It's as noted very dependent on humidity and how prints are dried. I have huge Seal steel weights that I use when mounted prints come out of the press.
I use a Pako drum dryer for drying FB prints, don't over dry, then put in a stack under a book etc.
Print flattening solution was used for decades, fell by the wayside when RC came along, and all the hysteria of archival washers etc etc.
Chris,
So you are trying to dry prints by using a dry mount press? I assumed you were trying to attach a print to a matboard using sealing paper. Did you think that the "DRY" in dry mount press mean it's for drying prints? It's not.
I have never heard of drying a wet print using a dry mount press.
On the surface, I would image problems.
I'm assuming you are using NON-resin-coated paper -- that would cause its own problems.
Drying wet paper in a dry mount press will create problems because there is no where for the water to go! The heat from the press will expand the paper and the moisture can't escape.
Who told you to try this?
Are you trying to dry prints, flatten them, or both.
The HEAT in a dry mount press is used to attach the print to a mountboard using a sheet of dry mount adhesive paper. The heat melts the adhesive and they stick together.
Please do not tell anyone that I was once an English teacher. I obviously cannot communicate clearly. The Seal press says “Dry Mount Press” on it, which leads to confusion. I am placing 16x20 prints that have dried on screens for 3 days into the press. I am not mounting the prints to anything, merely flattening them. Periodically I get this wrinkles on the edges. The wrinkles extend perpendicular from the edge for about an inch.
Thanks for sticking with me while I ineptly describe my problem.
Chris
…and a further detail, the wrinkles are always on the short side of the paper. Thanks
Let me spell out, like others, the fuller procedure than your really asked for, because the greater context might help explain your immediate issue :
It is important not only to flatten your prints under a weight first for a few days, but to consistently pre-dry all your components at the time of mounting, except the drymount tissue itself. Unless you live in a dry climate where everything has been stored there long enough to acclimate to that, then, 1) pre-dry your two sheets of pressing board before each session; 2) BRIEFLY pre-dry your print between those boards maybe 20 sec; pre-dry your final mounting board between them, about 20 sec per side, all so far with the press merely closed, but not firmly clamped yet. Then firmly clamp it for the final mounting involving the tissue itself, which I will not outline here, except that with most tissues you do not want to actual press temperature to be above 210F !
Your described problem could well be because of the bad advice your teacher gave you. It might have been correct back when MT5 was the predominant mounting tissue, but current favorites like Seal Colormount or TriMount Drytac are engineering for lower temps. If temps consistently above 180F don't work, you need longer "dwell" time - that is, in the press. Substituting higher temps for longer time is a recipe for trouble. Since opening and closing the press repeatedly tends to lose some temp, I aim for slightly above 200 F on the dial itself. Of course, thermostats have to be checked if they are old; and Seal made a special kind of melting tape to test this. This pertains to drymount tissues per se. But too hot a temp might also over-dry the gelatin top layer and embrittle it, or most certainly, cause it to differentially curl in opposition to the paper layer behind, especially if you do have, as you suspect, some temp unevenness to your press platen.
So if you did go to full drymounting, you would still have a problem, yet one really quite easy to diagnose : 1) you are failing to pre-dry your components; 2) you are using too high a temperature, shocking that relatively humid material into differential modes of shrinkage, hence wrinkling.
But I should also mention a third variable : modern tissues fully bond under cooling; so after pressing, you IMMEDIATELY need to put the mounted print under a large flat weight for a reasonable period of cooling, maybe five minutes.
So no, I did not fail to read your original question, and how you are just trying to flatten prints in the press, and not necessarily fully drymount them. But full mounting is only way you're going to keep individual fiber-based prints flat for display purposes. Once they start re-absorbing humidity, there going to begin to wrinkle somewhat, regardless, unless they're left within a heavy stack inside a print box or cabinet drawer.
I store my Seal slightly open
I also use release paper and change it often
Since mine was almost new, used slightly by a woman, it is perfect
I keep it that way
no hammers needed
Tin Can
Chris,
Thanks for the extra info.
Since your goal is simply to flatten the prints, you don't need heat. That might be causing the wrinkles.
Just leaving dried prints under a weight -- I use 1/4 glass -- will do the job. Some people use print flattening solutions.
But once it's flat, you need to do something to keep it flat.
You can simply put it in a frame under glass -- with or without a front mat -- but it's best to use dry or wet mounting on a flat "board".
That's where a dry mount press comes in. Other methods are basically glues that stick the print to a flat board.
So there are two steps. #1 -- process & dry your print and get it flat. #2 -- put it on/in something to keep it flat for display.
Chris, when you dry your wet prints on a screen do you dry them face down or up?
Hi Chauncey, I put them face up.
Face up, face down, makes little difference. Ya still gotta weight them down under heavy glass for awhile once dry. I always put em face up on fiberglass screens while drying, to prevent any hypothetical contamination of the emulsion surface, or any screen marks on true high gloss rather than fiber-based media. Some curling is inevitable until they are pressed under a weight.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks