Best way to get rid of dents like this? 2 2

[MikeTheSpike]

I have an ASM #252 in pretty good shape, consensus was about 8.0. It has some dents in the middle of the FC and I tried a regular direct press like usual but they're persistent. I'm thinking that because they go in and the paper is slilghtly compressible, they are not getting sufficient pressure to press out.

 

Any advice?

[Lightning55]

You can see the color breaks on those.  Pressing is mostly for non-color-breaking creases, straightening out the crease, like it never happened.  Those color breaks are announcing that there is/was a crease here.  Straight or crooked, probably the same demerits just due to the visible creases.

[MikeTheSpike]

On 6/1/2023 at 5:08 PM, Lightning55 said:

You can see the color breaks on those.  Pressing is mostly for non-color-breaking creases, straightening out the crease, like it never happened.  Those color breaks are announcing that there is/was a crease here.  Straight or crooked, probably the same demerits just due to the visible creases.

Sorry if I wasn't clear. I'm not asking about spine ticks. See this image:

[Lightning55]

Oh, I see now. The lower green square has a white dot in the depression, so same situation as the tics. Unless that is a common production thing.

The other dents can removed with a heated tack iron. That allows you to apply more targeted pressure in a small area, blending it out. It does take some practice. If you are new to it, you can do more harm than good. Maybe try it on worthless comics first. Or, in this case, where you don't want to ruin a valuable comic, it might be better to have a pro do it. Money well invested.

[MikeTheSpike]

On 6/1/2023 at 9:35 PM, Lightning55 said:

Oh, I see now. The lower green square has a white dot in the depression, so same situation as the tics. Unless that is a common production thing.

The other dents can removed with a heated tack iron. That allows you to apply more targeted pressure in a small area, blending it out. It does take some practice. If you are new to it, you can do more harm than good. Maybe try it on worthless comics first. Or, in this case, where you don't want to ruin a valuable comic, it might be better to have a pro do it. Money well invested.

I'm already trying an iron, but as I said I think maybe without something hard on the other side it's not flattening it. It doesn't have a white dot, it just catching the light. This is a scan of the same book:

Edited June 2, 2023 by MikeTheSpike

[Lightning55]

That looks much better. If you can find some videos online about pressing,  some are certain to show somebody using a tacking iron.

[theCapraAegagrus]

Pressing isn't supposed to fix everything. Going this far stretches into restoration-mind territory.

[Tom789]

Finger bends are very tough to press out completely.  I use a tacking iron first, then apply a ball-bearing attachment that came with my iron and run it back and forth over the bend, and finally the full heat press.  Lesser bends might press out completely, but deeper bends will be left with a small crease.  

I like the attachment bearing vs. the loose ball bearings you might see in videos - I think it gives me more fine control.

[MikeTheSpike]

On 6/4/2023 at 10:30 AM, Tom789 said:

Finger bends are very tough to press out completely.  I use a tacking iron first, then apply a ball-bearing attachment that came with my iron and run it back and forth over the bend, and finally the full heat press.  Lesser bends might press out completely, but deeper bends will be left with a small crease.  

I like the attachment bearing vs. the loose ball bearings you might see in videos - I think it gives me more fine control.

Thanks. I was actually thinking about using something like a heated marble from the back of the front cover, so that's pretty similar.