Do any of you guys press moderns?

[krighton]

How long do you cook....how long cool

[LarrysComics]

Here is Larry's demo in a nutshell.

 

Larry opens the press.

Larry puts the book in the press.

Larry closes the press.

Larry turns on the press.

Larry cooks the book.

Larry turns off the press.

Larry lets the book cool.

Larry opens the press.

Larry takes the book out.

Larry looks at his work.

Larry sells the book or sends it off to CGC and then sells it.

 

No secrets here. Everything done is already documented on-line.

 

Let me know if I missed anything.

 

I'm just a monkey eating my own poo...

 

I talk to enough well educated people in the hobby, I'll figure it out Joey, your tone speaks volumes.

 

Have your fun. I'm having lunch next week with my old college roommate, now a top player in Ephemera Restoration. He switched his focus from graphic design after taking a papermaking class at the MFA school. He'll point me in the right direction.

 

I'm primarily interested in pressing moderns to remove spine ticks.

I have paid good money for that service for a decade now...

 

 

What type of Press works best?

What type of modifications should be made?

What type of surface?

What type of release paper, if any?

In which cases should I use heat?

What temperature?

How long?

Should humidity be controlled?

What type of pressure?

 

 

My questions are endless,,

So are most collectors.

 

I'll drag it all into the light...

[CBT]

YES, , this is the best thread ever. I was planning to do this someday when I have time, (my mother had a picture framing business when I was young, I have all her old equipment), but this is even better.

 

There are a lot of people who will get super mad about someone doing this, and Larry is exactly the kind of guy who wont care at all. I'll PM you some interesting links from others who have done the same, but its quite hard to find on google.

 

Cheers

[joeypost]

Here is Larry's demo in a nutshell.

 

Larry opens the press.

Larry puts the book in the press.

Larry closes the press.

Larry turns on the press.

Larry cooks the book.

Larry turns off the press.

Larry lets the book cool.

Larry opens the press.

Larry takes the book out.

Larry looks at his work.

Larry sells the book or sends it off to CGC and then sells it.

 

No secrets here. Everything done is already documented on-line.

 

Let me know if I missed anything.

 

I'm just a monkey eating my own poo...

 

I talk to enough well educated people in the hobby, I'll figure it out Joey, your tone speaks volumes.

 

Have your fun. I'm having lunch next week with my old college roommate, now a top player in Ephemera Restoration. He switched his focus from graphic design after taking a papermaking class at the MFA school. He'll point me in the right direction.

 

I'm primarily interested in pressing moderns to remove spine ticks.

I have paid good money for that service for a decade now...

 

 

What type of Press works best?

What type of modifications should be made?

What type of surface?

What type of release paper, if any?

In which cases should I use heat?

What temperature?

How long?

Should humidity be controlled?

What type of pressure?

 

 

My questions are endless,,

So are most collectors.

 

I'll drag it all into the light...

 

You are welcome to do whatever you want Larry. I have no intention of standing in your way.

I can only hope to stand in the greatness of your shadow one day.

[HarveySwick]

Really interested in seeing the video.

+1 Curious to see a press in action.

 

+1 to that +1

[krighton]

[ZaCrew]

 

What type of Press works best?

What type of modifications should be made?

What type of surface?

What type of release paper, if any?

In which cases should I use heat?

What temperature?

How long?

Should humidity be controlled?

What type of pressure?

 

 

My questions are endless,,

So are most collectors.

 

I'll drag it all into the light...

 

I use a dry mounting and laminating press. Jumbo 150

 

There are a few variations on them. Make sure you get one that has an on off switch.

 

Not really any modification but make sure the pad on the bottom is always fresh. I replace mine yearly.

 

You should always press comics between two dry mounting press boards that can be gotten at michaels or other art supply stores.

 

In addition to the boards, you should also use baking parchment paper as well.

 

The main thing that most never talk about is the humidity factor.

 

There are two ways to do this.

 

First is more time consuming and take a lot more effort but is safer if you are just leaning how to do this. Second is for once you have a good understanding of moisture application.

