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Starting to question CCS's pressing skills.
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193 posts in this topic

On 8/11/2020 at 3:21 PM, Lobo1969 said:

You need to understand the SCIENCE of applying heat, pressure and sometimes moisture to successfully press a comic. You need to develope your SKILL to consistently press a comic the right way each and every time. It becomes an ART when you come across a stubborn or unique book where proven methods aren't working but you get creative and achieve the results you want anyways. It's still a learning process for even the pressers that have done it for years and handled hundreds/thousands of books.

And then there is cleaning which can be a real art!

Well pressing a comic book is essentially 'controlled' water damage right?  They intentionally add moisture to the paper to make it pliable, and then squish it really tight between 2 flat plates, and add a bit of heat?  I can't see how anything could ever possibly go wrong :)

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On 9/11/2020 at 10:36 AM, StreetPreacher said:

Well pressing a comic book is essentially 'controlled' water damage right?  They intentionally add moisture to the paper to make it pliable, and then squish it really tight between 2 flat plates, and add a bit of heat?  I can't see how anything could ever possibly go wrong :)

For some, maybe. For those that know what they are doing...not even close. 

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On 9/11/2020 at 9:36 AM, StreetPreacher said:

Well pressing a comic book is essentially 'controlled' water damage right?  They intentionally add moisture to the paper to make it pliable, and then squish it really tight between 2 flat plates, and add a bit of heat?  I can't see how anything could ever possibly go wrong :)

A funny post, LOL. :D .  You probably meant it to be funny and not serious. But I will still comment a bit on the serious side. 

A nuclear explosion destroying a city and a nuclear reactor powering a city are essentially the same process.  It's all about control, knowledge and design. :tink:

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9 hours ago, Tony S said:

 You probably meant it to be funny and not serious. But I will still comment a bit on the serious side.

Yep that was my intention, and the nuclear example is apt!  But, that is basically what how pressing works right?  Make the paper moist enough to manipulate, and then press it flat with extreme force to hopefully smooth out any wrinkles or minor creases?  

I mean in the amateur examples I've seen, people actually use equipment originally designed to heat transfer designs onto T-Shirts :) 

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4 hours ago, StreetPreacher said:

Yep that was my intention, and the nuclear example is apt!  But, that is basically what how pressing works right?  Make the paper moist enough to manipulate, and then press it flat with extreme force to hopefully smooth out any wrinkles or minor creases?  

I mean in the amateur examples I've seen, people actually use equipment originally designed to heat transfer designs onto T-Shirts :) 

Pretty sure you answered your own question. 

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Comparing pressing to nuclear science is pretty funny.  Sorry guys, it's really not that complicated.  @StreetPreacher is essentially correct but I routinely see people trying to compare it to some sort of highly technical skill.  And it just isn't.  

I'm not saying that some aren't better than others but let's not overstate what's actually happening.

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55 minutes ago, Randall Dowling said:

Comparing pressing to nuclear science is pretty funny.  Sorry guys, it's really not that complicated.  @StreetPreacher is essentially correct but I routinely see people trying to compare it to some sort of highly technical skill.  And it just isn't.  

I'm not saying that some aren't better than others but let's not overstate what's actually happening.

In my opinion, CCS is doing two things wrong:  (1) They are being unethical in totally skipping cleaning or doing a crappy cursory cleaning job instead of actually doing the cleaning job they are being paid for, and (2) they are taking shortcuts when setting books up for pressing, improperly protecting the covers and staples - causing at best less than ideal results, and at worst detaching covers.  

I'm sure the volume of books is why they are being delinquent - that's a reason, but not an excuse.

I started doing all my own pressing a little over a year ago and have yet to pop a single staple.  

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2 hours ago, Randall Dowling said:

Comparing pressing to nuclear science is pretty funny.  Sorry guys, it's really not that complicated.  @StreetPreacher is essentially correct but I routinely see people trying to compare it to some sort of highly technical skill.  And it just isn't.  

I'm not saying that some aren't better than others but let's not overstate what's actually happening.

What do you do for a living?

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1 hour ago, DS Comics said:

In my opinion, CCS is doing two things wrong:  (1) They are being unethical in totally skipping cleaning or doing a crappy cursory cleaning job instead of actually doing the cleaning job they are being paid for, and (2) they are taking shortcuts when setting books up for pressing, improperly protecting the covers and staples - causing at best less than ideal results, and at worst detaching covers.  

I'm sure the volume of books is why they are being delinquent - that's a reason, but not an excuse.

I started doing all my own pressing a little over a year ago and have yet to pop a single staple.  

I remember the first batch of books I sent you, I think 1/3 of them were beyond fragile and yet you did a stellar job. I feel like if I sent them to ccs they would of come back half a grade lower if not a whole grade. I think ccs might not have enough employees for the volume of books they get submitted so they are just pushing the books out. Another thing I was thinking was, they probably don’t have people who might take pride in the work they do. Probably do to the volume of books they get submitted. Does anyone know how many people ccs has on staff to clean and press books? I have to imagine it’s more than 20, I hope.

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7 hours ago, Randall Dowling said:

Comparing pressing to nuclear science is pretty funny.  Sorry guys, it's really not that complicated.  @StreetPreacher is essentially correct but I routinely see people trying to compare it to some sort of highly technical skill.  And it just isn't.  

