Dry mount, Spray or sheet?

[brummelisa]

Hi,

I'm about to start mounting my FB and wonder if I should go for a spray adhesive or a "standard" sheet where you iron it to the photograph.

Any pro/cons?

/ Marcus

 

[Ian Grant]

I've used both extensively and Dry mount tissue is by far the best way particularly for fibre based prints. Be very careful to dry the photo and boards first, I use a dry mounting press and always used to ensure both were hot and dry first. If you don't do this you risk the board bowing.

Dry-mounting is ok for RC papers but it can be very messy, and the solvent is dangerous to inhale, it gets you high !!!! Best used outside or with extraction, the labs I know who used it a lot had dedicated booths with excellent extractor fans.

Ian

 

[jovo]

Rather than answer your question directly, I suggest you read through the thead linked below. It has a pretty thorough discussion of the whole dry mounting issue. There are other threads on this topic too; you can use the forum search function just off center of the tool bar above.

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

 

[Monophoto]

Marcus -

I've done both. My experience is:

- spray mounting works well with RC paper, and perhaps also with single-weight FB paper. But there is a problem with double-weight FB paper. Over time, FB paper wants to curl, and the force exerted by double-weight paper as it curls is enough to cause the edges of the print to lift away from the mount.

- heat-triggered paper does an excellent job of attaching prints to mounts when used with a mounting press. My experience in trying to use it with an ordinary flat iron was unsuccessful. An iron will certainly get hot enough to trigger the adhesive. The problem that I had was in getting it to adhere uniformly across the entire print. I found the lack of uniform heating resulted in bubbles that really detracted from the appearance.

There is a third option - the 3M pressure-sensitive adhesive sheets. My limited experience with these is more positive. However, I believe that the materials are also more expensive.

By the way, all three approaches are controversial. There are those who will argue that processes like these are not reversible, and therefore aren't archival.

 

[Jim Jones]

Long ago I found spray adhesives to be unreliable. The pressure-sensitive sheets of the time were better, but not perfect. The second-hand dry mount press I've used for the past 20 years was a good investment. Friends have used an iron with dry mount tissue, but even with practice it isn't as predictable as a good dry mount press.

 

[doughowk]

My dry mount press only handles up to 11X14 prints. Many people recommend still using one for larger prints by doing them in sections; but I've always had problems with noticeable creases. So, for larger size FB prints I've been using self-adhesive mounting board (PerfectMount from Crescent). Very easy to use. Lightly cut out covering paper size & location of print, position print, then work from center using roller, etc.. Then remove out paper & place window mat over print.

 

[max_ebb]

Many people recommend still using one for larger prints by doing them in sections; but I've always had problems with noticeable creases.

What materials were you using to get creases? I dry mount in sections all the time, and I've never had a problem with it (a press large enough to do 20x24's all at once would be huge, and very expensive). Were you mounting on something soft like foam core and getting crush dents?