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Complete Restoration Experiments

Started by Hero Restoration,

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Hero Restoration

Hero Restoration

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I decided that I would come out of my shell a little more and post complete restorations with multiple experiments performed on them. Up to now I have for the most part tried to post my best but here you will get to see the good, the bad, and the ugly (mostly ugly for now) as I learn and practice. This forum has been an invaluable resource and I appreciate everyone's feedback. I may not get it right away but I seem to eventually. Since allot of these books are beaters, you may not see everything worked on as it should, sometimes you will see less is more and other times the opposite as I experiment with every process I can wrap my brain around and afford the equipment.

 

 

Book #1

 

This book is a continuance from another topic about single staple books. I did not take as many before pics as I should have and I am working on that for future projects.

 

Here is what it looked like before I got started on it.

Scan0001-6.jpg

 

Cover was detached, lots of tears, tiny pieces missing and the ink needed allot.

My main goal was to get the front cover looking as good as I could.

 

Experiment 1 washing the cover

 

Washed in aqueous solution first. I forgot to try pre-treating the ball point pen mark darn it. doh!

 

After wash the whites still looked dirty so I washed in an non-aqueous wash .

 

Experiment 2 repairing the tears.

 

1st I sealed what I could with Methyl Cellulose then I used wheat paste and thin Japan paper to mend them all on the inside of the cover. On the outside to fill in the empty area's along the spine I used a paper paste made up of Cellulose powder and Methyl Cellulose.

 

Experiment 3 Color touch with Acrylics

 

I tried not to overdo it but still do enough that it would look allot better. I took an angle shot so that you can see my CT doesn't have a dull finish or a thick textured look.

 

 

Experiment 4 Press with SRPF

 

I only used 160 F and no humidity, cover was already humid from washing, mending and CT. No harm came to the CT.

 

Ok here are the results, remember I am trying to learn so it's not that great and I didn't pour over it that much. I am always too excited to get to the end and didn't go back and try to fix any mistakes.

 

Scan0010-3.jpg

DSC01393.jpg

I got some bleedthrough and the edge's where the tears were but thats it.

DSC01382.jpg

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FFB

FFB

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If you are getting bleed through on the interior cover with acrylics, it means you're not sealing tears or filling holes correctly, and it might also mean that you're watering down your acrylic paint too much before applying it.

 

When you fill an actual hole (area of loss larger than a tear) manually, it is done with three layers of Japan paper: one ultra-thin layer on the interior cover that slightly overlaps the hole, one thicker layer in the middle that is cut with an X-Acto blade using the hole in the cover as a stencil so that it fits perfectly inside the hole, and another ultra-thin layer on the outer cover that overlaps the hole slightly.

 

Spend some time practicing the infilling technique on a few ratty books before worrying about color touch. I know you're impatient to do an entire book from start to finish, but unless you master each of these techniques one at a time, you'll master none of them. And take notes of all of your failures and successes so that you remember which techniques worked and which didn't. (I think you already do this, but just wanted to reiterate it.)

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Hero Restoration

Hero Restoration

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If you are getting bleed through on the interior cover with acrylics, it means you're not sealing tears or filling holes correctly, and it might also mean that you're watering down your acrylic paint too much before applying it.

I think I was doing a little of both.

When you fill an actual hole (area of loss larger than a tear) manually, it is done with three layers of Japan paper: one ultra-thin layer on the interior cover that slightly overlaps the hole, one thicker layer in the middle that is cut with an X-Acto blade using the hole in the cover as a stencil so that it fits perfectly inside the hole, and another ultra-thin layer on the outer cover that overlaps the hole slightly

.

Thanks for the tips on bleedthrough Scott

 

Spend some time practicing the infilling technique on a few ratty books before worrying about color touch. I know you're impatient to do an entire book from start to finish, but unless you master each of these techniques one at a time, you'll master none of them. And take notes of all of your failures and successes so that you remember which techniques worked and which didn't. (I think you already do this, but just wanted to reiterate it.)

 

You gave me something to think about.

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Hero Restoration

Hero Restoration

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Not bad, looks like fun! haha. Looks much better :foryou:

 

Doing less can be more. It seems your taking a bit more time planning things out. It isn't perfect. But if you keep listening and learning. You will turn out a much nicer finished product. Well Done!! :applause:

 

Thank you very much.

:whee:

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User 01001010

User 01001010

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hope you don't mind mike but i'd like to post about the books i just got back from you.

