Easy Process for Fixing Spine Ticks With a Tack Iron 

Much appreciated, thanks for the tip!

I haven't pressed with them yet, but plan to try it. Thanks for the tips!

Thanks! Here is the Amazon link to it: amzn.to/3WldH0q I need to add it to my website

No problem, thanks for the comment! Love your channel, learned so much from you. I will look into the heat control, never heard of that one.

So you only put only SRP paper inside the centerfold and inside the covers when you press? Curious as I haven't seen this before. Thanks.

@@carlonbasscomix3387 yep. I utilize 12 to 14 SRP sheets for the centerfold. Depends on how the staples look- flat to curved makes a difference in how much SRP I will use.

@@chadnelson1150 I see. Will have to try it! Thanks for the reply.

The simplest definition is that restoration adds something to the book: Color, Paper, etc. Renewal/repair/pressing only removes defects that have accumulated, making the book return to what it was before the defects were added.

So glad he took the time to put his info out there, saved me a ton of headaches!

Understand completely!

No problem! GL in the hobby!

Cool thanks!

Finally finding time to go through comments (I read them all but I'm slow). I need to be better about my photos, sorry about that!

Great, thanks for letting me know!

Check his website. I believe it sends you to ebay

It seems they are sold out everywhere, but I did find this one that might work: I found this one that might work.. amzn.to/3VTaCRQ I might buy a few different models and test them sometime

Thin gouges are tough.. like when someone writes on a piece of paper with a comic underneath. Those fine lines gouges into the paper are extremely hard to get out (sometimes impossible)

I haven't yet, but need to try that sometime.. I think KaptainMyke has guidelines for that. I'm sure that book will eventually cross my desk

Thanks for the kind words! Yes, moisture can be tricky with newer books. I spot-add moisture (hotshot?) to the defect. I also use very very light pressure and to repair ticks. Luckily, ultra-modern books are veyr easy to fix, normally. Oh, I don't really do this on dark/black spines. It can cause a weird haziness.. I just build up the spine a bit (2-3 sheets of copy paper or 1 sheet of 60 cardstock), spot add a tiny bit of light moisture to the ticks, and hope the press removes them. As for poly creases, I am actually doing a video showing my process. I took some out of a few Spider-Man 1 copies last year and am going to be featuring several Ghost Rider 28's this year. What I basically do is lightly apply distilled water along the crease down the entire middle of the book (with a makeup pad) right before putting it in the press... both inside and outside the cover. Make sure there is no excess moisture on the cover. Then, I leave it in the press for a few hours, check to see if the crease is gone. If it isn't, I repeat the process. If it is gone, I put the book back in for the final press and leave it 24 hours minimum. I hope this helps!

It's for the press machine. See KaptainMyke's book, website, or channel @kaptainmyke ... he explains it very well

KaptainMyke does cover that in his book. I will likely do videos on that topic, once I get better at the process

I find that pressing really doesn't get spine ticks out that well, although it can clean them up. My opinion is to fix the ticks right before putting it in the press, and the press can help solidify the repair. Not sure if it actually helps, but that's my process

I am currently trying to find an alternative. I did a ton of looking but can't seem to find anything with the right temperature. It's really frustrating. I'm going to try and figure out who makes the Hangar 9 and reach out to them

Sometimes I notice a tick coming back slightly after a press and sitting in the cold press for a few days. I give them a second round and then wait a week or so to see if there's anymore reversion. It is a rare occurrence, though. If the ticks are especially severe, I will leave the chamfered board under the cover for a couple of hours to let it completely cool. This seems to really help stop reversion

Here are the specifications of my tack iron: www.horizonhobby.com/product/protrim-sealing-tool/HAN145.html I use the low setting, which ranges from 186 f to 215 f. I find that if the iron heats up and sits around for a bit without use, it gets a bit too hot. So, I make sure that I press it against a wet towel right before use to cool it down slightly before putting it on a book. Otherwise, it can make the surface appear hazy.. from heat damage. Ouch. My gut says that about 160ish is the ideal temp, but further testing is needed. I really want a tack iron that lets you pick an exact heat.

Thank you for the info and link. Probably would be good to have a infrared thermometer gun to see what temp it reads.

I did find his recommended heat settings for the iron he uses, and it is comparable to the low settings of the Hangar iron. I plan to do an extensive video on this topic, where I test several different irons and recommend heat settings accordingly. I will dive in sometime in 2023. By the way, the Hangar box gives the settings, but it's kind of hard to find. I think these are the settings to his iron: www.stevensaero.com/download/pdf/HAN101.pdf He uses a 2 and 3 setting in his videos, so 234F and 280F respectively. Mine only has 2 settings, high and low. I only use low.. which is about 215F max. My gut says anything between 200 and 250 is optimal.. but am not 100% sure yet.

Oh, here are the settings for my iron: www.horizonhobby.com/product/protrim-sealing-tool/HAN145.html

@@ImproveCollectingComics Thanks so much for this info. This will be very helpful! 👋

I think any of the hangar 9 models would work, I just prefer the one with the smaller head

I found this one that might work.. amzn.to/3VTaCRQ I will look into contacting whoever makes the hangar 9 models and see if I can get a deal on them for my audience

Here are the specifications of my tack iron: www.horizonhobby.com/product/protrim-sealing-tool/HAN145.html I use the low setting, which ranges from 186 c to 215 c.

@@ImproveCollectingComics thank you. I usually have my set to 213. It's the more wider tack iron that looks like a mini iron

@immaculatecomics has an iron for sale now- immaculatecomics.com/shop/tacking-iron-for-spine-ticks/ I haven't had a chance to test it, I ordered one that should be here by end of week. I am not sure about the Cable book, I haven't worked on that particular comic. Is the writing raised on the book? If so, it probably can't be pressed.. but the spine could still be carefully worked with the iron. Hopefully I'll own that book at some point and can test on it.

Yes, and I do talk about that in the video.. sometimes it gets a bit too hot even on that setting

​@@ImproveCollectingComics Jim, in the video it looks like you have your tack iron shoe fully inserted into the handle. Per the Hanger9 instruction sheet, if you pull out the shoe by about 1 cm (to the engraved line on the shoe shaft) it'll reduce the shoe temp by about 30*F, to 186*F. Still well above the 130-140*F that Rick Morgan recommends, but still more manageable.