible and replace the thumb tabs.
12. Q. Can I just have the spine replaced on a Bible?
A. Not on a softcover Bible. The flexing of the cover makes it difficult to keep the old leather firmly attached to the new leather. Now, if you have a hardcover Bible, that’s not a problem; usually the answer would be “yes.”
13. Q. Do you have an actual store that I can shop in?
A. We have a shop that we can store in! Actually, we have our for-sale books in the shop, and all the leathers and equipment for bookbinding housed there. You’re welcome to make an appointment and drop by if you would rather deliver your books than mail them, or if you’d like to feel and smell the leathers before making a decision. Note: It’s better not to try to find us using a GPS. If you can get to Burrows, give us a call on your cell phone when you arrive here, and we’ll stand in the road and wave at you. 
Click here to e-mail us and make an appointment to come by.
Click here for a free quote for your book or Bible repair or restoration project.
14. Q. Can you make slip cases?
A. It’s not our favorite thing to do, but yes, we can make slip cases for hardcover books. We would need exact dimensions or the book in hand to do it.
Click here for a free quote to build a slip case for your hardcover book.
15. Q. Can you duplicate fancy design work on the covers of books?
A. Rarely can the original artwork be actually duplicated. But we do have some nice tools and can create something appropriate for the period, sometimes pretty close to the original.
Click here for some pictures of books we’ve done with artistic tooling.
Click here for a free quote on restoring a book with a period look.
16. Q. Do you have Highland Goatskin?
A. We do not have Highland goatskin, but we do have several soft-tanned, natural grained goatskins that are both soft and flexible. For more information, please see our blog post on the subject.
Click here to see the blog post on Highland goatskin.
Click here for a free quote to rebind your Bible in soft-tanned premium goatskin.
17. Q. Do you offer leather liners?
A. We use standard leatherette as end pages when we rebind a Bible. However, sandwiched in between the leather cover and the leatherette end page, hidden from view, is a very important part — the interior liner. We can use a special fiber interior liner to keep the new cover of your Bible from becoming too stiff. If you want maximum flexibility, request the FeatherLite interior liner and make sure you see it on the official estimate. (No extra charge!)
Click here to see pictures of flexible Bibles.
Click here for a free quote to rebind your Bible using our special FeatherLite interior liner.
18. Q. Can you do a cover with a snap or a zipper?
A. We can do a snap closure, but not a zipper. Snaps are not recommended for all leathers.
Click here for a free quote for a snap closure.
Check out the tab closure on our 19th Century Circuit Rider style.
19. Q. Can I reprint your articles on my website or blog?
A. Yes, you may reprint them with credit given and a link to our home page. We would encourage that. Let us know if you do.
Click here to write us about your link.
20. Q. Are you related to Haley’s Lock and Key in Lafayette?
A. No. They are the Irish Haley’s and we are the English Haley’s.
Click here to write Eric about genealogy, especially if you’re a long lost relative.
If you don’t see your question on this page, e-mail us. We’ll get back to you promptly.
You can also visit our favorite links page for other resources.