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I had such a nice day. I put lots of patches on the back of a Torah, and they were really good patches, though I say it myself. There are lots of parts to patching - you find stuff to use for the patch that's a good match for colour and texture, and you shave it thin so's it doesn't look all lumpy and yuck, and you shave the edges even thinner so they stick down smoothly, and once you've glued it on and it's dry you sand the edges to make them blend nicely with the surroundings. It's good if you can't really tell it's there when you run your fingers over it. It's very satisfying when you've taken something that was ratty and holed and tearing at the edges, and made it all nice and trim and patched and proper, and instead of being all wobbly and decrepit it can used again.
And I fixed up places where someone had done on-the-spot repairs with sellotape (that's Scotch tape, for you foreigners). Sellotape is a REALLY BAD PLAN, because the glue discolours the parchment, and the colour won't come out. Archivist's tape or masking tape is better. So after patching, I fixed the yellow stains by sanding it part of the way and rubbing a lot of powdered pumice into it the rest of the way, until it was pretty much all disguised. It was also very satisfying.
I also found a fun reference in a sofer's halacha book - טיפקס - yes, Tipp-Ex. I LOVE that he says טיפקס. (You mustn't ever use it on your sefer Torah, was the gist, if you're interested.)
And I fixed up places where someone had done on-the-spot repairs with sellotape (that's Scotch tape, for you foreigners). Sellotape is a REALLY BAD PLAN, because the glue discolours the parchment, and the colour won't come out. Archivist's tape or masking tape is better. So after patching, I fixed the yellow stains by sanding it part of the way and rubbing a lot of powdered pumice into it the rest of the way, until it was pretty much all disguised. It was also very satisfying.
I also found a fun reference in a sofer's halacha book - טיפקס - yes, Tipp-Ex. I LOVE that he says טיפקס. (You mustn't ever use it on your sefer Torah, was the gist, if you're interested.)
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