Drymounting 24x30 and longer

[AJSJones]

I have in the past mounted some of my 24x30 or 24x36 or 24x60 etc (Ultrachrome on lustre) prints with adhesive but it was tedious and gave me migraines from the aerosols.

I am looking for some sort of roller press device (the bed ones this size are $$$) but my knowledge is little enough about cold (double sided adhesive tissue?) or heated (Ragmount?) to be a dangerous thing.

My current thought is Ragmount on a heated rollerpress onto acid free board - and a "laminator" seems to be the choice. Could someone point me in the right direction on my options - so far I've not found much on the advisability/method/temperature rollerspeed etc for using a laminator for this although it seems to be a commonly advertised caoability of the machines. Or is "double sided adhesive tissue" going to work (is there a recommended one?) with something like this (cold roller laminator)

Just starting out on this project so any help or advice will be much appreciated

Thanks
Andy

[Drew Wiley]

You'll get a lot of ugly "orangepeel" going that route. Neither ragboard nor typical fomecore are very smooth, and heat only makes it worse. Don't worry about the
headaches from spray adhesives - because if you use them enough, you'll be dead anyway. Cold mounting big prints requires both a roller system and appropriate
acrylic adhesives. It is fairly tricky and utterly unforgiving. Best left to a properly equipped pro. But the best affordable roller presses are mfg by Daige.

[AJSJones]

Thank you Drew - the lustre prints already have something akin to orange-peel in their surface so something that might mar a gloss finish would be somewhat forgiven. The Maxit coater and Solo roller from Daige were new to me and seem simple enough as alternative to spraying (and a lot healthier). Thanks for help!

[Chuck S.]

Look into vacuum cold mounting. I built my own press 20+ years ago with something like a 30"x48" piece of 1/4" tempered glass, Gast diaphragm vacuum pump, and rubber sheet, with a hinged wooden frame which let me lower the glass over a material to be mounted. (Fortunately, I had a cabinet maker client, and we worked out a trade. It looked very professional.)

At the time, there was a company that sold a kit with pump, rubber bladder with "vacuum connections" ( tire valve stems), gas-filled cylinder springs for your hinged lid (like the ones on a SUV tail gate), and instructions. They were in Seattle or Portland. If you Google vacuum press kit, there are several companies selling stuff for DIY veneer presses; pretty much the same thing.

You're only limited by how much space you have and the size of plate glass. One could use something other than glass, but glass lets you see what you're doing (so something doesn't slip out of position at the last second), and is totally smooth (important for print protection and a good seal with the bladder.)

I used McDonald Photo Products Lamin-All Adhesive. (http://www.artistsupplysource.com/pr...FeYWMgodawkArg) This can be brushed or rolled on. Prints mounted all those years ago are still fine; no gaps, no bubbles, no effect on emulsion.

Hope this helps.

[photobymike]

I use Savage Prestax board with adhesive for all of my mounting needs.

[Drew Wiley]

The Maxit is interesting, but more for casual signage than anything serious. There are plenty of past threads by Bob Carnie and others like myself in the tricks of
mounting large prints. Wet mounting only works with fiber-based substrates and print media, and usually requires a countermount of the back of the board.
With acrylic foils, the hardest part is laying down the adhesive on the backer itself in the first place. Zero room for error. Best to purchase a smooth board with this already applied. Oregon Laminations is a good internet source for this. But you still have to be able to apply the print without any wrinkles or bubbles at all. It's a lot like laying down formica. You can use silicone slip sheets (like Seal realease paper) plus a hand roller; but this works reliably for only small prints. Best to get a mechanized roller press from Daige.

[AJSJones]

Both foamcore and acid-free Crescent board come that way - I learned of their existence from your help. Seems like the simplest way to DIY for large sizes - even possible for the 24x60's on foamcore.
This has been very helpful
Thanks