 

First being a humidity bath. Which consists of a large plastic tub with low sides.. The effed you want to create inside it would be liken to an island with a moat around it by taking a second smaller bin. On top of this second bin that is upside down in the middle you would place a cooking rack/drying rack on top of it, can be found in any store in the kitchen ware area. To create the bath, boil some water 6 cups or so. Place comic on the rack on the middle. Some like to open the book, some dont. I believe opening moderns is potential to cause more problems, we are just fixing non color breaking creases here. (Now dont pour the water yet until you are getting your press ready) But you pour the water in the bottom of the bin creating a nice hot moat around the center upside down bin. Cover the main bin with something like a large flat box that hasnt been made yet and make sure you slide it over to the side some to let steam escape. Time in bin is no more than a couple minutes.

 

Second moisture application that I prefer using is finding a very good hand held clothing steamer to apply moisture. The trick with these is that many of them have issues with water spritzing from the steam nozzel... DO NOT use a steamer like this. The one I have is an older one and I dont think they make it anymore but it's a My Little Steamer from Ingenious Designs. I use it to lightly apply moisture to the areas that are needed... with moderns this is mostly the spine area or areas of the book they have have a slight surface dent or something of that nature that a press can fix.

 

Something everyone should know about moderns when it comes to pressing. You have got to be careful with how long and how hot they get. The glossy pages in moderns are much more sensitive to pressing than books with newsprint pages. You can ruin a book if you forget and leave it in the hot press. Because the ink will melt and literally fuse the pages together.. and now you have a tile and not a comic book. Kinda neat if you wanted to create a wall of comics because they will be rigid

 

I have my press set at around 185. I turn it on about 2 minutes before I know I will be putting the comic in there. Once I place the comic between the parchment paper and dry mount boards and close the press, I let it set with the heat on no more than 30 seconds topps. That is the mistake many make with moderns, they dont need a lot of heat. Turn it off and just let it sit till the press plates cool to room temperature.

 

The reason you don't remove a comic from a hot press right away after say 15 minutes is basic science. At higher temperatures, molecules are spaced out and moving, and when they cool they shrink back into place. The shrinking causes the paper to curl and it's a sure sign of an amateur press.

 

The biggest thing I can say is practice, practice, practice. Learn how comics react to your press. Learn how different comics react to each phase of pressing.

 

Once you get it down you will be able to do it no problem but I warn you, in time you will have this HUGE stack, or multiple stacks of comics to be pressed that you never get to .

 

 

[HarveySwick]

[LarrysComics]

Here is Larry's demo in a nutshell.

 

Larry opens the press.

Larry puts the book in the press.

Larry closes the press.

Larry turns on the press.

Larry cooks the book.

Larry turns off the press.

Larry lets the book cool.

Larry opens the press.

Larry takes the book out.

Larry looks at his work.

Larry sells the book or sends it off to CGC and then sells it.

 

No secrets here. Everything done is already documented on-line.

 

Let me know if I missed anything.

 

I'm just a monkey eating my own poo...

 

I talk to enough well educated people in the hobby, I'll figure it out Joey, your tone speaks volumes.

 

Have your fun. I'm having lunch next week with my old college roommate, now a top player in Ephemera Restoration. He switched his focus from graphic design after taking a papermaking class at the MFA school. He'll point me in the right direction.

 

I'm primarily interested in pressing moderns to remove spine ticks.

I have paid good money for that service for a decade now...

 

 

What type of Press works best?

What type of modifications should be made?

What type of surface?

What type of release paper, if any?

In which cases should I use heat?

What temperature?

How long?

Should humidity be controlled?

What type of pressure?

 

 

My questions are endless,,

So are most collectors.

 

I'll drag it all into the light...

 

You are welcome to do whatever you want Larry. I have no intention of standing in your way.

I can only hope to stand in the greatness of your shadow one day.

 

I just don't get your inflammatory tone.

You're being a dink.

 

 

 

[LarrysComics]

 

What type of Press works best?

What type of modifications should be made?

