Spine stress from backing boards??

[MichiganFlynn]

I've just recently moved some comics into a few shortboxes a few weeks ago and I noticed when I pulled a few out of the box the spine was hardened and some of them looked worse then others while many were fine and had no pressing against the spine and looked...well normal I guess.

 

Is there a reason for this, is this a result of the box being packed too tightly or is this something that normally happens? Some of them seem to be almost dented near the spine but others beside that comic are perfectly fine....help?

 

Not sure if this helps but some of the backing boards are longer then others but the majority of those are fine, it's just some at the front of the box and some in between are having this problem.

[lizards2]

I don't think I quite understand what you mean by "hardened" spine. Are you alternating the books, or are they all facing the same direction? Can you post a photo of the damage?

 

I would assume that overpacking your boxes can lead to some sort of damage to the books. I recently received some bronze age DC war that actually had indentations in the top back covers from where the bag flaps weren't inserted straight (no back boards). Each book had the indentation of the doubled-over bag flaps. So, contrary to what some speculate in the pressing threads, I think you can do some dry pressing of your own, given enough weight or pressure. I have no idea whether these examples were done in a box or in a flat pile.

[MichiganFlynn]

I don't think I quite understand what you mean by "hardened" spine. Are you alternating the books, or are they all facing the same direction? Can you post a photo of the damage?

 

I would assume that overpacking your boxes can lead to some sort of damage to the books. I recently received some bronze age DC war that actually had indentations in the top back covers from where the bag flaps weren't inserted straight (no back boards). Each book had the indentation of the doubled-over bag flaps. So, contrary to what some speculate in the pressing threads, I think you can do some dry pressing of your own, given enough weight or pressure. I have no idea whether these examples were done in a box or in a flat pile.

 

It's a little difficult to explain without a photo and sadly I don't have a scanner but i'll see if I can get a picture up sooner then later. All the books are facing the same direction, and i've been putting them in boxes meant for 150 comics or less. Right now the box in question has about 130 and they all have backing boards.

 

Basically the cover itself is fine, it's the spine seems to become thicker and hardened. It's like touching a cover and it's flat but near the spine it's raised and thicker. It's only happening on a few comics, the majority of them are fine. I just can't understand why it's happening especially as the majority of them are perfectly fine.

[lizards2]

I don't think I quite understand what you mean by "hardened" spine. Are you alternating the books, or are they all facing the same direction? Can you post a photo of the damage?

 

I would assume that overpacking your boxes can lead to some sort of damage to the books. I recently received some bronze age DC war that actually had indentations in the top back covers from where the bag flaps weren't inserted straight (no back boards). Each book had the indentation of the doubled-over bag flaps. So, contrary to what some speculate in the pressing threads, I think you can do some dry pressing of your own, given enough weight or pressure. I have no idea whether these examples were done in a box or in a flat pile.

 

It's a little difficult to explain without a photo and sadly I don't have a scanner but i'll see if I can get a picture up sooner then later. All the books are facing the same direction, and i've been putting them in boxes meant for 150 comics or less. Right now the box in question has about 130 and they all have backing boards.

 

Basically the cover itself is fine, it's the spine seems to become thicker and hardened. It's like touching a cover and it's flat but near the spine it's raised and thicker. It's only happening on a few comics, the majority of them are fine. I just can't understand why it's happening especially as the majority of them are perfectly fine.

 

It sounds to me that you have the books packed too tight, and perhaps undersized backing boards and bags for the boxes your using. As you pack the box tighter and tighter, the books will slip out to the sides, causing the ones slipping to the left (looking at them from the cover side) to have the books compressed from the spine out, giving the appearance of almost a spine roll, or poofy spine, compared to the flatness of the rest of the book. Does any of this seem likely?

[MichiganFlynn]

I don't think I quite understand what you mean by "hardened" spine. Are you alternating the books, or are they all facing the same direction? Can you post a photo of the damage?

 

I would assume that overpacking your boxes can lead to some sort of damage to the books. I recently received some bronze age DC war that actually had indentations in the top back covers from where the bag flaps weren't inserted straight (no back boards). Each book had the indentation of the doubled-over bag flaps. So, contrary to what some speculate in the pressing threads, I think you can do some dry pressing of your own, given enough weight or pressure. I have no idea whether these examples were done in a box or in a flat pile.

 

It's a little difficult to explain without a photo and sadly I don't have a scanner but i'll see if I can get a picture up sooner then later. All the books are facing the same direction, and i've been putting them in boxes meant for 150 comics or less. Right now the box in question has about 130 and they all have backing boards.

 

Basically the cover itself is fine, it's the spine seems to become thicker and hardened. It's like touching a cover and it's flat but near the spine it's raised and thicker. It's only happening on a few comics, the majority of them are fine. I just can't understand why it's happening especially as the majority of them are perfectly fine.

