Tips on pressing 0

[SamPool]

15 hours ago, WoWitHurts said:

You need a dry press. Check out some SEAL commercial dry presses but any decent one will work. One that has a temp readout is preferable otherwise use the lowest setting.  Also, check out bp21-15.pdf.  Just google it and it will be at the top probably or search for practical considerations for humidifying paper.  There are a couple youtube videos to get you started.  Beyond that it is practice practice practice.  You won't get any help from folks who make money off of it.

I do pretty well but on high value books I send out to http://www.cfpcomics.com, Joe is on these boards and does a great job.  I personally do not like CSS.

This..

I wouldn't mind sending them out to a service, my problem is the time it takes.  These services are inundated with work so talking about it, I would not think, hurts there bottom line.

There was a blog post with reader comments on the web that had some great information as a starting point.  Having a 30 mins conversation with someone that does it is great as well.  I was fortunate enough where someone was willing to share. 

Talk or technique is frowned upon in open forum for various reasons.  The main  reason is "They don't want  anyone to give tutorials on pressing for liability reasons. They say they see a lot of damaged books due to amateur pressers."

Just do the research take the time and trial and error..

[Dick Pontoon]

On 7/20/2017 at 0:03 PM, seanfingh said:

The hotter and the pressier, the better.  I like the Waffle-O 9000, the Pebblemaster ESX and my favorite is the George Foreman Pancake Machine - "Punch out those flaws!!!"

"Get into my comfort zone!"

"The fat drips right off!"

"I'm not gonna pay a lot for this muffler!"

"Punch out those flaws!"

[batman_fan]

I would say

1.  Do a google search for comic book pressing videos and watch all of them.

2.  By a press and relief paper

3.  Buy a bunch of $0.25 books that are in decent condition

4.  Add various defects to the books and press the defect out

5.  Repeat step 4 while experimenting with temperature, pressure, duration, etc.

After a bunch of experimenting you will learn how to press books.

[lizards2]

On 7/28/2017 at 7:46 PM, Bomber-Bob said:

Bad advice. He is trying to save money. Not only expensive but a press will really consume the electricity. Here is a better technique, taking advantage of some established heat. Books come out perfect .

 

Are the handicap tags necessary for a good press?

[Bomber-Bob]

12 hours ago, batman_fan said:

After a bunch of experimenting you will learn how to press books.

This is what scares me about this advice, you make it sound too easy. As if 95% of the learning is buying the press. After a bunch of experimenting he will 'think' he has learned to press books and put more bad product into the marketplace. I am not a presser but I respect the art and recognize it takes some natural skill and a lot of knowledge about paper preservation. When I go to my doctor or dentist, I like to see some diplomas on the wall. I like to use licensed plumbers and electricians in my home. I'm sorry but I do not like to encourage these home grown pressers trying to save a few dollars. You get what you pay for. Sorry. 

[oakman29]

My advice would be to find a high grade book instead of manufacturing one. There is something so very special,  at least to me, in finding a true high grade book in the wild. 

[AnthonyTheAbyss]

1.  Find flat surface

2.  Sandwich comic between two backing boards

3.  Put some flat weight on top

4.  Leave there for a month to a year

5.  Pressed

 

[Bomber-Bob]

10 minutes ago, AnthonyTheAbyss said:

1.  Find flat surface

2.  Sandwich comic between two backing boards

3.  Put some flat weight on top

4.  Leave there for a month to a year

5.  Pressed

 

The funny thing is this really works. 

[lizards2]

15 minutes ago, Bomber-Bob said:

The funny thing is this really works. 

I used to do this with most of the books I got from my brother, as he usually had them fluffed up through reading.  We had this mammoth dictionary I would put them in, then stack more books on top.  It worked pretty darn good for my purposes, which wasn't necessarily to fix corner folds and stuff like that - it would not work for that.

[HighRadArt]

It's really not a secret any more and I copied this from another post here...

 

"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."

[batman_fan]

2 hours ago, Bomber-Bob said:

This is what scares me about this advice, you make it sound too easy. As if 95% of the learning is buying the press. After a bunch of experimenting he will 'think' he has learned to press books and put more bad product into the marketplace. I am not a presser but I respect the art and recognize it takes some natural skill and a lot of knowledge about paper preservation. When I go to my doctor or dentist, I like to see some diplomas on the wall. I like to use licensed plumbers and electricians in my home. I'm sorry but I do not like to encourage these home grown pressers trying to save a few dollars. You get what you pay for. Sorry. 

I agree with much of what you are saying but what I outlined is what the 50 to 100 board members that press their own stuff did. Some are quite good at it while others are mediocre at best but their stuff sells very well. Heck the Cole  books with SCS were done by one of the top pressers in the industry and one of the boards go to presser has screwed up his share of books. 

