It is quite difficult for me to get access to a dry mounting press. Can you reccommend any clever DIY ways to dry mount prints? I've heard that a clothes iron can work.....is this true? As in previous question, archival quality is required. My prints are usually 10x8. Thank
Stephen: A clothes iron will work. Don't overdo the heat and take your time. You need to use a piece of mount board between the iron and print to even out the heat. Keep the iron moving. I suggest the Seal Colormount tissue, as it requires less heat. You may be able to find a used drymount press fairly cheap as I did.
Regards,
Stephen I use a clothes iron with limited success. It is really hard to get everything flat. If I don't clean the iron surface each time I use it I get marks on the print. I use release paper between the iron and the print. I like the idea of using a piece of mat board to not only even out the heat but also to even out the pressure. I'm going to try it on my next mount. I set the temperature at a very low setting. Using the mat may require a higher temperature setting. Jeff
dry mounting is not considered an archival process. also, in my HABS/HAER work, toning is not allowed. for archival mounting, we use linen tape hinges.
Before getting a press I used an iron on occaision. What worked best for me was to place a clean matboard over the print and on top of that an 1/8th inch piece of aluminum slightly bigger than the print size. This helps even out the heat and holds the heat better than the mat board alone. I got very good at mounting up to 11x14. Anything larger I had mounted at a framing shop.
Michael, if the NPS site ever gets back online, you can check out the HABS/HAER specs yourslef...it's the "Historic American Building Survey/Historic Architectural Engineering Record" project or something similar to that...a preservation prograpm run by the Fed gov't...using contract photographers mostly, or the 2 staffers they have, or with staffers working for various state gov't agencies...usually they're linked into a Dept. of Transportation agency or an Archives....in my agency, they work out of the Dept. of Cultural Resources Historic Preservation branch.....
I can't speak for Mr. Norman, but I'm just guessing he goofed up typing that response, because toning is considered part of the final printing process, and could be considered a step in the preservation negs as well. However, I can say that in an archive or museum, dry mounting is considered to be about the worst thig that you can do to a print or a piece of textual material, or anything on paper....to be "archival", anything done must be reversible....dry mounting tissues also have problems with the adhesives used, and with some the actual material used in the tissue part...is close to glasseine, which is pretty bad as well. I'm not talking "fine art" here, but for an archivist or a conservator's point of view, to dry mouny something is close to ruining it....as always, my opinions only here.
I don't know - I've seen a lot of conflicting accounts. Museums and conservationists have typically preferred linen hinges. However a recent article in View Camera (see http://www.superiorarchivalmats.com/Article.html for the article) argued that this was insufficient and the use of a special mat board called ArtCare was actually better as it trapped pollutants and prevented them from reaching the artwork). The article makes interesting reading.
And yes, my understanding is that toning is necessary for archival considerations. Nishimura's work concluded that it needed toning to completion - for example, incomplete toning in seleium to enhance Dmax was not as archival as complete toning.
Cheers, DJ.
Sorry for my horrendous spelling up there...I feel like the moleman, I've been confined to the darkroom for a couple of weeks....the Thomas Duplex is about as bright as my world gets...
Uh, the NPS site is down temporarily I think, but there's some vendor type specs online for what they need, and there's a booklet they put out as well...as far as I know (I don't do survey work), they're really picky about just what they will accept....I know that a typical state survey project is a little more lax in regards to the final materials, but for the most part they tend to deal with negative based archives over a print based one....the way I look at something like HABS is akin to a reformatting project, but instead of books or newspapers and microfilm, they work with buildings....fiber based paper and polyester based sheet films are sorta the "gold standard" for long-term storage....in my line of work, we aim more for long-term files of negs over all else...probably the majority of all the archives & institutions in this country have the facility & means to make an archival print, but the majority of the access prints are done on RC papers, and now digital output....the master files are always the negs....and b&w sheet films would be the choice....kind of the opposite of what the fine-art world does....as for me, personally, I have no problems with folks who want to dry mount...I do it myself occasionally....but then I print on alot of RC too, lifes too short to worry about making "master" prints all the time...when i die, I'd rather leave my negs to a local historical society than anything else, and I don't want to burden them with having to refile thousands of negs out of lousy enclosures either....I have to deal with that enough at work..
Oh yeah, "Artcare" boards are not exactly new...there's been a product out for awhile now called "Microchamber" papers and box boards, that Conservation Resources Int'l. has been carrying...it's a similar concept that has a molecular trap type barrier in the paper, some grades have a polyster sheet barrier as well...you can buy sheets, or envelopes or storage folders & boxes made up of this material...they also market the Lig free I & II papers as well....CRI has extensive literature about this...I still think you'd be hard pressed to find a conservator who'd back dry mounting though...the ones I work with are adamant about this issue.....as always, my opinions only.
Okay, in lieu of the NPS site or the Conserve-o-grams they put out as well...here are some basic tutorial FAQ type links from a couplke of institutions like the Library of Congress, NARA and the NEDCC....the NEDCC is a good read with alot of resourceful links as well...same for the LOC.
http://www.nedcc.org/p101cs/lesson7.htm#sec4
http://www.nara.gov/arch/faqs/aboutph.html#q3g
http://lcweb.loc.gov/preserv/careothr.html
that last one is for the "Caring for your Collections" from the LOC...there's a how-to thing in there under the title "Preservation Matting" that explains how you'd approach it from a non-dry mounting perspective....
what I was trying to say above was, that in working in an archive type environment, you get a different perspective on just what it really takes to make something last for generations to come....basically, you have to put it away forever and not use it, and still accept the fact that _nothing_ lasts forever...I'd rather spend my own free time, enjoying photography and making prints for myself, rather than fussing abouth how many 100's of years they'll last.....for perspective, polyester based sheet films will outlast probably all these materials in the end.....
okay, the deep tank is calling my name....happy holidays you all, and as always MY opinions only.
michael -
(1) Is dry mounting not considered archival in your HABS/HAER work (what do these letters stand for?) because of acidity problems (which are avoidable) or because the process is nonreversible?"
the library of congress maintains the collections of the historic american building survey (HABS) and the historic american engineering record (HAER), so everything i do must meet their standards for archival quality. there is no adhesive that is considered archival, so any mounting method which uses adhesives is verboten - they do not accept any mounted materials and they do not accept any color materials (though, oddly, they have begun aksing that i submit certain color materials, but with very weird conditions). i only use linen tape hinges for exhibition purposes, and for museum collections. no museum curator i have worked with likes dry-mounted photographs.
(2) Why is toning not allowed? I would think that properly done selenium or gold toning would be acceptable.
i didnt say that toning was not archival - i just said the LOC will not allow it. from my reading, some toning processes (selenium in particular) can be more archival than even the best processed untoned fiber-base prints, so i am not sure why the LOC doesnt like it, but i did ask them a couple of years ago if i could submit toned prints, and they said no.
(3) I also would think that good plastic or folded-paper corners would be better than linen tape attached directly to the print; do you agree?
no. corners are not typically strong enough to provide longterm secure mounting, and again, the adhesive used is not archival. every gallery and museum i have worked with prefers linen tape hinges.
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