Plate burner for alternate processes

[jon.oman]

Maybe if you're printing small, but if you're printing larger then you'll get light fall off.

Long[er] exposure times are just one of the things that occur with alt process printing; if you're having very long exposure times you may want to look at your negatives as they may be overly dense. It seems lots of people think for alt process you need a bullet-proof negative which is just not true, you only need a negative that matches the density range of the process you are printing in.

Ah, yes, another thing to consider. At first, the largest I will be printing is 8x10, but if things go well, I would love to go to 11x14 or larger! So, I guess the plate burner should not be modified for shorter exposures.

I know that I will have to adjust my negatives to fit the process. I will of course do some testing from end to end.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Jon

[Vaughn]

There are also some advantges to longer exposures with some alt processes -- mostly those that create a printing-out image as well as a developing out image (cyanotypes, salt prints, platinum, etc).

The creation of the printing out image actually lags behind the exposure. I made exposures with platinum/palladium prints, removed the prints halfway thru the exposure and stored them in the dark. Upon resuming the exposure 10 to 15 minutes later, the printing-out image had definitely increased during the time in the dark.

In theory, the printing out image reduces the exposure in the shadows and generally helps to produce a smoother tonality. YMMD

I think you will find the vacuum frame to be a handy item for keeping good contact between the neg and the paper. You might find that you want to keep the vacuum low. Excessive vacuum can draw the moisture out of your material, and some moisture is needed for the chemical reactions to take place properly. This is especially true for Ziatypes (a printing-out platinum process).

Good hunting! The plate burners were almost being thrown away by the printers until the alt photo people found out about them and demand for them went up like a rocket!

Vaughn

[jon.oman]

Good hunting! The plate burners were almost being thrown away by the printers until the alt photo people found out about them and demand for them went up like a rocket!

Vaughn

I knew I should have gotten one a few years ago! I'll keep looking for one of those 'thrown away' units!

Jon

[Jeremy Moore]

I think you will find the vacuum frame to be a handy item for keeping good contact between the neg and the paper. You might find that you want to keep the vacuum low. Excessive vacuum can draw the moisture out of your material, and some moisture is needed for the chemical reactions to take place properly. This is especially true for Ziatypes (a printing-out platinum process).

Vaughn

Good point, Vaughn. I'd been using a cut-up trash bag to help with the moisture sucking until I finally went over to the fabric store and purchased some black vinyl cut-to-size. My vacuum is right around 5lb and starting from the rubber bladder I put the black vinyl down then mat board, coated paper, negative.

[John Voss]

I too will wait for the correct price. I was thinking of visiting some of the local printers to see if they had one just sitting around. My understanding is that most of the print prepress stuff has been replaced with computers and computer printers that can create a 'plate'.

Jon

Exactly how we got ours. It was about $300 from a not too distant print shop. and they were happy to get rid of it. My wife uses it to burn polymer plates for photogravures. So far the largest has only been 8x10, but it has been an even and excellent burn. She is not anticipating any problems with larger plates, and there is zero tolerance for error in the process. Don't hesitate to get this if you can; you will not regret it.

[jon.oman]

Exactly how we got ours. It was about $300 from a not too distant print shop. and they were happy to get rid of it. My wife uses it to burn polymer plates for photogravures. So far the largest has only been 8x10, but it has been an even and excellent burn. She is not anticipating any problems with larger plates, and there is zero tolerance for error in the process. Don't hesitate to get this if you can; you will not regret it.

John,

Thanks for the information. I'll get out the local yellow pages after the first of next year. Maybe I will get lucky, and find one in the next few months!

Jon