Flattening fiber prints sandwiched in between.....

John Kasaian · Dec 2, 2008

... two pieces of mat board---do you put them emulsion side up (facing the heated platen) or down (facing the rubber mat?) I just flattened a couple face up and I'm getting a lot of curl as they cool---I had to press a mexican onxy chess board into service as a wieght!

winger · Dec 2, 2008

I put them emulsion side down. But I also let them sit for a minute or two between the pieces of mat board than I put them between mat board and under a stack of books while I do the next prints. I'll usually leave the whole pile under the books 'til the next day or so as well.

jp80874 · Dec 2, 2008

The instructions at U Akron are to flatten the prints heated in a Seal 510-550 series, then press them in an old cold Seal or under flat metal weights sold by Seal. I always bring my own archival white sketching pad sheets to fit between both sides of the press and the prints. College darkroom equipment can be amazingly dirty. Sometimes it looks like they have heated sandwiches in there. The metal weights absorb the heat while keeping the prints flat until they are cool.

My home variation involves a Seal 210 heated. Then anything flat, large enough to cover the prints and heavy to let them cool for a few hours, or as Bethe says, over night.

John Powers

John Kasaian · Dec 2, 2008

Thanks!

Reinhold · Dec 2, 2008

Over the years I've accumulated some sheets of tempered glass which are really handy when finishing prints. Very effective for absorbing heat as John says. Same thing when dry mounting... soaks up the heat fast. Glassy smooth surface avoids potential scratching. A 20x24x1/4" sheet weighs in at 9 pounds. Lot's of uses...

Reinhold

www.classicBWphoto.com

David A. Goldfarb · Dec 2, 2008

To flatten prints, I put them in the press between two sheets of mat board and close the press loosely without clamping it down, so moisture can escape evenly from both sides of the paper.

Then when it seems reasonably flat, I put the prints between two cool sheets of mat board and weight with volumes such as a 1970s world atlas that had a section called "races of the world," the a copy of the discredited The Vineland Map and the Tartar Relation discarded by a public library, and volumes of the Talmud in the Soncino edition.

John Kasaian · Dec 2, 2008

.....hmmmm....I've got bound volumes of the 1916 and the 1917 editions of the russian Town and Country and a couple of dictionaries I can put on top of the chess board.

George Collier · Dec 3, 2008

I do a similar thing - the dry mount press, set at just warm. The prints are separated by double layers of glassine (recommended by a conservator). Then I turn the press off and come back next day.
The prints are nice and flat, but if I store them in acid free boxes (not under weight), in a season change, the edges will start to lift up again. I always have to flatten again before framing (I hang mount the prints behind mattes, not dry mounted.) Even then, later, in the frames, I can see the edges starting to lift, depending on how much pressure there is from the matte and glass, etc.
Is this normal for others?

jp80874 · Dec 3, 2008

Besides process you may want to look at product. I have found that Kentmere Fineprint VCFB dries flatter for me than Kodak Polymax VCFB did before I used Kentmere. The same for Kentmere vs. Ilford MGFB that fellow students use with the same Seal press. I dry prints slowly between two screens that probably give between an 1/8" to 1/4" room between. That helps eliminate much of the curl. The faster the prints dry the more curl. The extremes are using a hair drier that is built into the Calumet print drier vs. leaving the prints on screens inside the Calumet box so they get less air and dry slowly over night. Less curl seems easier to flatten and stay flattened than more curl. I have not compared with other papers.

John Powers

Flattening fiber prints sandwiched in between.....

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