 

It sounds to me that you have the books packed too tight, and perhaps undersized backing boards and bags for the boxes your using. As you pack the box tighter and tighter, the books will slip out to the sides, causing the ones slipping to the left (looking at them from the cover side) to have the books compressed from the spine out, giving the appearance of almost a spine roll, or poofy spine, compared to the flatness of the rest of the book. Does any of this seem likely?

 

Seems very likely, some of the backing boards differ in size however some of the larger sized are fine and some are not, should all backing boards be the same size to avoid this? I'm totally unfamiliar with this sort of thing, I was thinking 120 in a 150 sized box would have been enough but if I have to take a few out then so be it. I didn't think the box was overly tight, is there a general rule of thumb for packing them into boxes?

[OldGuy]

It sounds to me that you have the books packed too tight, and perhaps undersized backing boards and bags for the boxes your using. As you pack the box tighter and tighter, the books will slip out to the sides, causing the ones slipping to the left (looking at them from the cover side) to have the books compressed from the spine out, giving the appearance of almost a spine roll, or poofy spine, compared to the flatness of the rest of the book. Does any of this seem likely?

 

Yes, this is what I'm thinking happened.

 

I prevent it by placing ever other book in the box backward.

[Sal]

It sounds to me that you have the books packed too tight, and perhaps undersized backing boards and bags for the boxes your using. As you pack the box tighter and tighter, the books will slip out to the sides, causing the ones slipping to the left (looking at them from the cover side) to have the books compressed from the spine out, giving the appearance of almost a spine roll, or poofy spine, compared to the flatness of the rest of the book. Does any of this seem likely?

 

Yes, this is what I'm thinking happened.

 

I prevent it by placing ever other book in the box backward.

 

and using Silver Age bags and boards for all books. you want the entire book to be surrounded on all four sides by backing board

[OldGuy]

It sounds to me that you have the books packed too tight, and perhaps undersized backing boards and bags for the boxes your using. As you pack the box tighter and tighter, the books will slip out to the sides, causing the ones slipping to the left (looking at them from the cover side) to have the books compressed from the spine out, giving the appearance of almost a spine roll, or poofy spine, compared to the flatness of the rest of the book. Does any of this seem likely?

 

Yes, this is what I'm thinking happened.

 

I prevent it by placing ever other book in the box backward.

 

and using Silver Age bags and boards for all books. you want the entire book to be surrounded on all four sides by backing board

 

Yes, always SA size for moderns.

[Mr. Zipper]

and using Silver Age bags and boards for all books. you want the entire book to be surrounded on all four sides by backing board

 

 

That's what I do. I think he's describing "spine curl" and the way to avoid it is be sure the bags and boards are wide enough. I'd rather have them a little loose in an oversized bag and board than packed tight with no room for error around the sides.

[MutantKeys]

It sounds to me that you have the books packed too tight, and perhaps undersized backing boards and bags for the boxes your using. As you pack the box tighter and tighter, the books will slip out to the sides, causing the ones slipping to the left (looking at them from the cover side) to have the books compressed from the spine out, giving the appearance of almost a spine roll, or poofy spine, compared to the flatness of the rest of the book. Does any of this seem likely?

 

Yes, this is what I'm thinking happened.

 

I prevent it by placing ever other book in the box backward.

 

and using Silver Age bags and boards for all books. you want the entire book to be surrounded on all four sides by backing board

yep

[mar-vell]

I try to avoid packing my comics too tightly for fear of something like this happening. They should fit nice and snug to each other but not so tight that there is any difficulty in removal!

[MichiganFlynn]

It sounds to me that you have the books packed too tight, and perhaps undersized backing boards and bags for the boxes your using. As you pack the box tighter and tighter, the books will slip out to the sides, causing the ones slipping to the left (looking at them from the cover side) to have the books compressed from the spine out, giving the appearance of almost a spine roll, or poofy spine, compared to the flatness of the rest of the book. Does any of this seem likely?

 

Yes, this is what I'm thinking happened.

 

I prevent it by placing ever other book in the box backward.

 

and using Silver Age bags and boards for all books. you want the entire book to be surrounded on all four sides by backing board

 

Yes, always SA size for moderns.

 

How do you know the size? I have a few where the bag and board are just about 1:1 and some where the bag is literally 1 1/2 times the size of the board itself. Would I go into a shop and ask for SA bags?

[MichiganFlynn]

I've purchased a couple of extra boxes and shifted them around so now I can actually flip through the box and see what i'm pulling out. The other boxes I was using stated 150 comics but was jammed packed at 120 and the new boxes are nice and snug with around 130 in them.

 

I think Zipper said it best with the spine curl comment, that seems as close as I can describe what's happened. It's not every comic, it's maybe 1% of the box but i'm thankful none of them are heavily damaged. I'll have to spread them out more carefully, i'm still learning how to take care of these dam things.

