Drying Fiber papper without curling

[ShannonG]

Im sure this has been asked before ,sorry imma bad searcher. Currently i squeegee my prints on a sheet of glass ,back side first then front side,then place them face down on my home made screen racks.After a day or so of drying ,(with edges curled i flatten them between 2 sheets of foam core with waits on them (usually books)for 4 or 5 days.this system seems to work ok,and they still mat up fine,but is there a better way ?. I do have a fiber print dryer,but dont like the curve it gives to the prints,so i just use it for test strips.So if you Fiber printers can give me some tips on how to dry the flattest fiber print,that would be much appreciated. thanks

[Pete Watkins]

Once the print has been hung up to dry overnight I flatten it in my hot mounting press, just for a few minutes.
Pete.

[ShannonG]

Pete,,so you think a dry mount press works best?I dont have one ,should consider buying one?Ive needed one for a long time now,but until i get one is there other ways to get a perfectly flat fiber print?After being on my screen rack should i put them on my dryer (the curved type with the canvas) thanks for your reply

[rwhb1]

I purchased secondhand dry mount press from Ebay, works fine, but others on here suggest use of glassine sheet envelops to protect print while pressing.

Russ

[Pete Watkins]

The dry mount press is the best that I've tried but there could be better methods.
Pete.

[Colin Robertson]

Print with a slightly wider border than you want to end up with.
Drain your wet prints them put them on a freshly cleaned window. Take gummed paper tape (art shop) and stick the prints down around their edges. They will dry beautifully flat. Slice tape to release, trim print edges.
You might find over a day or so the print takes a very faint curl (something to do with temperature, I suspect. Windows are cold) but it's insignificant, and easily cured by a couple of days under a weight if it annoys you. I'm currently making the flattest fibre prints I've ever managed.

[Robert Bowring]

Dry mounting press and cool under some weight.

[Tin Can]

This is a good idea!

Thanks!

Print with a slightly wider border than you want to end up with.
Drain your wet prints them put them on a freshly cleaned window. Take gummed paper tape (art shop) and stick the prints down around their edges. They will dry beautifully flat. Slice tape to release, trim print edges.
You might find over a day or so the print takes a very faint curl (something to do with temperature, I suspect. Windows are cold) but it's insignificant, and easily cured by a couple of days under a weight if it annoys you. I'm currently making the flattest fibre prints I've ever managed.

[ShannonG]

Thanks for the advice and great ideas.Today ,instead of putting them on the drying screens i dried them on my print dryer, (the heated type with the wrap around canvas)then put them under some wait. Will check on them in the morning.The Question is if my print dryer is hot enough, and that the slight curve in it still allows the prints to go flat after they have been under wait for a day or 2..If this doesn't work then i guess im on the look out for a 16X20 dry mount press. Ill post it on the wanted/for sale board. Thanks again for your help.
Shannon

[Daniel Stone]

You can also purchase pre-made/assembled fly screens from the hardware store, or your local glazier. Once your prints are finished washing, squeegee them and place them face up on the screens, laying one screen atop another below. Basically, making a 'sandwich' of sorts. Use a screen over the top layer, so its all protected. Use some bungee cords to keep the 'sandwich' together, and you can make your stack as thick or thin as you need. This stacking will only allow the paper to curl so much(since it's being constrained by the screen above it).

Cheap, easy and I've found it to be very effective. Easy to keep clean too, especially if the metal frames are aluminum vs steel(so they don't rust). Nylon screen material is quite durable too.You might be able to get stainless frames, although I haven't asked if they're a possibility on custom-made frames. I just bought mine for ~$8/36"x48" screen on sale @ Home Depot.

-Dan

Kinda like this:


::-----------screen-----------------::
. print print print print print print
::-----------screen-----------------::
. print. print print print
::-----------screen-----------------::
. print print print print print print
::-----------screen-----------------::
. print print print print print print
::-----------screen-----------------::