Page 1 of 6 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 54

Thread: Dry Mounting Problems

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    New Jersey
    Posts
    1,456

    Dry Mounting Problems

    My frustration with "hit or miss" corner adherence (if that is a word) has reached the point of asking for help! I used to love MT-5 which adhered under heat; I have a love-hate relationship with the Archival tissue which adheres during the cooling cycle. (I could probably just change to Colormount which I think is also heat-adhering, but at least philosophically I like the archival idea.)

    First: equipment - I have a Seal 110s press, which has the 12x15 platten. I'm mounting 11x14 trimmed prints (so they are slightly smaller than the nominal size) which obviously doesn't leave a lot of leeway in placement in the press, but I try to be careful and make sure that the platten covers everything. The problem I'm having is that randomly I get one or more corners not sticking. I've tried a variety of approaches (please bear with me, just trying to provide as much info as may be relevant).

    Originally I would sandwich the mount board (2-ply) and tacked print in-between two more pieces of 2-ply, and when I removed the mounted sheet, quickly place it under a heavy glass sheet (since I never owned a proper Seal "iron plate," the 20x20 is currently listed as special order at B&H, $280). I experimented with temperature and time, and no matter what, got inconsistent results.

    Since I never had a problem tacking the mount tissue, I thought I would try to see how close I could get to that approach. So I tried taking the top 2-ply off the sandwich and just using a sheet of interleaving tissue between the print and the platten, set the temperature to 175 for about 1'15", and then placed the mounted print under an aluminum baking sheet with filled 1/2 gallon containers as weights. Again, inconsistent results - sometimes good, sometimes the unstuck corners. Admittedly the baking sheet is again just slightly larger than the trimmed print.

    So: would appreciate thoughts on technique, and perhaps a better idea for the cooling weight if the problem is that everything is so close to the print size so that placement has become too critical. Admittedly I get good mounted results if I go through multiple cycles for each print (i.e. keep trying until it finally works) but there must be a better way!

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Posts
    377

    Re: Dry Mounting Problems

    Maybe the press is not so hot in the corners?

  3. #3
    Kirk Gittings's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Albuquerque, Nuevo Mexico
    Posts
    9,864

    Re: Dry Mounting Problems

    First I would pre-heat the mat board to drive any moisture out of it. Moisture is the enemy of dry mounting. For a cooling weight I use a sink cut out from a granite counter top. I got mine for like $5 from a stone counter company. To move it around securly, I then epoxied a 1x4 onto the the rough side and screw a couple of handles to that. That granite sucks the heat right out of a dry mounted print/mat board and keeps the edges down.
    Thanks,
    Kirk

    at age 73:
    "The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
    But I have promises to keep,
    And miles to go before I sleep,
    And miles to go before I sleep"

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Grand Junction,CO
    Posts
    1,064

    Re: Dry Mounting Problems

    If you're not in a hurry, just leave it in the press till it's cooled enough to set up. I've done that for years but if you have many prints to mount it isn't too practical. If the corners still lift after that I would look at my bottom foam pad to see if it isn't making good contact like the center is.

  5. #5
    Drew Wiley
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    SF Bay area, CA
    Posts
    18,337

    Re: Dry Mounting Problems

    "Archival Mount" is for low-temp application, and might indeed fail just from storage on transport in a hot climate, while MT5 in intended for a relatively hot press. I use Colormount, which is in between. But it's a combination of "dwell" time under pressure in the heated press and the actual temperature, which must be sufficient to begin with, and won't be unless you keep your press shut when not actually placing or removing things from it. Over time the thermostats can misread, so you might need to check the accuracy on your with a Seal melt test kit. And then there's basic technique, including properly predrying everything just before bonding. Some of these adhesives finally set under the cooling weight rather than in the press. I use a big sheet of heavy plate glass. Don't test the corner bond by flexing the board until it has thoroughly cooled first.

