An Update on Restorations - R&D
Firstly, I just want to say a huge thank you for your patience — and I’m really sorry that I’m still not open for full restorations at the moment (although I sort of am behind the scenes, as I’m carrying out several small repair orders each week).
When it comes to card repair and restoration, some jobs are much quicker and more straightforward than others. Lifted edges and small dents, for example, can usually be turned around fairly quickly — and I’m completing these on a regular basis. Creases, however, are a completely different story. The process has to be repeated several times: the card goes into the humidor, I work the crease, it spends two to three days in a clamp, then back into the humidor, more work, back into the clamp… and so on.
Because this process takes so much time, space, and specialist equipment — and I only have a limited number of clamps — I’ve had to continue temporarily pausing larger restoration jobs. For now, my focus is on pregrading, cleaning, polishing, and smaller repair work (excluding crease removals).
I also split my time between my own studio (where I currently work around two days a week) and a local card shop, where I carry out PSA pregrading on a biweekly basis. Alongside this, I’m constantly researching and refining new techniques to push restoration forward. This part of my work takes up a huge amount of time (and desk space!), but it’s something I’m genuinely passionate about.
Recently, I’ve been testing a completely new method that could genuinely change how certain types of damage are repaired. I’ve even managed to remove creases from cards without using heat or moisture — potentially a huge breakthrough for cards that are too fragile or cracked to risk traditional methods with humidity. For any fellow card care enthusiasts or companies reading this, I’ll be sharing more about this in The Card Care Academy once I’ve completed further testing — it’s still early days, but looking very promising.
So, while it might look like I’m quiet on the restoration front, there’s actually a lot happening behind the scenes. I hope this gives you a better idea of why I’m not fully open just yet — and I truly appreciate everyone’s continued patience and support while I work to make things even better.
