I have Richard's instruction pinned over my drymount press too.
On Dec 30, 2017 7:53 PM, "darkroommike" <darkroommike@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The Seal drymounting plates are just as heavy as a similar sized piece of
MDF or counter top.
On 12/30/2017 6:02 PM, Adrienne Moumin wrote:
Thank you so much to everyone who has weighed in with ideas and methods
for post-dry mounting weighting of prints.
A similar query in a facebook group yielded someone who actually has the
type of metal plate I want, so now that I have seen the pictures and
description, I am waiting to hear the ...drumroll... price! I have a big
thick piece laminated shelf from years ago, courtesy of Ikea, but it is
just too heavy and I really want metal for the temp conductivity.
I also realized that I need to get a larger press(!!) since the 1" throat
on my 16x20 will not allow the prints in the center of the collage to fit.
So the hunt is now on for something bigger. My own danged fault for having
*large* ambitions! 😊
Lifelong collage artist (read: packrat) that I am, I actually have saved
Richard's dry mounting instructions from 2007(!) - so no need to test out
your carpal tunnel surgery here (which I am so very sorry you had to go
through!) I have followed these instructions faithfully over the years with
a couple of my own tweaks, and now have them committed them to memory but
of course still have the original e-mail saved in a word doc, so here ya go:
From: "Richard Knoppow" <dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<http://by118fd.bay118.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/compose?curmbox=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&a=89106930d8e7d424713ebae056b902aa373bbddc486d6846fc5828abb374e0ae&mailto=1&to=dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx&msg=EA840FB8-DC94-4DA7-9FF5-1955070F03BC&st%20>
Subject: [pure-silver] Re: how to use release paper?
Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:22:15 –0700
FWIW, the method I now use for dry mounting is based partially on a
procedure described in a booklet published by Seal in the past but no
longer available, plus some changes I've found useful in practice.
The difference between this method and some others is that I bond the
dry mounting tissue to the print first. The first step is drying and
flattening the print as described. I also dry out the mounting board in the
press for a couple of minutes.
When the print has been dried and flattened I tack a piece of dry
mounting tissue to it at a spot on one edge. I then make a sandwich of the
print and tissue by laying the print face down on a sheet of release paper
with some padding under it. I then place another sheet of release paper
over the mounting tissue and some layers of padding on top of that. The
entire assembly is then put in the press and locked down for perhaps 1 to 2
minutes, what ever time is necessary to fuse the tissue. The sandwich is
then removed and placed under the weight to cool. When cool the release
paper will strip right off the excess mounting tissue. The tissue will have
bonded smoothly to the entire back of the print. I then trim the print and
tissue together to the desired size and shape. I then tack the print to the
mat, again at a spot at one edge, and place a sheet of release tissue over
the print along with several sheets of padding paper, construction paper or
blotter paper works well for this. The assembly is than placed in the
press and locked down for the time recommended for bonding the tissue,
typically about 2 minutes. The entire assembly, including the release
tissue and padding, is then put under the weight to cool. The cooling time
depends on the thickness of the assembly and the type of material the
weight is made of. For aluminum it might take no longer than about 2 to 3
minutes, for wood perhaps 5 or more minutes. Experience will tell.
When the finished print comes out the release tissue will just lift
off. The result is a very flat and very smooth mount with no excess tissue
or bleeding at the edges. Because the tissue is fused to the two surfaces
separately there is much less chance for bubbles or wrinkles to form. I
still like dry mounting for display prints because IMO it gives the most
uniform surface, especially for glossy or nearly glossy paper. Archivists
and gallery people prefer unmounted prints because dry mounted prints can
be very difficult to remove from their mats should some future treatment of
the print or replacement of the mat become necessary. The drying method
works well for prints to be mounted on hinges or corner mounts. When low
temperatures are used it does no damage to the prints. I typically set the
press for about the temperature for fusing color mount tissue although
temperatures lower than this, as low as 150F or perhaps even less, will
work well for drying.
Note: Some old Kodak instructions show tacking the release tissue and
print by making an X across the back. This is bad practice and will very
often result in wrinkles or bubbles. Tacking at a spot or short line at one
edge works a lot better. This is the method recommended by Seal.
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<http://by118fd.bay118.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/compose?curmbox=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&a=89106930d8e7d424713ebae056b902aa373bbddc486d6846fc5828abb374e0ae&mailto=1&to=dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx&msg=EA840FB8-DC94-4DA7-9FF5-1955070F03BC&st%20>
Thank you, Richard, and thank you, everyone, for all the advice and
camaraderie over the years - decades, actually! I have been part of this
wonderful group since about 1986!
Wishing a Happy New Year to you all,
Adrienne
*Adrienne Moumin Handmade B&W photographs and photo collages:* http://
<http://picturexhibit.com>picturexhibit.com
*Architextures series: *http://picturexhibit.com/html/architextures.html
NYC and Silver Spring, MD
212-602-1809 <(212)%20602-1809>