What type of surface?

What type of release paper, if any?

In which cases should I use heat?

What temperature?

How long?

Should humidity be controlled?

What type of pressure?

 

 

My questions are endless,,

So are most collectors.

 

I'll drag it all into the light...

 

I use a dry mounting and laminating press. Jumbo 150

 

There are a few variations on them. Make sure you get one that has an on off switch.

 

Not really any modification but make sure the pad on the bottom is always fresh. I replace mine yearly.

 

You should always press comics between two dry mounting press boards that can be gotten at michaels or other art supply stores.

 

In addition to the boards, you should also use baking parchment paper as well.

 

The main thing that most never talk about is the humidity factor.

 

There are two ways to do this.

 

First is more time consuming and take a lot more effort but is safer if you are just leaning how to do this. Second is for once you have a good understanding of moisture application.

 

First being a humidity bath. Which consists of a large plastic tub with low sides.. The effed you want to create inside it would be liken to an island with a moat around it by taking a second smaller bin. On top of this second bin that is upside down in the middle you would place a cooking rack/drying rack on top of it, can be found in any store in the kitchen ware area. To create the bath, boil some water 6 cups or so. Place comic on the rack on the middle. Some like to open the book, some dont. I believe opening moderns is potential to cause more problems, we are just fixing non color breaking creases here. (Now dont pour the water yet until you are getting your press ready) But you pour the water in the bottom of the bin creating a nice hot moat around the center upside down bin. Cover the main bin with something like a large flat box that hasnt been made yet and make sure you slide it over to the side some to let steam escape. Time in bin is no more than a couple minutes.

 

Second moisture application that I prefer using is finding a very good hand held clothing steamer to apply moisture. The trick with these is that many of them have issues with water spritzing from the steam nozzel... DO NOT use a steamer like this. The one I have is an older one and I dont think they make it anymore but it's a My Little Steamer from Ingenious Designs. I use it to lightly apply moisture to the areas that are needed... with moderns this is mostly the spine area or areas of the book they have have a slight surface dent or something of that nature that a press can fix.

 

Something everyone should know about moderns when it comes to pressing. You have got to be careful with how long and how hot they get. The glossy pages in moderns are much more sensitive to pressing than books with newsprint pages. You can ruin a book if you forget and leave it in the hot press. Because the ink will melt and literally fuse the pages together.. and now you have a tile and not a comic book. Kinda neat if you wanted to create a wall of comics because they will be rigid

 

I have my press set at around 185. I turn it on about 2 minutes before I know I will be putting the comic in there. Once I place the comic between the parchment paper and dry mount boards and close the press, I let it set with the heat on no more than 30 seconds topps. That is the mistake many make with moderns, they dont need a lot of heat. Turn it off and just let it sit till the press plates cool to room temperature.

 

The reason you don't remove a comic from a hot press right away after say 15 minutes is basic science. At higher temperatures, molecules are spaced out and moving, and when they cool they shrink back into place. The shrinking causes the paper to curl and it's a sure sign of an amateur press.

 

The biggest thing I can say is practice, practice, practice. Learn how comics react to your press. Learn how different comics react to each phase of pressing.

 

Once you get it down you will be able to do it no problem but I warn you, in time you will have this HUGE stack, or multiple stacks of comics to be pressed that you never get to .

 

 

Great stuff!

 

PM me your address.

I have a "thank you package" to send out for ALL honest contributors to this thread,

[ZaCrew]

Great stuff!

 

PM me your address.

I have a "thank you package" to send out for ALL honest contributors to this thread,

 

Thanks for the offer, but really no need. I think this should be public knowledge. I did have a bit of an upper hand because I was trained in document preservation and restoration at the Smithsonian a few years back. So I was able to apply some of that knowledge to comic pressing as well.

 

Most document preservationists use humidity baths like the way I described. There is a video on youtube (just cant remember the name), of a Smithsonian employee using the technique I described on a document. Although they were not using hot water but rather leaving the document in the bath for a longer period of time. The way they use humidity is to add life to the documents in acrid conditions.

