Mounting without a press?

[Drew Wiley]

DO NOT USE SPRAY ADHESIVES unless you want a short life !!!!! They're known to have severe health effects, and were once the leading cause of premature death in the picture frame trade.

[Ironage]

Joe, you comment about using a laundry iron dusted off some cobwebs in my mind. I remembered using Kodak mounting tissue with an iron when I was in my teens. Then I grabbed a Cibachrome off my living room wall from 1982, and took apart the frame. Hand ironed tissue still holding the print was revealed. Also noticed that the print was starting to fade a bit. 50 years on display in variable light. Not bad for a print made by hand. Isn’t Cibachrome considered RC?

[Ironage]

Tin Can, I think you win the prize. Self adhesive pressure sensitive should do the trick nicely for my needs. I will have to get some to test it though. I have a roller that should work.

[Drew Wiley]

The famous glossy Ciba was not RC, but coated on polyester. They did make a less popular "Pearl" non-shiny RC product. I don't recommend drymounting either. Look up static mounting; classic high gloss Ciba will hold a static charge for a number of years, and it can be redone. Works well up to 20X24 print size. Sheets of cold-mount acrylic adhesive sheets come in two broad categories. The amateur kind is the low-tack 3M PMA product, allegedly repositionable, but so is continental drift if you have enough patience. It works up to 16x20 print size; but you need to cover the print margins with a window mat because the corners tend to lift over time. The other category consists of the many high-tack permanent professional versions which are utterly unforgiving in application; but you can mount even very large print sizes this way, that is, if you have the right expensive equipment.

[interneg]

Sheets of cold-mount acrylic adhesive sheets come in two broad categories. The amateur kind is the low-tack 3M PMA product, allegedly repositionable, but so is continental drift if you have enough patience. It works up to 16x20 print size; but you need to cover the print margins with a window mat because the corners tend to lift over time. The other category consists of the many high-tack permanent professional versions which are utterly unforgiving in application; but you can mount even very large print sizes this way, that is, if you have the right expensive equipment.

Even the powerful high-tack stuff can struggle to hold a determined FB print in place. It'll also quite happily strip all the hair from your skin if you lean on the exposed adhesive material - and it's irksomely fussy about cleanliness, perfection of substrate surface etc - and if it goes wrong, it's reprint time.

[Drew Wiley]

Hi tack adhesive foils are best for large color prints. There are much easier choices for FB prints.

[Greg Y]

There are much easier choices for FB prints.

At the price/box of 16x20" and 20x24" the cost of the inevitable drymount press is not so daunting anymore.


Flickr

[Luis-F-S]

Make your life easier and get a press! A lot of times they’re almost giveaways.

[jp]

Yes... I got my 16x20 dry mount press for $100 in a craigslist parking lot cash transaction. Widely used in graphics arts not just photography. Tons of good complete used ones out there. Just have a good back. Mine probably weight 50+ pounds.
Great for final flattening FB prints as well as drymount work.

[Tin Can]

Yes, I know that

but I will be gone and forgotten

my now 22 year Hot Press FB prints seem unchanged

I agree with all of the above.

I was acquainted with the photo curator of the AGO years ago, and she told me in no uncertain terms that you should not mount a photograph you care about to any support in a permanent manner. The choice of mounting should be reversible for future restoration purposes. Dry mount adhesive sheets may be benign, but the odds are the board the photograph is mounted to will not be archival, so mating a photograph to a non-archival support is counterproductive. A tape hinge applied to the top margin of the photograph, using archival linen tape is preferred. The photo is taped to the rear (archival) mat board and the window mat hinged to attach to the rear board. The photo floats in the mat, allowing for seasonal expansion and contraction.