Adrienne, the method you use is about what I described. After
flattening the print I tack the mounting tissue to it along one short
side. The put the print with the tissue between sheets of release tissue
and fuse the adhesive in the press. Then, after cooling between the flat
sheets, I trim the print and tissue. Then put the print and cushions on
the mount and tack it at one corner. Put a sheet of release tissue over
it and fuse the assembly to the mounting board in the press. Then cool
the whole thing between the flat sheets. The result is a perfectly flat
print with no adhesive residue around the edges. Avoid the old Kodak
method that has you tack the tissue in an X pattern, its guaranteed put
wrinkles in.
It is possible to mount prints larger than the press in sections
but requires great care and more skill than I possess.
Your Ikea board will work fine, I suppose you could rig a block and
tackle on one end. The weight is important. Of course, you also need a
flat board underneath.
A note: My carpal tunnel surgery was not at all difficult to go
through. I was lucky to find a very good surgeon here who specializes in
hand surgery. I want others who may suffer from the fairly common
problem to know it can be fixed. I procrastinated for years for reasons
to complicated to explain but I very happy I finally go it done. I will
have my right hand done soon.
Happy New Year to all.
On 12/30/2017 4:02 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 <http://picturexhibit.com>
*Architextures series: *http://picturexhibit.com/html/architextures.html
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212-602-1809