 

i got my two books back from mike (lev gleason daredevil comics 43 & 111) and i was pleased with the end result. the 43 had a detached cover and cf dull colors and interior tears at the single staple. he sealed the tears, replaced the staple and reattached both the cf and cover. the job was moderate and done well for someone still learning. he took a beater and pressed it and gave it nice color again (i don't remember if you did any ct on the color, no bleed through on the inside cover). i'll put some pics up if anyone wants to see the book as it is now.

 

the 111 was a total loss, cover detached and reattached crookedly, first ad wrap missing, numerous rips in the cover and pieces missing from both the front and back cover. tear seals, jap paper and pressing made this a good filler book (i HATE detached covers) and this was the perfect example of a practice book because it had no value at all.

 

overall, i sent them to mike more to give him practice than something to keep in my collection, i'm impressed with his work considering that he is still inthe learning stages.

 

j

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Hero Restoration

Hero Restoration

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hope you don't mind mike but i'd like to post about the books i just got back from you.

 

i got my two books back from mike (lev gleason daredevil comics 43 & 111) and i was pleased with the end result. the 43 had a detached cover and cf dull colors and interior tears at the single staple. he sealed the tears, replaced the staple and reattached both the cf and cover. the job was moderate and done well for someone still learning. he took a beater and pressed it and gave it nice color again (i don't remember if you did any ct on the color, no bleed through on the inside cover). i'll put some pics up if anyone wants to see the book as it is now.

 

the 111 was a total loss, cover detached and reattached crookedly, first ad wrap missing, numerous rips in the cover and pieces missing from both the front and back cover. tear seals, jap paper and pressing made this a good filler book (i HATE detached covers) and this was the perfect example of a practice book because it had no value at all.

 

overall, i sent them to mike more to give him practice than something to keep in my collection, i'm impressed with his work considering that he is still inthe learning stages.

 

j

 

I don't mind and when you do be sure to post what it looked like before. DD 111 had lots of tape which you can see removed in the tape removel experiment. Also I did not CT either book and went with the less is more approach. :)

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=3492841#Post3492841

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Ze-man

Ze-man

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Hey Mike,a few quick thoughts regarding the ASM book you restored. I think it all comes down to it simply not being a great resto candidate to start with. It served as a good example to practice wash, clean,and repair. But threadbare SA covers simply do not respond well to massive amounts of CT, as I am sure you noticed.

 

Thing that you need to dial in the most is your drying/blottingpressing process as the shot of the interior cover is still incredibly wavy. A washed, CT'ed and pressed cover should be as close to flat as the day it was made. I assume this was due in part to your acrylics being too wet, and or too much.

 

Also you should do as Scott said when you apply your piece fill, but also do it ALL from the interior side. It is quite uncommon to apply material to the exterior due to making the cover lumpy or uneven to touch. Which is one of the best ways to tell if a book was worked on..running your fingers up and down the spine. A well restored book should feel fairly smooth, or at least that is the goal.

 

And I know it is hard to not get ansy when working on a book(I have been guilty of it myself), but slow down, you only get one shot at each step, but the results last forever.

 

 

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chrisco37

chrisco37

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I love these threads. Very glad you guys with all the knowledge come forward with it.

 

MasterCPU - this is definitely one of your better jobs. Your results on this are markedly better than the first attempts you posted. It's evident that you have taken the advice/criticism here and applied it. You really are improving.

 

I think you did a great job on this Spidey. Is it "professional" level yet? No. But it's way better than 90% of the collecting pop. could do. Keep working at it. I think you're on the right track. And, as I said before, the improvement is impossible to ignore.

 

Nice job! Keep it up. (thumbs u

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Hero Restoration

Hero Restoration

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Hey Mike,a few quick thoughts regarding the ASM book you restored. I think it all comes down to it simply not being a great resto candidate to start with. It served as a good example to practice wash, clean,and repair. But threadbare SA covers simply do not respond well to massive amounts of CT, as I am sure you noticed.

 

Thing that you need to dial in the most is your drying/blottingpressing process as the shot of the interior cover is still wavy. A washed, CT'ed and pressed cover should be as close to flat as the day it was made. I assume this was in part due to your acrylics being too wet, and too much.

 

Also you should do as Scott said when you apply your piece fill, but also do it from the interior side. It is quite uncommon to apply material to the exterior due to making the cover lumpy or uneven to touch. Which is one of the best ways to tell if a book was worked on..running your fingers up and down the spine. A well restored book should feel fairly smooth, or at least that is the goal.

 

And I know it is hard to not get ansy when working on a book(I have been guilty of it myself), but slow down, you only get one shot at most of this but the results last forever.

 

 

To put it simply, I am onboard with all of that. (thumbs u

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