I have read some of the discussion that have been posted about pressing here and I am planning on trying it out. I have no ambition of using it to turn a profit on upgrading books, but very much would like to try to make some of those terrible ebay purchases look better. That said, I am hung up on what press to buy. The one I’ve seen posted before is around $200 but everywhere I look for it seems like its sold under various names and worries me about whether these are knockofffs. I’m looking for something that will work if I do it right and not damage books (outside of human error). I am considering the press in the link below, which is more expense but seems like good quality, but maybe too good for my intended use. If anyone has suggestions please let me know.
That one will work just fine. I got my press a year and a half ago. It is definitely a budget press for about half that price but it works great! Look on Amazon. You can check the reviews on all they have for sale.
Put comic boards on both sides of the digital codes
I’m very interested in learning this myself. I have seen models where the actual heat plate (top part) can swivel, so not fixed coming straight over and down. Does anyone that has experience doing this suggest that would be beneficial? I have spent a lot of time pressing numbers on jerseys at a previous job with a press similar to the one shown and its difficult when you just need to press a small precise area. It seems it would be better if you could align the heat to the area needed as opposed to hanging the book off the side. Or would that be incorrect technique anyway?
This is the most comprehensive guide I have found on cleaning and pressing comics.
How to Clean and Press Comic Books. FREE Online Guide by KaptainMyke
I haven’t used it yet, but I went with the one @PCKComics suggested in their write up. It’s about half the price (if not a little less) of that one and I’ve seen several other people also mention they use it.
Totally agree @PCKComics post was very useful on what equipment they use to press comics.
Here is a link in case people missed it.
I prefer 110lb cardstock between digital code pages. Backer boards are too think and can damage the spine.
That would definitely do the job, but I would say it is very much overkill. I also tend to recommend swivel presses for first time pressers because they tend to be more forgiving with pressure since the swivel press comes down flush and clamshell comes down at an angle.
This is what I bought last month
Amazon.com: Super Deal PRO 12" X 10" Digital Swing Away Heat Press Heat Transfer Sublimation Machine
This is a solid starter guide. The only problem I have with it is that he seems to deliberately leave a lot out (I am guessing so you buy the book). I also feel like he very much over complicates the temperatures/times.
Feel free to ask me if any one has any questions though. I know it can all seem a little overwhelming when you start out.
There are so many pictures of the hinges and arms breaking off in the reviews. How do you avoid this?
That’s the one I have. It does the job extremely well!
I do not want overkill, as i’m just trying this out. It sounds like the one you posted is working well, I think I will go with that. And thanks PCK for the write up that is actually where I started. It just seems like so many of these have a decent amount of bad reviews that is what is/was making it tough to decide.
Speaking for the one I use and linked in my write up, it is very solid. I press 20+ comics a week on it and it has no signs of wear. I would have to guess that the people who are having issues with theirs breaking are using way too much pressure when they press. You should be able to close the press with out much effort using your non dominate hand, so if you are snapping metal components, I feel like you are either a bodybuilder or doing it wrong.
I learned long ago, if you feel like you’re forcing it, then you’re likely doing it wrong when it comes to tool and or similar things.
We once had a half million dollar tape library for all our companies backups in our datacenter. Had some numbskulls out there trying to inject new tapes into it (they had a door to inject/eject 10 tapes at a time). So they come to me telling me somethings wrong, the door won’t close (yeah, if you put a tape in wrong, it won’t close). So I go out there and take one look and realize immediately the tapes are in wrong, turn around and tell them since they tried to force it with as much force as they could, they damaged every single tape they had in the slots… I then asked them, why would think think it would take so much force to close something that’s automatic? “I don’t know…”… They’re lucky they didn’t damage the door itself, cause that would have been hard to explain to the bosses why we gotta probably spend a few thousand to fix.
When I used to work in radio, the amount of times that people who aren’t used to setting up equipment. would try to force things into the wrong plugs or slots because they THOUGHT it fit but just required you to jam it in as hard as you can (resulting in broken/bent pins) made me cry.
PCK comics, thanks for the pressing list and general advice on pressing. Its refreshing to have an open conversation on comic pressing. CBCS and CGC does not allow any threads on comic pressing and not sure why there is so much secrecy when it comes to how to press books.
When you say the one you have and use is in your write up - would that be the 12x10 or 15x15 one?