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Pressing

Started by cheetah,

23 posts in this topic

cheetah

cheetah

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Thanks for the info. I had gathered it was a controversial topic (not hard to do, eh?) but wasn't sure what was involved.

 

Any estimates on how many books get pressed before sending to CGC?

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PovertyRow

PovertyRow

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Can someone explain to me what exactly constitutes 'pressing'? Maybe a little history of what the controversy about pressing is, too.

 

Very simply pressing is the removal of waviness, wrinkles and creases as well as spine rolls from a comic book.

 

It is a tremendously generic term that can be applied to anything from flattening out a corner crease by just applying a bit of heat (not too hot!) and pressure (not too much pressure!) to completely dismantling a book, pressing each page and the cover, reassembling and giving a final press. And anything in between those extremes.

 

The thoughts on is it rerstoration are all over the place. I feel it IS restoration. However, I feel it is often the single most benign form of restoration and should have minimal impact on the integrity of a book. I also feel it should be disclosed when selling the book.

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jkrk

jkrk

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Posted
Can someone explain to me what exactly constitutes 'pressing'? Maybe a little history of what the controversy about pressing is, too.

 

Very simply pressing is the removal of waviness, wrinkles and creases as well as spine rolls from a comic book.

 

It is a tremendously generic term that can be applied to anything from flattening out a corner crease by just applying a bit of heat (not too hot!) and pressure (not too much pressure!) to completely dismantling a book, pressing each page and the cover, reassembling and giving a final press. And anything in between those extremes.

 

The thoughts on is it rerstoration are all over the place. I feel it IS restoration. However, I feel it is often the single most benign form of restoration and should have minimal impact on the integrity of a book. I also feel it should be disclosed when selling the book.

 

 

So, I'm thinking the pressing issue needs to be broken out in more details such as the following:

 

a)Slight presssing - "Yep. I had a warm feeling watching it done but the book barely felt anything.".

b)moderate pressing- "The Goldilocks press- Not too hot, not too much pressure.

c)extensive Pressing- "I nearly burned the book, melted the pages, but the corner crease is gone". And: No one can tell. And I won't.

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PovertyRow

PovertyRow

Posted
Posted
Can someone explain to me what exactly constitutes 'pressing'? Maybe a little history of what the controversy about pressing is, too.

 

Very simply pressing is the removal of waviness, wrinkles and creases as well as spine rolls from a comic book.

 

It is a tremendously generic term that can be applied to anything from flattening out a corner crease by just applying a bit of heat (not too hot!) and pressure (not too much pressure!) to completely dismantling a book, pressing each page and the cover, reassembling and giving a final press. And anything in between those extremes.

 

The thoughts on is it rerstoration are all over the place. I feel it IS restoration. However, I feel it is often the single most benign form of restoration and should have minimal impact on the integrity of a book. I also feel it should be disclosed when selling the book.

 

 

So, I'm thinking the pressing issue needs to be broken out in more details such as the following:

 

a)Slight presssing - "Yep. I had a warm feeling watching it done but the book barely felt anything.".

b)moderate pressing- "The Goldilocks press- Not too hot, not too much pressure.

c)extensive Pressing- "I nearly burned the book, melted the pages, but the corner crease is gone". And: No one can tell. And I won't.

 

That was a good one! But you are onto something (oh gawd! Pov is going to talk about pressing again).

 

Your defention of extensive (burned the book etc) is a good example of Amateur pressing. In such a case there is almost no need to divulge the pressing. It would be like divulging the 3 inch tall 5 inch wide quarter inch thick name written in marker on the cover. Serisouly such a book would be downgraded considerably.

 

The Slight, moderate and extensive WOULD be applicable to the extent of the pressing.

 

A single corner crease or two would be slight.

A full book press to simply flatten it and remove some bends etc would be moderate.

Dismantling and pressing individually would be extensive. As would spine roll removal without dismantling.

 

The above are just off the cuff.

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cheetah

cheetah

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Thanks to Mark at Esquire for the infomercial on comic restoration. Nicely produced.

 

I've managed my urges and will leave my iron in the closet...at least until I can iron the wrinkles out of my shirts first. Not very interested in an Avengers #1 (6.5) with black pages!

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esquirecomics

esquirecomics

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Who can we contact about getting some books pressed?

 

Tracey Heft of Eclipse Paper Conservation has the most extensive formal training.

 

Eclipse Paper Conservation

 

If you are interested in restoration, which would include pressing, Susan Cicconi is one of the best and well-known (but she won't simply press books):

 

The Restoration Lab

 

 

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