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For me, I can load a film into a clamshell holder in under 30 seconds. For wet-mounting, I have to set up a station to hold my scaning tray. I don't want to spray solvent around my scanner, and it'd best to have good edge lighting to see for bubbles. I have to stock materials. Mylar is a dust magnet.... If you ever want to print optically, the film should be cleaned after scanning, which increases the risk of damage. (Leave a spot of mounting fluid on a glass plate for a week or so. There will be a residue.)
So....all of that adds up to a small bit of hassle, at least in my case.
“You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know
I hear ya man!!! It's all a hassle for me. I live in a small apartment. Compared to my old place I had a garage, darkroom in garage, shelves for all my stuff. Now I have to put everything in a box, put it all in patio closet, and take out boxes to process film, hang it in bathroom....all this before my gF comes home from work. I don't have desk space either so the scanner get's unplugged, wrapped up, and put in a closet. I have dedicated boxes for 35mm processing and large format processing. Plus boxes and boxes of dry chemicals for mixing. Sometimes I forget which closet I put my triple beam scale. There's so much "stuff" piled into closets.
What gets me going and makes me sane is to keep a "gratitude" book of notes. I don't think of these as too much hassle but I see it as being grateful I have them
Have a great weekend everybody!! And the tips...keep them coming!
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If you don't have a squeegee, take a tip from the glass phone screen protector people. Take a clean microfiber cloth. Wrap it around the long edge of a credit card (or similar). Use wrapped edge as a squeegee.
Bottom lighting doesn't help much for seeing bubbles. Side light does.
I put my mounting station in a nearby bathroom. Run a hot show for a few minutes without a fan. Cuts down on static and dust.
Cut your overlay sheet to be at least 2" bigger (total) than your film. Otherwise, if you have non-flat film, the surface tension between the fluid/mounting tray/ and overlay sheet won't hold the negative flat.
If you use tape (I don't), make sure it remains sticky when exposed to mounting fluid.
Don't be stingy with your fluid, but don't go crazy. It's a Goldilocks situation.
Stand your film on a short edge where you want that edge of the negative to be. Put down a line of fluid right in front of the film edge on the platen, i.e. on the side where the film will go, or spray the area if using a spray. Gently lay the negative down, bending slightly to put an inverted curve on the film, i.e. the film is bowing down a bit. As you lay the film down, it will roll into new fluid, as it were. Do the same thing with the overlay sheet.
I put a thin plastic mask with a cutout on top of the mylar to minimize stray light. A cheap source of masks: thin, flexible, solvent proof polyethylene cutting boards.
Don't leave the film mounted for too long.
If you'll never print optically, hang the film to dry completely. There will be some residue, but if you wet-mount again, the fluid will liquify it. If you might optically print later on, use a proper solvent to carefully clean the film. Hang to dry.
I prefer real stainless film hanging clips to clothes pins. They are less likely to let the film fall.
“You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know
Keep your workplace dust-free.
Minimize the time the film and scanning glass are exposed to open air.
Use compressed air (can be had from Costco at a reasonable price) to dust-off your film and glass before mounting and scanning.
Neither fluid mounting nor ANR glass help to deal with dust.
Re Gamsol as an alternative, is this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gamblin-Ga...MAAOSwblZZJcLq
the stuff?
I'm based in the UK so don't have the references that you in the US have.
Thanks!
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