FB Papers Dried in the Microwave

[Max Power]

I noticed the strangest thing the other day. I was doing the Les McLean 'dry-down' test on some Ilford MG FB Glossy. As per Mr. McLean's instructions, I nuked the prints to speed up the process. The strangest thing has happened; the prints that were microwaved are almost as glossy as RC Glossy paper. The texture is absolutely gorgeous, almost completely smooth; much more so than that of the normal air dried prints.

Question: Has anyone encountered this before? Any guesses as to the archival properties of a microwave dried FB print?

Cheers,
Kent

 

[Neal]

Dear Kent,

How do you flatten them? I use the microwave all the time to test dry-down, but I've never tried to flatten the wrinkled mess I end up with. BTW, while I've never compared these to air dried or rc prints, I did mistake a ferrotyped print for an rc print a few days ago.<g>

Neal Wydra

 

[Alex Hawley]

Kent,
I have not heard of anyone nuking their final prints in the microwave; most people are doing for the same reason you are-testing for drydown. However, if the print were washed thoroughly as it should be, I cannot think of a reason why it would not be archival.

The smoothing of the surface is to be expected too. In the "old days", fiber prints were heated on a very smooth mirror-finished metal sheet to make the high-gloss surface. This was called ferrotyping. The ferrotype machine also dried the prints so I guess its actually very similar to nuking them with a microwave.

Hey, if you like the result you got, go for it!

 

[Max Power]

Dear Kent,

How do you flatten them? I use the microwave all the time to test dry-down, but I've never tried to flatten the wrinkled mess I end up with. BTW, while I've never compared these to air dried or rc prints, I did mistake a ferrotyped print for an rc print a few days ago.<g>

Neal Wydra

Well, paranoia would be the word for it
I was worried about blowing up the microwave, so I put the prints on a plate and did shots of about 15 seconds or so. After each 15 second shot, I took the prints out and checked how they were coming along, and took the time to bend them back straight.

Kent

 

[Dan Henderson]

Ansel Adams mentions drying test strips and work prints in the microwave in his The Negative book. He also stated that he did not dry final prints in the micro because he didn't know about the effect the microwaves might have on the archival process.

Although I am aware of the years of Adams' career, it still strikes me as an interesting thought that he would use a microwave in his art. Kind of like Van Gogh using Photoshop I guess...

Anyway, I went right out to a garage sale, bought a $20 nuker, and installed it right outside my darkroom. Nice convenience.

 

[blaze-on]

I guess with the moniker of Max Power, one needn't guess as to what setting you had the microwave on..

 

[reggie]

Well, paranoia would be the word for it
I was worried about blowing up the microwave, so I put the prints on a plate and did shots of about 15 seconds or so. After each 15 second shot, I took the prints out and checked how they were coming along, and took the time to bend them back straight.

Kent

I used a friends microwave to do this once some years ago and I DID manage to blow up the darn thing. Had to buy her a new one.

I still do it, but in more modern units and I make sure to put something else in the microwave (like you, a plate or bowl to hold up the print and absorb microwaves or whatever it does).

I do not dry final prints this way because of size limitations, but it is a great way to quickly test dry-down.

I have a friend who drys his prints in front of his fireplace. He swears the heat gives the print different tonality than air drying. I wonder if the microwave would do the same with it's heat.

-R

 

[Lachlan Young]

I used a friends microwave to do this once some years ago and I DID manage to blow up the darn thing. Had to buy her a new one.

I-R

This is what microwaves are good for as well - a friend of mine once put a cup of tea with a spoon in it into the microwave and the spoon melted destroying the microwave. Certainly the idea of drying prints in a microwave to get a glossy finish is a good one - no more ferrotype plates!

Lachlan

 

[Les McLean]

Max, the faster fibre gloss unglazed paper is dried the higher the gloss. Please don't ask me to explain why, I don't know, I just noticed it the first time I dried test strips in a microwave. As a matter of interest I have also noticed when I dry some brands of warm tone paper test strips in the microwave they are warmer in tone than the air dried final print.

Please don't be so formal Max APUG is not that kind of place, the name is Les

 

[Jon Shiu]

I've also seen the glossy effect when using a hair dryer to dry test strips.

Jon

 

[kunihiko]

I was thinking that the heat affects the gelatin.

 

[reggie]

Yeah, it must warm it up :>).

-R

 

[juan]

I, too, questioned the effect of microwaves on longevity, but I have some test prints I nuked about 20-years ago and they are still fine - at least to the eye.

As for flattening, put them in a hot dry mount press or iron them.
juan

 

[Max Power]

I, too, questioned the effect of microwaves on longevity, but I have some test prints I nuked about 20-years ago and they are still fine - at least to the eye.

As for flattening, put them in a hot dry mount press or iron them.
juan

Thanks for the input about archivability, Juan...As for the flattening, how does one iron prints without ruining them?

Cheers,
Kent

 

[Max Power]

Please don't be so formal Max APUG is not that kind of place, the name is Les

Sorry 'bout that; I'm a Canadian, so it's sort of a default setting, eh

That said, thank you very much for your article on dry-down; it really helped me get over an initial hump. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why some prints which had turned out so crisp on RC paper lacked that same quality on FB.

Cheers,
Kent

 

[Max Power]

Does anyone have any experience in using an iron to flatten FB paper?

Kent

 

[Smudger]

Max - I have used an iron successfully to flatten FB. The method I use is to lay a damp piece of cotton sheeting on the base side and then iron..

 

[Max Power]

Now I'm Really in Trouble...

Well,
I'm sorry to say that an initial test I did in a direct comparison between Ilford RC Glossy and Ilford FB Glossy has led me to the conclusion that FB does (at least in some instances) produce better prints.

I went out on Saturday to a burnt out Catholic Church to take some photographs. It's a spectacular spot, because the fire only left the rough stone exterior walls standing, and the city reinforced the walls with a steel skeleton. Long story short, one gets the juxtaposition between the very traditional and the very modern. Add to that a bright sunlit day and the deep shadow within the church and there is an extreme tonal range.

I did two 8x10 prints, one on RC and the other on FB. All variables were identical. I 'nuked' the FB print to make it glossier. Side by side, the FB print wins hands down; not only because of the surface texture, but I noticed that the blacks (especially) have more snap and overall, the print is much crisper.

I was really hoping that the difference would be negligible, but I'm afraid not...I can see that this pastime is just gonna keep increasing in cost!!!

Cheers,
Kent