No, ORR is a good repair guide, although a lot of the photos in the later editions sort of resemble photocopies. I'd invest in a used 1st edition from
www.rugbooks.com or
www.rugbookshop.com.
If you want to learn repair, the National Institute of Rug Cleaning has rug repair workshops, usually 3 days long. They are usually taught at Thea Sand's shop (Emmanuel's) in Seattle, or by David Zahipor(sp?) in DC. Class sizes are purposely kept small, and there is no course outline. You simply bring a rug with you needing repair, and tell them what you want to learn. When I took the class I learned to reweave a hole from scratch. I also learned that it takes me
so long (and I am such a perfectionist!) that I realized I'm much better off subcontracting repairs to someone who grew up doing it. :)
On the plus side, the course did make me a much better repair estimator. I now know enough about repair to explain to my customers in detail what repairs are needed and how they will be performed.
If you want to speculate on rugs (which I advise against, BTW), I'd look for Caucasian rugs WITH GREAT COLOR that are in poor condition and selling for next to nothing. Invest a couple thousand in expert repairs and you might have a rug that will sell for 10K, even in today's market. As far as I know, ALL rug values are way down right now except Caucasians, and I attribute this to rug dealers taking advantage of the market (and other dealers who are cash-strapped).
Enough info to keep you busy for a decade, lol...
NK
