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CBCA Sponsors Scientific Testing on the Effects of Pressing

Started by Theagenes,

229 posts in this topic

Theagenes

Theagenes

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The pressing of comic books has become a common practice within our hobby over the last decade. It is a procedure that has caused a great deal of discussion and controversy in recent years and there has been considerable debate on how pressing should be viewed by collectors and dealers. The combined use of heat, moisture, and pressure to remove bends, non-color breaking creases, waviness, and other similar flaws is something that has been practiced by comic book restoration professionals for many years, but there has been little or no scientific testing to determine whether or not this process is detrimental to the books themselves. This lack of data has not stopped the passionate and often heated arguments on this subject – arguments that are often based on little more than anecdotal evidence at best.

 

Given the increased frequency of pressing within the hobby and the lack of understanding of whether or not pressing is an archivally-safe procedure, the CBCA Leadership Team has decided to begin an objective preliminary scientific investigation of the effects of pressing on comic paper. Two comic books from different eras (1945 and 1970 respectfully) were cut in half, with one half of each being pressed and one half being left unpressed as a control. These samples were all sent to an independent laboratory that specializes in testing paper strength. A series of tests measuring tensile strength and tear resistence was performed on both the covers and interior pages in order to determine whether or not there are any measurable differences between the pressed and unpressed samples.

 

The raw data from these tests have come in and once they have been analyzed and interpreted the results will be published in the CBCA newsletter Comic Book Quarterly. It should be noted that this experiment has no bearing on the questions of whether or not pressing should be considered restoration or whether or not it should be disclosed to buyers. These are semantic and ethical arguments to which the scientific method does not apply. The purpose of this experiment is simply to try and determine whether or not there is a measurable adverse effect of pressing on comic book paper. It is also important to note that due to the limited nature of the experiment these should only be considered preliminary results. It is hoped that we will be able to conduct further testing in the future in order to add to our dataset and to better understand the nature of the pressing process.

 

We will have further announcements as more information becomes available.

 

Thanks for your support.

The CBCA Leadership Team

 

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Theagenes

Theagenes

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Who performed the pressing?

 

Integrated Paper Services, Inc.

 

http://www.ipstesting.com/

 

 

Who performed the testing?

 

Oops, I read Watson's post wrong. IPS did the testing, The pressing was done by one of the leading professionals who performs that service. I don't believe it's appropriate to reveal that without permission.

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VintageComics

VintageComics

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A series of tests measuring tensile strength and tear resistence was performed on both the covers and interior pages in order to determine whether or not there are any measurable differences between the pressed and unpressed samples.

 

 

How do tensile strength and tear resistance relate to the actual "health" of the paper?

 

 

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Theagenes

Theagenes

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A series of tests measuring tensile strength and tear resistence was performed on both the covers and interior pages in order to determine whether or not there are any measurable differences between the pressed and unpressed samples.

 

 

How do tensile strength and tear resistance relate to the actual "health" of the paper?

 

 

They are essentially measures of the flexibility of the paper and strength of the fibers respectively. We had also asked for fold testing, but they were unable to that with these samples. I hope that in the future we will be able to do fold testing as well.

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DrWatson

DrWatson

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Who performed the pressing?

 

Integrated Paper Services, Inc.

 

http://www.ipstesting.com/

 

 

Who performed the testing?

 

Oops, I read Watson's post wrong. IPS did the testing, The pressing was done by one of the leading professionals who performs that service. I don't believe it's appropriate to reveal that without permission.

It's appropriate if the leading professional hasn't had much experience as it relates to pressing a comic book.

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VintageComics

VintageComics

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A series of tests measuring tensile strength and tear resistence was performed on both the covers and interior pages in order to determine whether or not there are any measurable differences between the pressed and unpressed samples.

 

 

How do tensile strength and tear resistance relate to the actual "health" of the paper?

 

 

They are essentially measures of the flexibility of the paper and strength of the fibers respectively. We had also asked for fold testing, but they were unable to that with these samples. I hope that in the future we will be able to do fold testing as well.

 

I think the primary concern that people would have with pressing has to do with how long the book will last (aging) and I wonder if there is a direct correlation between tensile/tear strength and age?

 

Will there be any testing to test how the book will age?

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comix4fun

comix4fun

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A series of tests measuring tensile strength and tear resistence was performed on both the covers and interior pages in order to determine whether or not there are any measurable differences between the pressed and unpressed samples.

 

 

How do tensile strength and tear resistance relate to the actual "health" of the paper?

 

 

They are essentially measures of the flexibility of the paper and strength of the fibers respectively. We had also asked for fold testing, but they were unable to that with these samples. I hope that in the future we will be able to do fold testing as well.

 

 

I have noticed with some older books that there is a difference in paper quality from the center of the page to the edges and sometimes from the spine to the outside edge, and occasionally differences from top to bottom.

 

Will there be a disclosure/discussion of the relative comparability of the two halves, in terms of overall condition and quality prior to testing?

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Pirate

Pirate

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how do you know the control samples weren't pressed previously, been in a super hot garage for 60 years or on the surface of the sun?

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comix4fun

comix4fun

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Were lab coats and beakers involved?

 

lyle_beaker.gif

 

 

I remember the episode where he got pressed.

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cheetah

cheetah

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A data set of 2 is not a data set. If you are going to draw conclusions from testing, you have to at least go the step of determining if the results are significant and 2 data points is never going to be statistically significant.

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