Curly Prints.

[Joseph O'Neil]

I went the "wussy" route. Dry mount press.
joe

[Brian C. Miller]

John, are you refering to Yasutomo Nori Paste or pure rice starch? (After you wrote that, I remembered AA mounting everything with paste) I spent some quality time with Google, found a recipe for making (cooking) your own paste, and also found this Yasutomo Nori Paste which looks like its ready to use from the bottle or jar.

[Enrique Vila]

Thanks all!!

I´ll try to fix without hardener.

Cheers,

Enrique.-

Melbourne, Australia

http://www.vilaphoto.tk

[John Cook]

Brian and Eric,

The materials you mention sound excellent. The archival glue I found was similar to this:

http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.com/servlet/OnlineShopping?Dsp=20300&PCR=30000:220000:223000:223100

But for my everyday expendable stuff, I use premixed wallpaper paste. It has plenty of "tack" on towel-wiped barely damp prints, obviating the need for weights. The type intended for Mylar wallpaper seems suitable for RC paper, as well.

But in the old days with single weight Kodak Mural R, we used to coat the board with (slightly dilute) Elmer's white glue with a paint roller and let it fully dry. Then flopping on the sopping wet print would reactivate the glue and the print would stick. With a Kodak hard rubber squeegee we dried off the print and let it dry flat, no weights, overnight. A second sheet of paper on the reverse side was needed to keep the board from curling as the print dried and shrunk. Don't know if this mural technique would work with double weight papers today. Thus, the wallpaper paste.

Used to use 1/4" double tempered masonite. But now prefer Gatorboard as a base.

By the way, I still have a mural mounted with Elmer's in 1970. No visible deterioration as yet.

[paulr]

"Papers, like everything else, have probably changed since the 1960's.

They have ... and one significant way is that they all (at least the ones that I've used since the 80s) have pre-hardened emulsions. Adding more hardener just causes problems.

[Brian C. Miller]

John, when you say a second sheet of paper on the back was necessary, do you mean that you glued a blank sheet to the back too?

[domenico Foschi]

Archival glue?
I am afraid there is no such thing.

[MacGregor Anderson]

Enrique,

I'm afraid you will never truly understand "blind dedication to the craft" until you've stubbed your unshod toe on a dry mount press in the dark. And spilled your drink.

Others may approach the problem with sushi wrappers or dilute childhood glues. "Borrowed" manhole covers, their wive's irons, window panes, duct tape, public restroom hand dryers, dart boards, billboards facing South, the hoods of Lincoln town cars. You name it.

But in the end, you must bloody your toe on a press, stored in the hallway by the coat rack.

It's either that, or go with RC.

Mac

[John Cook]

Brian:

The key advantage of this technique is that the print is mounted wet, while still soft, before it has a chance to dry and develop permanent stiff curls. Pasting down a stubborn dry curly print probably won't work.

Because prints tend to stretch when wet and shrink back during drying, you get a nice tight job with this method. However, our murals were perhaps three to six feet long and the masonite was very flexible. Thus, the shrinking print caused the whole board to become slightly concave. The solution was to fix and wash an unexposed piece of mural paper and attach it, wet, to the reverse side to neutralize (or equalize) the pressure.

This may not be necessary with a smaller print on a good stout sheet of gatorfoam.

Domenico:

I believe the definition of "archival" is open to interpretation.

The product I use is touted as such, not because it is likely to last forever. Rather, it is unlikely to cause any permanent damage. The ph is neutral, it is reversible with a simple water bath and it does not become so brittle with age as typical school glues.

You are certainly welcome to another definition.

[Gene Crumpler]

Here is the easy answer. After you air dry your prints, take damp, not a wet cloth/sponge, and dampen the back of the print just until it starts to be a bit limp. Place between clean mat boards and place several large books or other weights on top. 12-24 hours your 16x20's will be almost flat. Then you should be able to mount then.