[Ze-man]

Question, since it is only happening to 1% of your books. Could they already have had some spine curl to them before you put them in your box and your cramped storage method made it worse?

 

While it is still a very good idea to fit the books to the right size boards,and flip them around when storing them as was already mentioned. I was just wondering if it had nothing to do with your storage methods, but more what might have already been done to the books before you bought them?

 

What era books are they again?

 

Ze-

[OldGuy]

It sounds to me that you have the books packed too tight, and perhaps undersized backing boards and bags for the boxes your using. As you pack the box tighter and tighter, the books will slip out to the sides, causing the ones slipping to the left (looking at them from the cover side) to have the books compressed from the spine out, giving the appearance of almost a spine roll, or poofy spine, compared to the flatness of the rest of the book. Does any of this seem likely?

 

Yes, this is what I'm thinking happened.

 

I prevent it by placing ever other book in the box backward.

 

and using Silver Age bags and boards for all books. you want the entire book to be surrounded on all four sides by backing board

 

Yes, always SA size for moderns.

 

How do you know the size? I have a few where the bag and board are just about 1:1 and some where the bag is literally 1 1/2 times the size of the board itself. Would I go into a shop and ask for SA bags?

 

Re-bag em all and buy your bags and boards from one place, making sure they're both made by the same company. http://www.comicsupply.com/ is a great place to start. He's a board member and a good guy to do business with.

[lizards2]

It sounds to me that you have the books packed too tight, and perhaps undersized backing boards and bags for the boxes your using. As you pack the box tighter and tighter, the books will slip out to the sides, causing the ones slipping to the left (looking at them from the cover side) to have the books compressed from the spine out, giving the appearance of almost a spine roll, or poofy spine, compared to the flatness of the rest of the book. Does any of this seem likely?

 

Yes, this is what I'm thinking happened.

 

I prevent it by placing ever other book in the box backward.

 

and using Silver Age bags and boards for all books. you want the entire book to be surrounded on all four sides by backing board

 

Yes, always SA size for moderns.

 

How do you know the size? I have a few where the bag and board are just about 1:1 and some where the bag is literally 1 1/2 times the size of the board itself. Would I go into a shop and ask for SA bags?

 

Re-bag em all and buy your bags and boards from one place, making sure they're both made by the same company. http://www.comicsupply.com/ is a great place to start. He's a board member and a good guy to do business with.

 

and likely to have a sale around Jan. 1....,

[lizards2]

It sounds to me that you have the books packed too tight, and perhaps undersized backing boards and bags for the boxes your using. As you pack the box tighter and tighter, the books will slip out to the sides, causing the ones slipping to the left (looking at them from the cover side) to have the books compressed from the spine out, giving the appearance of almost a spine roll, or poofy spine, compared to the flatness of the rest of the book. Does any of this seem likely?

 

Yes, this is what I'm thinking happened.

 

I prevent it by placing ever other book in the box backward.

 

Seems to me this would make matters worse? The spines would be matched by the opening edge of the next book. Trying to work this out in my head, it seems like the spines would naturally migrate past the opening edge of the next book, and accentuate the problem. I know you can fit more books in the box that way, but seems like you'd be better off to have an even half of the books in the box face one way, and the other half the other way, with a title divider in the middle.

[lizards2]

All the books are facing the same direction, and i've been putting them in boxes meant for 150 comics or less. Right now the box in question has about 130 and they all have backing boards.

 

Without going to my boxes and counting, I usually figure about 100 to 110 per box, with backing boards. Results may vary by books size, etc. I figure I'm just trying to support the books, not squash them in as tightly as possible.

[OldGuy]

It sounds to me that you have the books packed too tight, and perhaps undersized backing boards and bags for the boxes your using. As you pack the box tighter and tighter, the books will slip out to the sides, causing the ones slipping to the left (looking at them from the cover side) to have the books compressed from the spine out, giving the appearance of almost a spine roll, or poofy spine, compared to the flatness of the rest of the book. Does any of this seem likely?

 

Yes, this is what I'm thinking happened.

 

I prevent it by placing ever other book in the box backward.

 

and using Silver Age bags and boards for all books. you want the entire book to be surrounded on all four sides by backing board

 

Yes, always SA size for moderns.

 

How do you know the size? I have a few where the bag and board are just about 1:1 and some where the bag is literally 1 1/2 times the size of the board itself. Would I go into a shop and ask for SA bags?

 

Re-bag em all and buy your bags and boards from one place, making sure they're both made by the same company. http://www.comicsupply.com/ is a great place to start. He's a board member and a good guy to do business with.

 

and likely to have a sale around Jan. 1....,

 

20-25% off right now.

[Mr. Zipper]

20-25% off right now.

 

CS Shill!!