[Bomber-Bob]

5 minutes ago, batman_fan said:

I agree with much of what you are saying but what I outlined is what the 50 to 100 board members that press their own stuff did. Some are quite good at it while others are mediocre at best but their stuff sells very well. Heck the Cole  books with SCS were done by one of the top pressers in the industry and one of the boards go to presser has screwed up his share of books. 

And I agree with your comments. The Cole Shave books were a disaster and even highly respected pressers can screw up. On the topic of professionals screwing up, I have a couple comments. I think Matt himself is top notch. The problem is he hands most of the work over to his staff, some of which are simply not 'Matt'. The higher profile pressers get a lot of work with demands of fast turnaround. I think the problem is not their skill set but they are rushing the job and not doing the work properly.  In either case, I just don't think the home grown pressers can compare to the work of a professional. Adding proper humidity, understanding the different inks and paper involved, employing spot pressing, these are all skills that take a LOT of time and experience. Recognizing the difference in pressing across all genres and types of books, GA to Modern, Square bounds, books with signatures. Recognizing good candidates, recognizing which books should not be pressed, avoiding staple tears and damage. Rocket science, no, but science, yes. It's simply NOT that easy.  

[jsilverjanet]

I look at it like cooking. Sometimes you can do all the preparation but if you don't have the right ingredient(s) it's still going to taste like . 

You could do the opposite, have the right ingredient and have zero prep work and end up with a delicious meal.

the professional may do everything perfect and get the most out of a book but someone new should focusing more on buying better looking books (candidates) than invest in a press etc

Not everything needs to be pressed. Plenty of books that I've subbed that I didn't get pressed because I knew it would make very little difference in the grade.

To me that's the biggest issue. Every new buyer/flipper/dealer/hustle tells me "a press would increase etc" half of them time they have no clue what a press can really do. They think it's some special machine that magically changes a book into something that it can never be.

 

 

Edited July 31, 2017 by jsilverjanet

[Bomber-Bob]

3 minutes ago, jsilverjanet said:

 

the professional may do everything perfect and get the most out of a book but someone knew should focusing more on buying better looking books (candidates) than invest in a press etc

Not everything needs to be pressed. Plenty of books that I've subbed that I didn't get pressed because I knew it would make very little difference in the grade.

To me that's the biggest issue. Every new buyer/flipper/dealer/hustle tells me "a press would increase etc" half of them time they have no clue what a press can really do. They think it's some special machine that magically changes a book into something that it can never be.

 

 

Good points Hector ! The first thing a new presser should learn is how to identify the right candidates. You can tell a lot of the newbies only think of the press as a money making machine. They are not thinking about the books, the hobby, or the science.  It bothers me because a lot of their product goes into the marketplace. 

[OldGuy]

On 7/28/2017 at 5:51 PM, comicquant said:

 The only tip I know for sure is don't ask for tips...  

Just the tip.

[porcupine48]

Just now, OldGuy said:

Just the tip.

classic,just classic

[lizards2]

32 minutes ago, porcupine48 said:

33 minutes ago, OldGuy said:

Just the tip.

classic,just classic

Pervert.

[jsilverjanet]

You guys know about PMs right  

[justafan]

23 hours ago, Bomber-Bob said:

And I agree with your comments. The Cole Shave books were a disaster and even highly respected pressers can screw up. On the topic of professionals screwing up, I have a couple comments. I think Matt himself is top notch. The problem is he hands most of the work over to his staff, some of which are simply not 'Matt'. The higher profile pressers get a lot of work with demands of fast turnaround. I think the problem is not their skill set but they are rushing the job and not doing the work properly.  In either case, I just don't think the home grown pressers can compare to the work of a professional. Adding proper humidity, understanding the different inks and paper involved, employing spot pressing, these are all skills that take a LOT of time and experience. Recognizing the difference in pressing across all genres and types of books, GA to Modern, Square bounds, books with signatures. Recognizing good candidates, recognizing which books should not be pressed, avoiding staple tears and damage. Rocket science, no, but science, yes. It's simply NOT that easy.  

this is why I will send certain stuff to Joey with requests but he may also have hired help (correct me if I'm mistaken, Joey).  The potentially lesser skilled/experienced help is why some of us seriously consider getting into pressing for ourselves.  The assumption being that no one will treat your books better or work harder than you to get the best results.

I've had books submitted for pressing (both via CGC and the other guys) where they both skipped the press due to clerical errors and went ahead and graded them with expected results.  So at the very least, I can see where the desire to learn has more to do with ensuring the job gets done and done well.  Both companies have appeared to have corrected their issues in this respect but what a disappointment.

There's probably a profit generating tier that'll spawn from these comments:

Quick Press: $8

Normal Press $10

Guaranteed Pressed by Matt himself $20

[lizards2]

16 minutes ago, jsilverjanet said:

You guys know about PMs right  

Just the tip, Janet.