[pure-silver] Re: best way to flatten prints?

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Shannon Stoney" <sstoney@xxxxxxx>
To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, March 18, 2005 8:36 AM
Subject: [pure-silver] best way to flatten prints?


>I have been using heavy books to flatten prints, but 
>sometimes they
> end up sort of wavy on the edges.  Is there another, 
> better way?  I
> don't have a dry mount press, although some time I think I 
> might try
> to find a used one.
>
> --shannon
>

    I've found a dry mounting press does about the best job. 
Flattening is part of the procedure for dry mounting but can 
be done alone for prints to be mounted some other way or 
just loose prints.
    You need a flat weight. Ideally, this should be a sheet 
of aluminum because of its heat absorbing ability, but wood 
will do.
    You also need some release tissue and some heavy "Kraft" 
or construction paper. Clean photo blotters will do if you 
have them.
    First, set the press for a relatively low temperature, 
around 190F.
    Dry out the sheets of kraft or blotter paper in the 
press. Put them into the press and close it without locking 
it down. Leave in for about 2 minutes.
    Now, make a sandwich by putting the print on a sheet of 
the kraft paper. More sheets can be used for a cussion. 
Place a sheet of release paper over the emulsion side. Place 
more sheets of dry kraft paper over the release tissue to 
act as a cussion.
Put the whole thing in the press. Close it but do not lock 
it. Leave in for about 2 minutes.
Remove the entire sandwich and place under the flat weight 
for a few minutes until cool.
   The print will be flat and will stay that way.
   The release paper can be re-used until it becomes 
wrinkled.
   The reason for the release tissue is that it prevents the 
emulsion from drying out too much. It also protects the 
surface. The reason paper curls is that the emulsion and 
support shrink at different rates when drying. By covering 
the emulsion the support is dryed out more which tends to 
equalize the shrinkage.
   Edge frilling may come from excessively rapid drying. 
Also, some papers have a greater tendency to frill. I always 
had problems with Agfa paper, never with Kodak paper. If you 
find that a particular brand or type of paper frills the 
only cure is to make prints with large enough borders to 
allow cutting off the frilled part.

---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

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