[HarveySwick]

Just send the stuff to me if he's passing.

 

[joeypost]

 

What type of Press works best?

What type of modifications should be made?

What type of surface?

What type of release paper, if any?

In which cases should I use heat?

What temperature?

How long?

Should humidity be controlled?

What type of pressure?

 

 

My questions are endless,,

So are most collectors.

 

I'll drag it all into the light...

 

 

 

I use a dry mounting and laminating press. Jumbo 150

 

There are a few variations on them. Make sure you get one that has an on off switch.

 

Not really any modification but make sure the pad on the bottom is always fresh. I replace mine yearly.

 

You should always press comics between two dry mounting press boards that can be gotten at michaels or other art supply stores.

 

In addition to the boards, you should also use baking parchment paper as well.

 

The main thing that most never talk about is the humidity factor.

 

There are two ways to do this.

 

First is more time consuming and take a lot more effort but is safer if you are just leaning how to do this. Second is for once you have a good understanding of moisture application.

 

First being a humidity bath. Which consists of a large plastic tub with low sides.. The effed you want to create inside it would be liken to an island with a moat around it by taking a second smaller bin. On top of this second bin that is upside down in the middle you would place a cooking rack/drying rack on top of it, can be found in any store in the kitchen ware area. To create the bath, boil some water 6 cups or so. Place comic on the rack on the middle. Some like to open the book, some dont. I believe opening moderns is potential to cause more problems, we are just fixing non color breaking creases here. (Now dont pour the water yet until you are getting your press ready) But you pour the water in the bottom of the bin creating a nice hot moat around the center upside down bin. Cover the main bin with something like a large flat box that hasnt been made yet and make sure you slide it over to the side some to let steam escape. Time in bin is no more than a couple minutes.

 

Second moisture application that I prefer using is finding a very good hand held clothing steamer to apply moisture. The trick with these is that many of them have issues with water spritzing from the steam nozzel... DO NOT use a steamer like this. The one I have is an older one and I dont think they make it anymore but it's a My Little Steamer from Ingenious Designs. I use it to lightly apply moisture to the areas that are needed... with moderns this is mostly the spine area or areas of the book they have have a slight surface dent or something of that nature that a press can fix.

 

Something everyone should know about moderns when it comes to pressing. You have got to be careful with how long and how hot they get. The glossy pages in moderns are much more sensitive to pressing than books with newsprint pages. You can ruin a book if you forget and leave it in the hot press. Because the ink will melt and literally fuse the pages together.. and now you have a tile and not a comic book. Kinda neat if you wanted to create a wall of comics because they will be rigid

 

I have my press set at around 185. I turn it on about 2 minutes before I know I will be putting the comic in there. Once I place the comic between the parchment paper and dry mount boards and close the press, I let it set with the heat on no more than 30 seconds topps. That is the mistake many make with moderns, they dont need a lot of heat. Turn it off and just let it sit till the press plates cool to room temperature.

 

The reason you don't remove a comic from a hot press right away after say 15 minutes is basic science. At higher temperatures, molecules are spaced out and moving, and when they cool they shrink back into place. The shrinking causes the paper to curl and it's a sure sign of an amateur press.

 

The biggest thing I can say is practice, practice, practice. Learn how comics react to your press. Learn how different comics react to each phase of pressing.

 

Once you get it down you will be able to do it no problem but I warn you, in time you will have this HUGE stack, or multiple stacks of comics to be pressed that you never get to .

 

 

Finally a post that is actually educational and not damaging.

[ZaCrew]

Here is a good video from the Smithsonian on pressing using weights rather than heat press.

 

[slym2none]

 

I wonder if there is a market for comic-book tiles. Those fused-together books sound interesting!

 

 

 

 

-slym

[joeypost]

 

I wonder if there is a market for comic-book tiles. Those fused-together books sound interesting!

 

 

 

 

-slym

 

Rectangular frisbee's. It may catch on.

[DrWatson]

 

I wonder if there is a market for comic-book tiles. Those fused-together books sound interesting!

