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Newbie with pressing techniques questions

Started by johnny t,

25 posts in this topic

johnny t

johnny t

Posted
Posted

hi guys

 

New to the board and glad to found this forum

 

Since I have a lot of comics from different era that would need pressing to improve their condition (spine thick with no color break,waveness,etc.) I decided to take the jump to buy a press.

I just bought a Seal 160 press.I live in Canada and before buying a press I wanted to send my books to guys I know in the US but sending more than 20 books is a lot of money so thats why I decided to jump on to pressing myself.I bought this to press my personal collection and to save money (I hope)

 

I know I have a lot to learn and just started playing with it yesterday and I have a lot of testing ahead of me.I have a lot of junk comics from different era I can try

 

Found some good infos on some threads here and wondered if you guys could answer some questions I have.

 

1-Do you guys prefer using SRP or teflon sheet for over and under the book,do teflon sheet have longer life than SRP

 

2-I am going to try some acid free paper being mist by water under the front page,last page and middle while pressing.How much is better is a humidity chamber before instead of this technique?

 

3-On modern comic,how much less time under heat pressure is recommended.Also for the humidity on these book,since the paper is different,what do you guys do?

 

I will continue my testing,will post some pics later on.

 

I know I might not get any replies and my guess is with a lot of works,I will found response to these questions anyways

 

thanks for looking

 

JF

 

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Artboy99

Artboy99

Posted
Posted
hi guys

 

New to the board and glad to found this forum

 

Since I have a lot of comics from different era that would need pressing to improve their condition (spine thick with no color break,waveness,etc.) I decided to take the jump to buy a press.

I just bought a Seal 160 press.I live in Canada and before buying a press I wanted to send my books to guys I know in the US but sending more than 20 books is a lot of money so thats why I decided to jump on to pressing myself.I bought this to press my personal collection and to save money (I hope)

 

I know I have a lot to learn and just started playing with it yesterday and I have a lot of testing ahead of me.I have a lot of junk comics from different era I can try

 

Found some good infos on some threads here and wondered if you guys could answer some questions I have.

 

1-Do you guys prefer using SRP or teflon sheet for over and under the book,do teflon sheet have longer life than SRP

 

Teflon sheets have a very long lifespan if you treat them well.

2-I am going to try some acid free paper being mist by water under the front page,last page and middle while pressing.How much is better is a humidity chamber before instead of this technique?

 

Humidity container with a lid. Leave the book in it over night works well in my experience

3-On modern comic,how much less time under heat pressure is recommended.Also for the humidity on these book,since the paper is different,what do you guys do?

 

I have not done anything different.

I will continue my testing,will post some pics later on.

 

I know I might not get any replies and my guess is with a lot of works,I will found response to these questions anyways

 

thanks for looking

 

JF

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Sauce Dog

Sauce Dog

Posted
Posted

Hello fellow Canadian presser! Build a humidification chamber, you will get much better results especially if you are doing so on older comics (with firmer / more brittle PQ that needs to be relaxed). Be sure to get yourself some nice acid-free blotter paper.

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johnny t

johnny t

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thanks for the warning highradart

 

sauce dog would you know any good canadian source for some acid-free blotter paper.

 

I had a other found for a humidity chamber that uses blotter paper

 

http://cool.conservation-us.org/coolaic/sg/bpg/annual/v21/bp21-15.pdf

 

in this one no talk about using blotter paper:

 

http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/localrecs/conservation/notes/humidification.asp

 

 

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Artboy99

Artboy99

Posted
Posted

Humidity Chamber ( budget version )

 

-A plastic tote container that is large enough to accomodate 1 or 2 or 3 comics.

-Something placed in the chamber that you can place a comic on open faced up that will keep it out of the water.

-fill with water to well below the suspension surface

-lid for plastic tote to close it off

 

Place comic on flat surface in the chamber with the comic open to centerfold with open pages facing up, close the lid and leave overnight.

It isn't required to open the book, but you get better humidity results if you do open it.

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JollyComics

JollyComics

Posted
Posted

Use the humidifier that will absorb the humidity in the room so your books and pressing machine will stay dry.

 

Also, make sure the room is dry and air-conditioned environment. Do not open the windows to let the air come inside with humidity.

 

Make sure the pressing machine is open and hot before pressing the book.

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johnny t

johnny t

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-Tried with the paper sheet spray with water while pressing,pretty glad with the result after vs before,175 for 5 minutes without turning

cant wait to try with a humidity chamber to compare

 

-What do you guys used to put in the middle of the comic so the spine doesnt get to 'crush',cardboard?paper sheet bended?thickness?

