Contact Printer Foam?

[Alex Bishop-Thorpe]

I got two contact printers with my stack of photographic stuff (pick up only eBay Auctions, how I love thee), A Paterson from 35mm and for 120. However, the foam seems to have deteriorated and fallen apart. I've stripped it all off and cleaned up the surface, but now I'm not sure what exactly I'm meant to use to replace the foam. The best I could compare it to would be mouse mat foam I suppose. Does anyone know what the correct material is and where I'd be able to get some?

 

[Ray Heath]

g'day Fleath

i wouldn't worry too much, the foam is used to spread the pressure to give all over contact, just get any foam of roughly the correct thickness, it may not be 'right' but the only problem with that, may be, is that it won't last as long

 

[bdial]

I used a neoprene mousepad, actually two, I think, since the printer is longer than the mousepad I sacrificed. I glued it with heavy duty rubber cement (aka tubular tire glue), but 3m spraymount or other similar products should work well.

 

[ben-s]

I have the same problem.
I got a Patterson universal contacting frame, (Free, new in box) and the foam had turned to sticky goo.
I'll have to give the mouse mats a try. Thanks for the unexpected heads-up.

 

[bdial]

You're welcome.
I think the cloth surface of the mouse pad is a superior surface to the orignal foam, though I haven't used my repaired/modded frame very much.
Before resorting to the mouse pad I Googled around for neoprene yardage. I didn't find many retail suppliers, also found that it's expensive, and minimum orders were a bit steep for my needs. The mouse pad avoided all that grief since they are easily available, and fairly inexpensive.

 

[Mick Fagan]

I have a German Hansa contact printer for 35mm and anything else up to 8x10". I bought it new about 30 years ago, the foam went a couple of years ago.

One of my brothers is an upholsterer, trust me when I say, upholsterers have bucket loads of different firmness foam.

There is foam which is able to be crushed by a baby, through to foam that is almost as hard as a brick.

Head to an upholsterer and get something about half the firmness of a foam mouse pad and that should be about right.

I know a lot about foam mouse pads, we use them daily to make excellent impressions with the rubber stamps we manufacture, they are too hard for contact printing as you will have tu push really hard and possibly damage film. Personal experience speaking here.

The upholsterer will be able to slice a piece of foam to the correct size with his electric cutting knife.

I also picked up a couple of Patterson contact frames for $15 each at the last photo flea market in Melbourne, a 35 and 120, of which, one will require re-foaming.

The cost should be about $2.00. The upholsterer may also be able to help you out with the correct contact adhesive.

Mick.

 

[mjs]

Many stores selling fabrics for sewing carry foam intended for use in headliners for automobile reupholstering. It works well and is not very expensive. It's only about 1/8" thick and comes in rolls about 40" wide. You can buy it by the yard (or less than a yard in many stores.) Cut it to size with scissors.

mjs

 

[DBP]

I used self adhesive craft foam on mine. The craft shops sell it under the brand name Foamies. The 9"x12" size is under $1 US per sheet here. It makes a good replacement for light seals as well.