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Thread: drying fiber prints at home

  1. #11

    drying fiber prints at home

    Ironing will most likely not get rid of center bubbles or wavy edges. The trick is to dry the print evenly all over.
    Without a Salthill or Burke and James dryer, the best way I have found is to squeegee, air dry 15 min emulsion up, place between photo blotters which are then placed between corrigated boards. Make a stack up to 18 in high. They will dry in 24 hrs. They probably will have a curl, but no compound curves. The machines mentioned are long discontinued, but they dried the prints by blowing air thru the corrigations. 24 hr turned to 3.

    One person here says he uses a flat bed and releases the canvas every few minutes to facilitate even drying. I never could get it to work.

    The only other method was a 3 foot diameter drum dryer fed by a canvas apron. The darkroom at college in the 1960`s had one and it worked. They were available both electric and gas
    heated.

    Irons, blotter books, small drum driers, hanging by one edge , screens, are all YUCK.

    The above was an answer I put up on Photo.Net yesterday.

    Just like to add add, I once did the glass plate but with the variation of a boxwood mechanical drawing board. Other than the tape residue which I cut off, the results were perfect.

  2. #12
    tim atherton's Avatar
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    drying fiber prints at home

    "After the final wash, I soak the prints in Edwal Super-Flat 1:15 for two
    minutes, then hang by a corner to dry. When the prints are dry to the
    touch, they get placed under the dry mount press for 48 hours. No curling,
    pops or buckles."

    It really depends where you are - I could never do this. It's so dry here (especially in winter) that if I hung a print up like that to dry, by the time it was dry it would have curled almost into a tube and be virtually impossible to flatten in a moutning press without cracking in the process... Even drying on racks they curl up pretty good

    One thing I've found works fairly well is hanging the prints and drying two back to back using small plastic clips on the corners to hold the two sheets together - that way the curl on one fights the curl on the other as they dry
    You'd be amazed how small the demand is for pictures of trees... - Fred Astaire to Audrey Hepburn

    www.photo-muse.blogspot.com blog

  3. #13

    Join Date
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    drying fiber prints at home

    Print dryers are selling cheap on Ebay. I know that a lot of folks here are not crazy about dryers but I use one and have not had any problems. I don't bother with ferrotyping (although I like this look) as I can never get an even gloss. I have a Premier twin print dryer that will handle up to 16x20 prints. The thermostat is adjustable. I think I paid around $80 for one in mint condition...shipping can get high however.

  4. #14

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    drying fiber prints at home

    Fo uncurling prints to be sent into the (hot) dry mount press, I slowly uncurl them on a hot piece of mat board that lives in the drymount press. I then flip the print and hold it down on he board for 30 seconds or so and the print flattens out enough to press another piece of board over the top of the print and slide it into the press. I have never damaged a print if handled with a bit of care. If I am doing this in the winter here in Minnesota, it is so dry the prints are curled up like tubes. There are many ways to skin a cat, this is just one. Apoligies to Mr Pickle and the Baby Eel for the cat skinning comment.

  5. #15

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    drying fiber prints at home

    You should switch to archival mat board instead of cardboard. I usually let my prints dry almost to completion on a clean surface (countertop, laundry area), then put the mostly dry prints between 2 pieces of archival mat board, weight it down, and let it dry.

  6. #16
    austin granger's Avatar
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    drying fiber prints at home

    Well, there are alot of good suggestions here. One that I didn't see is a variation on the screen method that might work if you don't have alot of space. Basically, it involves making a sort of screen "hammock" by attaching a length of screen to two wooden dowels (you can staple it on), which you can then hang up overhead with rope. Then, when not in use, you can roll it up and out of the way. Difficult to describe, but I think you'll understand what I mean.

  7. #17
    tim atherton's Avatar
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    drying fiber prints at home

    you mean like Bruce Wehman's?

    http://www.wehmancamera.com/drack.htm

    (I love some of Bruces home made gizmos:

    http://www.wehmancamera.com/tecban.html

    check out the 8x10 daylight processing tank...

    http://www.wehmancamera.com/tank.htm

    or the "corner pull neg carrier"

    http://www.wehmancamera.com/vchead.htm
    You'd be amazed how small the demand is for pictures of trees... - Fred Astaire to Audrey Hepburn

    www.photo-muse.blogspot.com blog

  8. #18

    drying fiber prints at home

    I have the same problem as Alex with the family pets. In fact, even after I have the prints up off the floor, dried, mounted, framed and on the wall, the dog and cat still have no regard for them. I've totally given up on the cat but the dog tries to show interest when I lecture him on the beauty of a fine black and white print. Unfortunately his attention span is less than five minutes so its hard to really get much information into him.

  9. #19
    Abuser of God's Sunlight
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    drying fiber prints at home

    I also squeegee them (both sides, on plexi) and hang by a clip from the corner.

    This has the disadvantage of leaving a faint clip mark in the corner, but I'm ok with that ... it's always covered by the window mat.

    I like this better than using drying screens, which take up lots of space and which are a potential source of contamination.

    Only other disadvantage is that prints can curl more, depending on humidity and the paper you use.

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