Coil bindings

Holly Huston Krueger <hkru [at] loc__gov> writes

>We are currently working on Martha Graham's copy of Aaron Copland's
>Appalachian Spring with her original choreography written on the
>score in graphite. It is in a binding which we are calling a "coil
>binding". That is a metal coil that threads through a set of holes
>on the "spine" edges of the paper. The structure is  like the
>familiar spiral notebooks. The volume is disbound and part of the
>coil is "sprung" and part is still intact. There are two opinions
>about the continued viability of the coil. Some feel that the coil
>could be rewound and threaded back through the paper text once it is
>repaired. Others feel that once the metal has been pulled out of its
>original shape, it cannot be put back due to the way it was
>manufactured (extruded). ...

I do not have experience with metal coil-bound objects but I do have
experience winding wire.  The metal can be re-wound successfully!
Most likely only the area that has been "sprung" can be re-wound
without disturbing the original spiral. You will need to use a
smaller diameter mandrel than the ID (inside diameter) of the
existing spiral because the wire will spring back as a result of a
combination of elastic and plastic deformation thus making the wound
ID larger than the mandrel ID. You will have to experiment to
determine the actual diameter of the mandrel to produce the required
ID. Call me if you need a consult.

Jim Moss
Horological Conservator
978-952-0070


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 17:34
                Distributed: Thursday, October 16, 2003
                       Message Id: cdl-17-34-004
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