 

 

 

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Hero Restoration

Hero Restoration

Posted
Posted
-Tried with the paper sheet spray with water while pressing,pretty glad with the result after vs before,175 for 5 minutes without turning

cant wait to try with a humidity chamber to compare

 

Be super careful doing this, over-humidification can cause staple rust, warped book, shrunken cover, crushed spines, etc.

 

-What do you guys used to put in the middle of the comic do so the spine doesnt get to 'crush',cardboard?paper sheet bended?thickness?

 

Less of everything!

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johnny t

johnny t

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Guess the warp result and the spine a bit crush comes from over humidity

 

 

 

So my guess is now nothing in the middle of the comic?

 

Will go to the store tomorrow to assemble one of those chamber

 

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johnny t

johnny t

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okay

 

step 1 chamber build

 

put medium heat water

 

80s book was inside for 4 hours wide open and wanted to do a test

 

175

2 mins each side

i have soften the pressure a bit to see

 

srp

white paper

comic

white paper

srp

 

the book was really in bad shape,its better but still can have a lot improvement,not all is gone

warping present,not enough pressure/heat?Maybe....too much humidity?Idont think so...

 

in other threads i have found that guys put artboard on top,bottom,inside?Guess ill have to try one of these sandwich to compare later on

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thecopperagekids

thecopperagekids

Posted
Posted
okay

 

step 1 chamber build

 

put medium heat water

 

80s book was inside for 4 hours wide open and wanted to do a test

 

175

2 mins each side

i have soften the pressure a bit to see

 

srp

white paper

comic

white paper

srp

 

the book was really in bad shape,its better but still can have a lot improvement,not all is gone

warping present,not enough pressure/heat?Maybe....too much humidity?Idont think so...

 

in other threads i have found that guys put artboard on top,bottom,inside?Guess ill have to try one of these sandwich to compare later on

 

J,

 

My advice would be to dial the heat back to 165......avoid the temptation to ramp it up to the 175-185 and using excessive force.

 

Using very light , controlled humidity.....then press (front of comic faced downward, the spine facing the back of the press) for 60 minutes, with a 4 hour window , for the book to set.

 

I use a poster/art board (cut to the size of magazine backing boards, I press 2 books at a time) .....but also like to use 3 magazine size backing boards with the slightly concaved side up so it is cradling the spine comic as one closes the press.

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youmechooz

youmechooz

Posted
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okay

 

step 1 chamber build

 

put medium heat water

 

80s book was inside for 4 hours wide open and wanted to do a test

 

175

2 mins each side

i have soften the pressure a bit to see

 

srp

white paper

comic

white paper

srp

 

the book was really in bad shape,its better but still can have a lot improvement,not all is gone

warping present,not enough pressure/heat?Maybe....too much humidity?Idont think so...

 

in other threads i have found that guys put artboard on top,bottom,inside?Guess ill have to try one of these sandwich to compare later on

 

J,

 

My advice would be to dial the heat back to 165......avoid the temptation to ramp it up to the 175-185 and using excessive force.

 

Using very light , controlled humidity.....then press (front of comic faced downward, the spine facing the back of the press) for 60 minutes, with a 4 hour window , for the book to set.

 

I use a poster/art board (cut to the size of magazine backing boards, I press 2 books at a time) .....but also like to use 3 magazine size backing boards with the slightly concaved side up so it is cradling the spine comic as one closes the press.

An hour in the press?

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joeypost

joeypost

Posted
Posted
okay

 

step 1 chamber build

 

put medium heat water

 

80s book was inside for 4 hours wide open and wanted to do a test

 

175

2 mins each side

i have soften the pressure a bit to see

 

srp

white paper

comic

white paper

srp

 

the book was really in bad shape,its better but still can have a lot improvement,not all is gone

warping present,not enough pressure/heat?Maybe....too much humidity?Idont think so...

 

in other threads i have found that guys put artboard on top,bottom,inside?Guess ill have to try one of these sandwich to compare later on

 

J,

 

My advice would be to dial the heat back to 165......avoid the temptation to ramp it up to the 175-185 and using excessive force.

 

Using very light , controlled humidity.....then press (front of comic faced downward, the spine facing the back of the press) for 60 minutes, with a 4 hour window , for the book to set.

 

I use a poster/art board (cut to the size of magazine backing boards, I press 2 books at a time) .....but also like to use 3 magazine size backing boards with the slightly concaved side up so it is cradling the spine comic as one closes the press.

An hour in the press?

 

Either way, I would just keep experimenting and not pay attention to leaving the book in the heated press for an hour. If you are looking for shortcuts you wont get many and the ones you get (and have already gotten) are dangerous. Only way to get good is to keep at it and make tweaks to what you try. That's what I did.

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