  6. #6
    Drew Wiley
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    SF Bay area, CA
    Posts
    18,337

    Re: Dry Mounting Problems

    Oh, there's nothing more "archival" about Archival Mount than other regular tissue choices. That label simply means, 1) The print can be removed later by re-applying heat, and 2) it is pH buffered distinctly alkaline, which is not in fact a good thing for every photographic print media. Regular tissue might do a better job simply by isolating the print chemically from the mountboard; and even this is redundant given the fact that most of us use stable Museum Board to begin with. I notice Wilhelm's old literature complains that drymounting prevents prints from being scanned, along with a picture of an ancient drum scanner the size of a washing machine. Now we (or rather, serious pre-press shops) have excellent repro-grade flatbeds, or maybe scanning copy cameras, capable of handling big flat originals, even attached to museum walls. In other words, I never saw much sense to Archival Mount being marketed to begin with.

  7. #7
    John Olsen
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Madison, WI
    Posts
    1,096

    Re: Dry Mounting Problems

    I'll ditto Kirk's comment about running the mount boards thru the press beforehand to dry them out. I give 'em 45 sec each side with some airing out in between. I also re-dry the prints with two 20 sec heats and airing between.

    For the mounting itself on the 110S, I set it for 220, using "buffermount" sheets. Press time is 2' 20". I used to run lower temperature and shorter time but the materials take more time and temperature since Seal sold out to Bianfang and then DK. You can feel the difference between the original Seal material and the newer DK sheets, so it makes sense that the process time and temp will be different.

    I use an 8 ply board under the 4 ply that I mount to, a release sheet on top and a 4 ply under the platen. I let the mounted prints cool down for an hour under (dried) matboards with books stacked on top. (Avedon photo books seem to impart the best karma to the process.)

    I arrived at these conditions thru trial and frustration.

    But, I only mount 8x10s in the 110S. Before I got a larger press for the bigger prints, I would do the 11x14s in two press time: one time for the top half, rotate 180, a second time for the bottom half. I didn't trust the temperature to be even all the way to the edge.

    This is fun, no?

    John O

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Westport Island, Maine
    Posts
    1,236

    Re: Dry Mounting Problems

    Yup, I dry out the board beforehand, too.

    I have two bricks wrapped in paper. We used to joke about selling them at Zone VI ("Zone VI Bricks. $29.95"). They help keep things flat during the cooling process.

    If something doesn't adhere, I just put it back into the press for another minute or two. No harm has ever been done, to my knowledge.
    Bruce Barlow
    author of "Finely Focused" and "Exercises in Photographic Composition"
    www.brucewbarlow.com

  9. #9
    jp's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Maine
    Posts
    5,628

    Re: Dry Mounting Problems

    I've been using Dry-lam colortac dry mount tissue. I've mostly used it for mounting silver gelatin prints, but a couple weeks ago I did some inkjet luster paper mounted on matboard for indoor signs at my gallery. 30 seconds in the press blistered/cracked the inkjet, so 20 seconds was plenty to melt the drymount tissue and not destroy the printout! I have an older Seal jumbo 150 press.

  10. #10

    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    SooooCal/LA USA
    Posts
    2,802

    Re: Dry Mounting Problems

    + 1 on using a slightly higher temp... For standard dry mt tissue, it is about 225deg... (It it bubbles, it's way too hot!!!) Letting it cool slowly while it's in the mattboard/release paper "sandwich" (for a couple/few minutes) until it sets is a good thing...

    But also remember, that nowadays, curators tend to frown upon dry mounted prints, as they can be risky to change-out the matt backing way down the road, and prefer the print is hinged with museum tape along the top edge... The curl is pressed down with the overmatt, and if the print is not overwashed and is flattened correctly, it will usually stay put well...

    Steve K

Similar Threads

  1. Are Arca-Swiss mounting plates and Really Right Stuff mounting plates the same ?
    By MrFujicaman in forum Cameras & Camera Accessories
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 19-May-2015, 08:29
  2. Problems mounting a modern Compur 1 into a Technika board
    By John Schneider in forum Lenses & Lens Accessories
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 23-Sep-2008, 08:50
  3. Wet mounting problems
    By rickwinkler in forum Digital Hardware
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 8-Sep-2008, 06:37
  4. Dry Mounting Problems
    By Peter Lewin in forum Darkroom: Film, Processing & Printing
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: 7-Jan-2007, 19:26

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •