Dry Mount Press Best Practices

[Tin Can]

I wish I had bought a made for it, steel weight with handles when they were cheaper and bigger. I wasn't using dry mount for 15 years.

Hard to find now.

Maybe buy a hunk of steel from https://www.mcmaster.com/1388k379

Fit handles and have it ground flat if necessary.

Yes, they don’t bond in the press. That is why the mounted print needs to be weighted out of the press.
Hard bed presses bond in the press and have a metal plate on the top and the bottom, not foam.

[interneg]

After that, my proven protocol, which I've taught others, is significantly different than what you'll read in Picker, AA, or the traditional mfg manuals on the subject.

You might be interested to know that your method isn't far off what Drytac recommended for their Artsafe 200 product, which has a built-in release paper - they suggest bonding the board, then attaching the print - I'm pretty sure your approach would work just fine with it too. Not sure if it's still available - I prefer to float mount on unbuffered board if real archival reversibility is essential.

[cowanw]

What someone has suggested and it is a great idea if the size is ok, is to go to a marble store and get the cutout for a sink that is otherwise waste. Handles could be glued on such as the tabhandler.

https://www.tabhandler.com/

[Drew Wiley]

Randy - I don't know if your intent to use kitchen materials endorsed by Martha Steward is the best idea. Strawberry sorbet might be sticky enough to bond a print, but might attract ants afterwards.