[pure-silver] Re: Dry Mounting

  • From: "Richard Knoppow" <dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2006 08:57:22 -0700


----- Original Message ----- From: "Justin F. Knotzke" <jknotzke@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, June 12, 2006 7:46 AM
Subject: [pure-silver] Re: Dry Mounting


<quote who=Richard Knoppow date=[09/06/2006 16:43]/>
Here is a summary of the Seal method of dry mounting. 

  Hi Richard,

First and foremost, Thank You. It's very much appreciated.

If you don't mind, I am going to put up your procedure on my website.
I'll let you know when I am done.

  I think I found your original post here:

//www.freelists.org/archives/pure-silver/03-2005/msg00241.html

  I was Googling for something else and it came up.

The press I got is a Seal 200 Commercial. It came with a HUGE unused
roll of tacking paper. More then I could ever want. If anyone needs any,
let me know.

The press works fine. It has two lights on it. One is red, the other
is green. The red blinks when the press is under tension. The green
appears to go on when the element is on (but I'm not entirely sure). I
don't think the dial is too accurate since when I set it to 190F or so,
the light never goes on.. So I assume it's not heating. Anyhow, I'll
have to play with it..

  I have a few questions.

You spoke of Kraft paper. I Googled for this and it's basically brown
envelope paper. Is this correct ?

Second, finding release paper is nearly impossible. I found two shops
that have it here in town but they won't sell it to me. My only chance
is to buy lots of mat board and then ask them for a sheet.

Freestyle has some, but it's going to cost me $50 or so for a roll.
I did some more Googling on this and someone said they use "cooking
paper" which is the paper used to keep your cookies from sticking to the
pan. Would this work as well ?

My real goal for buying this press isn't to mount prints but to
flatten them. You mentioned that it's possible to flatten wet prints in
a press. I assume I should not be using any heat at all. What do I
sandwich the print to, so that it doesn't stick to everything ?

I ran a few flattening tests with some prints and they seem to curl
as soon as they come out of the press. Is this because there is too much
heat, not enough or is it just because I have to drop something heavy on
it while it cools ?

  Thanks again,

  J




--
Justin F. Knotzke
jknotzke@xxxxxxxxxx
http://www.shampoo.ca


I edited the version sent to this list to correct some errors. If you post use that one or I can send you a Word Perfect or PDF via e-mail.

The key to both flattening and mounting is the use of the flat weight. The original Seal weight was a thick sheet of Aluminum with a handle on the top. Aluminum is a very good conductor of heat. However, even smooth plywood works OK. A sheet of 1/2 inch is heavy enough.
For flattening one must have the emulsion side of the print against a sheet of release paper and the absorbent paper on the back. The absorbent paper can be any thick, clean, paper. It should be dried out in the press before using it to flatten a print. The purpose of the release tissue is to prevent the emulsion from drying out. Paper curls becuse of the differential shrinkage of the emulsion and support. The idea is to dry out the support without drying out the emulsion. The layer of release tissue will seal the emulsion side.
Place the print with the support side against the dry paper. Place a sheet of release tissue over the emulsion side and a couple of more sheets of paper over the release tissue to act as a cushion. Place this in the press and close it. It takes perhaps two minutes to dry out the print. Then take the whole sandwich out and, at once, place it under the flat weight. It will take a few minutes to cool off. The cooling will take place faster if a sheet of aluminum is used but plywood will cool in three or four minutes. Take the sandwich out and you will find the print is flat and will stay flat.
When mounting use the same technique. After fusing the tissue in the press take out the entire sandwich of print, mountboard, release tissue, and cushioning sheets, and place it under the weight. Leave it there for a few minutes. The mounted print should come out perfectly flat and smooth.

BTW, the idea of drying prints against a screen is to let the support dry out while keeping some moisture in the emulsion side. While plastic screening has many advantages I suspect the old cheese-cloth screens were more effective in preventing curling because the cloth absorbed some moisture from the print and tended to keep the emulsion more moist.

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


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