I'm not saying that some aren't better than others but let's not overstate what's actually happening.

I appreciate the humor in your post, but I did not say pressing was as complicated as building nuclear bombs and nuclear reactors. I said the principles of building nuclear bombs and nuclear reactors was the same.  But produce much different results (city powered versus city destroyed)

The comparison was actually what you seem to be speaking to. Oversimplification. Yes. Heat, moisture and pressure. With those, you can get make a comic book look much better. Or much worse. Depends on how you employ/apply those things

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5 hours ago, Mak420 said:

I remember the first batch of books I sent you, I think 1/3 of them were beyond fragile and yet you did a stellar job. I feel like if I sent them to ccs they would of come back half a grade lower if not a whole grade. I think ccs might not have enough employees for the volume of books they get submitted so they are just pushing the books out. Another thing I was thinking was, they probably don’t have people who might take pride in the work they do. Probably do to the volume of books they get submitted. Does anyone know how many people ccs has on staff to clean and press books? I have to imagine it’s more than 20, I hope.

I think your estimate may be a little high...

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5 hours ago, Mak420 said:

I remember the first batch of books I sent you, I think 1/3 of them were beyond fragile and yet you did a stellar job. I feel like if I sent them to ccs they would of come back half a grade lower if not a whole grade. I think ccs might not have enough employees for the volume of books they get submitted so they are just pushing the books out. Another thing I was thinking was, they probably don’t have people who might take pride in the work they do. Probably do to the volume of books they get submitted. Does anyone know how many people ccs has on staff to clean and press books? I have to imagine it’s more than 20, I hope.

I bet they would have detached at least a couple of those covers!

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17 hours ago, DS Comics said:

I started doing all my own pressing a little over a year ago and have yet to pop a single staple.  

What equipment do you use?  Are you also using one of those heatpress machines designed for transferring designs onto t-shirts?  It looks like the only economical way to do it yourself?  Unless you use my method?Comic_Pressing.thumb.JPG.6449e4eb5a557338e612e27775e88f75.JPG

Edited by StreetPreacher
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18 hours ago, DS Comics said:

In my opinion, CCS is doing two things wrong:  (1) They are being unethical in totally skipping cleaning or doing a crappy cursory cleaning job instead of actually doing the cleaning job they are being paid for, and (2) they are taking shortcuts when setting books up for pressing, improperly protecting the covers and staples - causing at best less than ideal results, and at worst detaching covers.  

You should see what some sellers (and a large dealer) are doing to books by pressing their own books now. On some books I have gotten extra bits and pieces of things pressed into the covers as well since they are not bothering to clean the press bed or the book. Just a quick pancake to flatten it and then onto the customer.

Edited by kimik
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On 8/31/2020 at 6:30 AM, Georgie123 said:

A little late to the party. Just adding that Joeypost does a great job and is my choice for pressing comics. Had done pressing with other people and Joey comes up on top.

+1

I used to use Matt a decade or so ago, but switched to Joe after the quality of pressing I was getting was dropping. My last batch from pre-CGC CCS you could see the book was pressed due to rush jobs/wrong release paper being used. The quality of work with Joe was much higher, and he is a great person to deal with as well. (thumbsu

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17 hours ago, Mak420 said:

I remember the first batch of books I sent you, I think 1/3 of them were beyond fragile and yet you did a stellar job. I feel like if I sent them to ccs they would of come back half a grade lower if not a whole grade. I think ccs might not have enough employees for the volume of books they get submitted so they are just pushing the books out. Another thing I was thinking was, they probably don’t have people who might take pride in the work they do. Probably do to the volume of books they get submitted. Does anyone know how many people ccs has on staff to clean and press books? I have to imagine it’s more than 20, I hope.

Has CCS ever posted about their staff? (At least since they've been under the CGC umbrella). 

It would be helpful or at least informative if the website had a page of "Here's our qualified staff with XX years of experience" so we know who's doing the work.

If Matt's no longer there, is it a crew of experts? Is it an intern in a closet? A little transparency wouldn't hurt.

Edited by MatterEaterLad
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2 hours ago, MatterEaterLad said:

Has CCS ever posted about their staff? (At least since they've been under the CGC umbrella). 

It would be helpful or at least informative if the website had a page of "Here's our qualified staff with XX years of experience" so we know who's doing the work.

If Matt's no longer there, is it a crew of experts? Is it an intern in a closet? A little transparency wouldn't hurt.

Geez, I'm behind.  When did Matt leave?  Did he move to grading with CGC?  

I hate to say but even when Matt was there, I felt CCS had problems.  

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5 hours ago, StreetPreacher said:

What equipment do you use?  Are you also using one of those heatpress machines designed for transferring designs onto t-shirts?  It looks like the only economical way to do it yourself?  Unless you use my method?

I'm using a t-shirt press, and I bought a 1/8th inch aluminum plate for the bottom, and of course I'm using far less heat than one would normally use for t-shirt pressing.  It works great if you don't cut corners on prep.  I have seen guys who use the hand iron method for quickly pressing out small bends on the edges.  I actually tried that when I was younger, in the 90's, lol.

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