FAQs

  • My name is Kevin. I’m not a full-time rebinder—most rebinders have other jobs. I work full-time at my church as a Family & Youth Pastor and elder, a role I’ve held for over 15 years.

    I rebind Bibles in my free time, and I really enjoy it. My job mostly involves reading, thinking, writing, and speaking, so I like having Redbird as a hands-on hobby.

    The name Redbird comes from our family’s love of cardinals, which are beautiful songbirds and North Carolina’s state bird.

  • The best block to rebind is the one you want the most. For top quality construction, Cambridge, R.L. Allan, and Schuyler are the best. If you want a good balance of paper, gilding, availability, and price, here’s my list:

    • CSB: Single Column Personal Size; Single Column Wide Margin

    • ESV: Creeds & Confessions; Heritage; Legacy; Personal Reference; Verse by Verse Reference

    • KJV: TBS Windsor (Jongbloed)

    • LSB: Handy Size; PPR; ICR

    • NASB 95/2020 (Lockman): LPUT (Korea); SCR; Wide Margin Reference

    • NIV: Heritage Passaggio

    • NKJV: Wide Margin SCR; Maclaren Large Print Thinline

    • NLT: ??

  • Edge-lining is a method where the Bible cover is glued directly to the edge of the book block using tabs from the liner. Another method, paste down, involves gluing an endsheet to both the liner and the book block. Edge-lined Bibles are more durable than paste down ones. All Redbird rebinds use edge-lining.

  • Yapp is “a form of bookbinding with a limp leather cover projecting to fold over the edges of the leaves, typically used for Bibles” (Oxford Languages). The term was coined in the late 19th century.

    Functionally, trained generous or full yapp provides some protection to the gilding. I also think it looks great! Those are the reasons why you should want it. But, if it’s your custom Bible, make your order how you like it.

  • Glued binding Bibles use only glue on the spine to hold the pages together. Sewn binding Bibles have groups of pages sewn together, then the spine is glued. Sewn Bibles are stronger and last longer.

    Redbird does not currently rebind glued-only Bibles.

  • Hardcover Bibles are usually cheaper Bibles. They often have square page corners and no gold or colored edges. Changing a hardcover to a soft premium rebind means rounding the corners, strengthening the spine, and often adding color or speckles to the page edges. This takes more work, so it costs more.

  • My favorite leathers to work with are: Badalassi Carlo Waxy , Capra Granulosa , Derby, Minerva Box and Sokoto.

    Allan’s Highland goatskin is an amazing Northwestern Nigeria style goatskin. These goatskins are deeply grainy and feel wonderful. The best Highland alternatives for rebinds, in my opinion, are Native and Sokoto. Each are like Highland in key ways; but each are also different in some way.

  • Yes, custom speckling is an option you can choose with a custom rebind order. I also highly recommend the work of Bezalel Book Art and Imperial Edges for speckled edges.

  • Not at this time.

  • We are not taking very worn Bibles right now. For old Bibles, try a restoration service. If you’re unsure if Redbird can rebind your Bible, please ask us.

  • Not right now. We usually use only the 10 leathers shown on our online order form.

  • If your rebind is more than 3 months away, you can cancel without a fee. Deposits are due 3 months before your rebind. Deposits can’t be refunded or moved, so if you cancel less than 3 months before, you lose your deposit.