Cliff,
do you mean you just re-rolled the paste already on it? If so this explains a lot to me that I was missing when folks talk about re-pasting. I haven't been able to understand how adding more gooy paste was going to make curling edges stay down. Semantics is so very important.
Thanks for the clue,
Tish

Yes, Tish, double pasting means opening up a booked sheet on the table and, without redipping the roller, rolling out the paste that's already on the back of the sheet. It seems to be the trick to getting the Scalamandrie/B+F type of handprints to relax evenly and actually stick to the wall.
CJ

Tish, I've been thinking about this phenomena and I'm not sure I can lend anything like a sound scientific answer but I understand Cliff's idea of repasting (double rolling w/o additional paste) and I know from experience it works. Question out of curiousity is: Why does it work? Maybe, since the paper is moist & relaxed when you unbook it, rolling over it again it draws moisture back and perks up or fluffs up the starch molecules (introducing a bit of air) and actually makes the paper bite or stick where before without this technique the paste loaded paper would slip but not grab at the seam. Maybe the King of the Palace & the Master Paperhanger can get beyond my paperhanging metaphysics and get us on a more scientific path? RichRich
I don't think it's any more mysterious than that the paper backing will accept moisture unevenly. that's it. quite often after pasting and booking a paper, letting marinate, then opening it again, you are confronted by the sight of a patchy surface. some of the paper is wet, some dry, and some in between. whether you re-work what is there, or add a little, or add a lot, the goal is same, namely, to have a fully coated, relaxed piece of paper with just the right amount of paste on it. what is the right amount? that's why they call it a craft. you want the ideal mix to get ideal slip/grab properties, and that ideal mix changes with the job.

back when machines came in big-time there was a sentiment that now we would never need to double paste again, since the machine would lay down a perfectly even layer of paste, at whatever viscosity we mixed the paste to. that turned out to be wrong. If you put twice as much paste on the paper, with the idea that half will sink in, and the other half will be left sitting on top, you'll be disappointed. unless you happen to be a genius at mixing adhesive, and can get it "just right" every time.

not being a genius, I just paste once and observe what the paper needs. sometimes it IS possible to run it through a machine and get the mixture just right. but more often I find that the handpasting of the second time around is just as efficient. remember we are talking about a room lot here. if it were a hundred rolls I would probably opt to try and get the mixture just right, for the size of the job would justify that much mixing and playing with adhesive.
as to the reason why the paper won't accept moisture evenly the first time, I'm thinking capillarity, but where is Professor Parodi when you need him? I haven't been studing my capillarity manual for several months now.
rmk Lee, Ma.