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Comics Restoration and ConservationQuestions

Centerfold Reinforced2230

Collector jrs private msg quote post Address this user
I've seen graded restored books with the notation "centerfold reinforced" on the label. I can imagine the notation means exactly what it says, but what methods could be used to reinforce a centerfold?
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Collector TruckJohnson private msg quote post Address this user
Sounds like a potentially verboten topic. There's a good chance you'll have to figure out how to make your own pancakes.
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Collector poka private msg quote post Address this user
http://www.eclipsepaper.com/services.htm

Btw - cannot comment on the quality of their services
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Collector jrs private msg quote post Address this user
Not looking for advice on how to do it, simply information based on someone's experience about whether the process would involve tape or some other form of reinforcement.

The labels I've seen have not indicated the presence of tape, but I never purchased grader's notes to see if there was a mention of tape there.
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Collector poka private msg quote post Address this user
Again - pls read link. This is another one from same place. Page 7 onwards http://www.eclipsepaper.com/ebook/ebook.pdf
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Collector jrs private msg quote post Address this user
@poka thanks, will check it out.

Has anyone cracked a case to examine these types of reinforcements? I can imagine that an amateur reinforcement job would be quite grisly.
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Collector jrs private msg quote post Address this user
@poka, very interesting and informative read. Thanks for posting that.
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Ima gonna steal this and look for some occasion to use it! IronMan private msg quote post Address this user
The linked pdf is more about detecting restoration including reinforcement of paper. One could sorta deduce how it is done by knowing how to look for it. But I'll answer the question more directly...

Putting it simply, if the average person with no real training/practice wanted to reinforce a centerfold - or a cover or any interior page for that matter - the easiest and best choice would be archival quality tapes. You can find such at your local Blick art supply store.

Far from being a "forbidden" area of discussion, the CBCS website advises against using tape - but says if tape repairs are made they should be done with archival tape. Lin Co makes a "Document Repair Tape" that is archival and sold at Blick. There are others. Just look for the word "archival" or "acid free, pH neutral"

You remove the centerfold by carefully prying back the prongs of the staples and then use a narrow strip (like 1/8" ) on the inside (facing towards the interior) of the book over the staple holes. So you are normally talking about a piece of tape 1/8" wide by 1/2" long. Obviously that might vary some based on the size of the damaged area. If one was repairing a cover you would have to remove the staples entirely. Again the tape goes on the inside. BTW, getting staples that have been removed back into a book neatly without enlarging the holes noticeably is hard and takes much practice. It's easy to end up with staple holes much enlarged. It's also easy - if staples are removed - to mix up the staples or get them orientated wrong. So place the staples on some tape or something so that you know which was the top staple and which was the bottpm And which prong was top and which bottom on each staple. Once the book is back together you carefully bend the staple prongs back down.

Done with tape, CBCS will not call it restored - but will consider that tape a defect and grade accordingly. CGC should not consider it restored, but it can be a gray area. I had one client (I only pressed the book - he did the tape) that initially got such a book back from CGC in a purple label. After a phone call and and sending it back in, it got blue. CGC also treats the tape as defect but it's more complicated than that and this discussion is about reinforcing a centerfold, not grading standards.

The way pages and coves are reinforced as part of professional restoration is different. Normally it's high quality repair tissue made just for this purpose (reinforcing paper) applied with archival quality adhesive (rice, wheat, methyl cellulose pastes/adhesives or a combination of one or more) Done professionally by someone that is able to add some tinting to match surrounding paper it can be much more difficult to detect than simple archival tape.

I feel I should mention - since this is a forum of a grading company - that grade wise you might not see much difference between a detached or partially detached centerfold - and a centerfold reinforced/reattached with tape. So if you are sending in books to be graded, it might come down to which defect you prefer on the label.

If keeping a book raw and you just want to prevent further damage, then maybe a bit of (archival) tape gives one a book that is back together and more solid, safer to read.
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Collector jrs private msg quote post Address this user
@IronMan, thanks much for the insight. My curiosity arose because of those label notations.
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