 

 

 

 

-slym

They're called Modern CGC 9.8s.

[ZaCrew]

 

I wonder if there is a market for comic-book tiles. Those fused-together books sound interesting!

 

 

 

 

-slym

 

I did it on purpose to a few books just to see. It's really neat actually. They are nearly as hard as tile.

[Holden Caulfield]

 

What type of Press works best?

What type of modifications should be made?

What type of surface?

What type of release paper, if any?

In which cases should I use heat?

What temperature?

How long?

Should humidity be controlled?

What type of pressure?

 

 

My questions are endless,,

So are most collectors.

 

I'll drag it all into the light...

 

 

 

I use a dry mounting and laminating press. Jumbo 150

 

There are a few variations on them. Make sure you get one that has an on off switch.

 

Not really any modification but make sure the pad on the bottom is always fresh. I replace mine yearly.

 

You should always press comics between two dry mounting press boards that can be gotten at michaels or other art supply stores.

 

In addition to the boards, you should also use baking parchment paper as well.

 

The main thing that most never talk about is the humidity factor.

 

There are two ways to do this.

 

First is more time consuming and take a lot more effort but is safer if you are just leaning how to do this. Second is for once you have a good understanding of moisture application.

 

First being a humidity bath. Which consists of a large plastic tub with low sides.. The effed you want to create inside it would be liken to an island with a moat around it by taking a second smaller bin. On top of this second bin that is upside down in the middle you would place a cooking rack/drying rack on top of it, can be found in any store in the kitchen ware area. To create the bath, boil some water 6 cups or so. Place comic on the rack on the middle. Some like to open the book, some dont. I believe opening moderns is potential to cause more problems, we are just fixing non color breaking creases here. (Now dont pour the water yet until you are getting your press ready) But you pour the water in the bottom of the bin creating a nice hot moat around the center upside down bin. Cover the main bin with something like a large flat box that hasnt been made yet and make sure you slide it over to the side some to let steam escape. Time in bin is no more than a couple minutes.

 

Second moisture application that I prefer using is finding a very good hand held clothing steamer to apply moisture. The trick with these is that many of them have issues with water spritzing from the steam nozzel... DO NOT use a steamer like this. The one I have is an older one and I dont think they make it anymore but it's a My Little Steamer from Ingenious Designs. I use it to lightly apply moisture to the areas that are needed... with moderns this is mostly the spine area or areas of the book they have have a slight surface dent or something of that nature that a press can fix.

 

Something everyone should know about moderns when it comes to pressing. You have got to be careful with how long and how hot they get. The glossy pages in moderns are much more sensitive to pressing than books with newsprint pages. You can ruin a book if you forget and leave it in the hot press. Because the ink will melt and literally fuse the pages together.. and now you have a tile and not a comic book. Kinda neat if you wanted to create a wall of comics because they will be rigid

 

I have my press set at around 185. I turn it on about 2 minutes before I know I will be putting the comic in there. Once I place the comic between the parchment paper and dry mount boards and close the press, I let it set with the heat on no more than 30 seconds topps. That is the mistake many make with moderns, they dont need a lot of heat. Turn it off and just let it sit till the press plates cool to room temperature.

 

The reason you don't remove a comic from a hot press right away after say 15 minutes is basic science. At higher temperatures, molecules are spaced out and moving, and when they cool they shrink back into place. The shrinking causes the paper to curl and it's a sure sign of an amateur press.

 

The biggest thing I can say is practice, practice, practice. Learn how comics react to your press. Learn how different comics react to each phase of pressing.

 

Once you get it down you will be able to do it no problem but I warn you, in time you will have this HUGE stack, or multiple stacks of comics to be pressed that you never get to .

 

 

Finally a post that is actually educational and not damaging.

Thanks ZaCrew!

[bffnut]

I did have a bit of an upper hand because I was trained in document preservation and restoration at the Smithsonian a few years back. So I was able to apply some of that knowledge to comic pressing as well.

 

Wow, that is really cool!