Pressing Cards or documents - better than heavy books

[Runscott]

Some day someone might find this useful.

I was re-binding a rare book that needed the signatures pressed and held in a particular position, so I built a book press. A book press works a million per cent better to flatten paper and cards than putting them under a pile of books.

But they are expensive - cheapest I found was a $225 contraption that looked...cheap. The simplest and and most cost-effective way to build your own is to get a couple of clamps (4 1/2" if you plan to press books) and two smooth pieces of 1/2-3/4" wood. Put the card between typing paper, place that between the blocks of wood and then clamp the pieces of wood together with two clamps. I built such a device for $14 and wish I had thought of it back in the days when I was washing glued-on paper from t206 cards. The device shown below is my upgrade, as I found that I wanted to straighten out a few more warped books. If it works for books, imagine what it will do for a t206 or a warped document.

The following was made with a fancy $21 clamp from Lowe's that has a large screw in the middle at the bottom, and a greased bolt on either side. I got two pieces of purpleheart (you need very hard wood to press books this way) and used the two cheap clamps for the top of the wood. It actually flattens books and cost about $60 (over $20 for the purpleheart - you can get by with scrap wood for baseball cards). You can put a piece of cardboard between the clamps to separate the greasy bolts from the bottom of your wood. There are also two screw-holes on either side of the clamp that are perfect for screwing your board directly to the clamp sides for permanency, but purpleheart is VERY hard and your screws could break. Other hardwoods will take screws better and will work just fine - I just like purpleheart.

This is also good for flattening documents that get wet - just be sure that your pieces of wood are large enough, and smooth.

[steve B]

I'll add that for cards, it may be worth adding some other material to the pressing faces of the wood. And that the better the wood the better you'll do.

When I was doing an experiment to try to force a WST on a T206, I used wood scraps and wrapped the wet card in paper. My small vise pressed the wood grain into the card surface. (The card was already pretty beat, so it wasn't really "damaged" much. )

[Runscott]

a thin book

[steve B]

That's a really nice setup for doing books. Just saying that not all similar things press the same.

[Michael B]

Mine looks similar to this one. I picked it up on a sidewalk on Beacon Street near the State House in Boston in the late 1980's. It is solid iron and weights 53 pounds. The platen face is about 8½ x 11 so I can use it for many things. I put any item I am trying to press between two pieces of cardstock as the top part of the press had gotten a little pitted.

[samosa4u]

I use this to flatten my cards.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by samosa4u

I use this to flatten my cards.

Fuel efficient and time saving as well. You can press a whole set without leaving your driveway.

[orioles70]

That is what I used for this card...your results may vary

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[GasHouseGang]

When I saw the title of this thread I thought it was going to be a joke. Someone just trying to lighten the mood. I figured who would bring up this subject with all that's currently going on? But I was wrong. My biggest surprise is how little reaction this thread is getting. Everyone is so ready to out the card doctors, but lets start a thread that shows a better way you can flatten cards at home. Are you serious? Am I the only one getting confused about what is and what is not acceptable? Where do collectors stand on this issue? It seems like there are very mixed messages. It's okay to soak your cards, smash them flat, erase marks with an artist eraser, all in the name of making them look better. That's okay, you didn't modify it, you only took away things that weren't supposed to be there. Hmm... I'm beginning to think there are 1000's of card doctors out there. You might only have to look in a mirror. Everyone who has soaked a bunch of cards out of a scrapbook, everyone who has erased prices off the back of a card, everyone who has spooned out a crease or flattened back down a corner, is a card doctor.
Maybe you only did it once or twice, maybe you justified it because it's just for your own collection, but let's at least be honest. This has been going on FOR YEARS! Are we just now noticing? Seriously? I argued that I felt soaking a card with water is the same as soaking it with a chemical. We even discussed whether water was a chemical. Do you remember? How many said soaking cards is fine? Most collectors here thought it was perfectly okay. I'm not even sure I'm against it, it's undoubtedly how we've gotten most of the high grade tobacco and caramel cards. But let's at least admit what's going on. You're taking a card, getting it wet, and smashing it flat with a pile of weights/books (or clamps if you follow the new method). Do you think that might have removed some creases at the same time? If I'm following the argument correctly, the only things that are considered taboo are trimming a card or adding color. Some people don't want you to soak it in a chemical, but many even said that is okay if it doesn't smell "like chemicals" when you are done. I can't make this stuff up.

Okay, back to bashing the real card doctors.

[steve B]

Scotts Use is for books, where rebinding is acceptable especially if the original is wrecked. To get the parts of the book sewn back as they should be, a press is pretty much required. Lots of old books were also originally sold unbound so the buyer could have them bound in a way that suited their taste, or to match the rest of their library.
Like anything, rebinding should always be disclosed, even if it's obvious, and it usually is.
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If you're ok with soaking to remove a card from a scrapbook, the soaked card needs to at least be weighted down or it will wrinkle as it dries.
(Perhaps one of the better arguments against soaking)

The card I soaked and pressed was already P-F, maybe borderline "A" and was sort of expendable to demonstrate that simple water and pressure wouldn't create a wet sheet transfer. With the woodgrain pressed in, I'd say I didn't leave the card better than before the soaking...



And post soaking and pressing... showing no transfer created at all. I can now say for certain that just water and pressure won't do it. (I was 99% sure before the experiment)