Dry Mount Press Best Practices

[Tin Can]

I find the thread about drying wet prints in a Hot Press a very bad thread. The question is ... off...

20 years ago I took one semester of a College Film Photography class. I am still good friends with that instructor.

He insisted we carefully follow his written, spoken and lively show/tell presentations. He made a real big deal of Hot Press Mounting. Thank you Michael!

I would like us to discuss how to do it correctly from washed Fiber Print to mounted presentation for critique.

I will start with two things I don't see talked about in the other thread.

Usage of Release Paper. What is it? Why use it? Is Baking Parchment Paper a good substitute?

How to cut mounting paper exactly to size and adhere it.

Or not

[Mark Sawyer]

As a former high school photography teacher whose students used a dry mount press, I can convey with a high degree of confidence that re-heating Jack-in-the-Box tacos in a dry mount press is not a "best practice"...

[Keith Pitman]

As a former high school photography teacher whose students used a dry mount press, I can convey with a high degree of confidence that re-heating Jack-in-the-Box tacos in a dry mount press is not a "best practice"...

Very inventive though.

[Tin Can]

Winner!

All I can say, is Michael had more than few Hot Presses damaged.

I have a very clean one, originally bought new by a woman Professional, I am very careful with it.

As a former high school photography teacher whose students used a dry mount press, I can convey with a high degree of confidence that re-heating Jack-in-the-Box tacos in a dry mount press is not a "best practice"...

[LabRat]

As a former high scho,ol photography teacher whose students used a dry mount press, I can convey with a high degree of confidence that re-heating Jack-in-the-Box tacos in a dry mount press is not a "best practice"...

At a college lab, a student came out of the B/W lab with a print covered with white spots, and wanted to know what happened... I took a close look at it, and it looked like shadows from somewhere in an enlarger light path... I asked him to show me the enlarger he used, and it was one of the Omega D2V's... I opened the variable condenser door, and there was a palm full of cookie crumbs and melted chocolate chips, and some had worked their way down between the main condensers, and some even worked their way down to the lens....

Difficult to scrape and clean the light path entirely clean, but I had to marvel how someone could re-purpose an enlarger into an Easy Bake oven cookie warmer, but then I thought of all the fingers that had been inside there and thought ICK!!!

Happy holidays!!!

Steve K

[ic-racer]

As a former high school photography teacher whose students used a dry mount press, I can convey with a high degree of confidence that re-heating Jack-in-the-Box tacos in a dry mount press is not a "best practice"...

I have used my press for some odd things. Like flattening the back of this 1937 Gibson. I also used it to flatten an vinyl LP from Amazon that was stuffed in a box too small....didn't work, the LP melted

[Peter De Smidt]

Fred Picker had very good instructions, but I can’t remember where.

From memory:
1) Flatten dry prints between two mat boards in the press.
2) Dry the mount boards in the press.
3) Tack mounting tissue onto back of photo.
4) Put photo with tissue between two pieces of release paper, and put in the press. (I wrap to mount boards with release paper and use the same release paper over and over. The boards keep it from being damaged.) The mounting tissue will now be fused to the back of the print. If you're off, some will ooze out onto the release paper, and if you miss the very edge, you'll still be ok.
5) Trim the print. The result will be a print with the back completely covered with adhesive tissue.
6) Position the print on the backing board and tack in one place.
7) Put the print in the press between to sheets of release paper for the desired time.
8) Take the print out and immediately flex both corners towards you a bit.
9) Place press under weight until it cools.

[Bob Salomon]

Fred Picker had very good instructions, but I can’t remember where.

From memory:
1) Flatten dry prints between two mat boards in the press.
2) Dry the mount boards in the press.
3) Tack mounting tissue onto back of photo.
4) Put photo with tissue between two pieces of release paper, and put in the press. (I wrap to mount boards with release paper and use the same release paper over and over. The boards keep it from being damaged.) The mounting tissue will now be fused to the back of the print. If you're off, some will ooze out onto the release paper, and if you miss the very edge, you'll still be ok.
5) Trim the print. The result will be a print with the back completely covered with adhesive tissue.
6) Position the print on the backing board and tack in one place.
7) Put the print in the press between to sheets of release paper for the desired time.
8) Take the print out and immediately flex both corners towards you a bit.
9) Place press under weight until it cools.

Those instructions are for presses like a Seal that have a metal platen on the bottom and a foam or rubber platen on the top.
However, these instructions are incorrect for a press like an Ademco that has a metal platen on top and the bottom!

[Peter De Smidt]

Those instructions are for presses like a Seal that have a metal platen on the bottom and a foam or rubber platen on the top.
However, these instructions are incorrect for a press like an Ademco that has a metal platen on top and the bottom!

Good to know, Bob. I have a Seal.

[Joe O'Hara]

I used a digital oven thermometer to check and set the temperature on my press.

Before doing so I verified it was pretty close to accurate by putting the probe into boiling
distilled water. It was within 1 deg. F of the expected value.

My press is ancient. I removed its thermostat control and replaced it with an electronic
temperature control kit (comprising thermocouple, controller, and solid-state relay). I could
never get the old rusty mechanical controller to act predictably. This setup, once calibrated
with the oven thermometer, is spot on.