Getting Fiber Based Paper Flat

hoffy · Nov 15, 2017

sly said:
Back to back hanging will produce flatter prints than drying on a screen. Flatter, but not flat. Pressing between matt board or whatever method you choose will still be needed.

Cheers. Yeah, I am still well aware of the need to flatten them. I just wish I could get my hands on a drying press!

CMoore · Nov 16, 2017

I am using Fiber for the very first time. I laid it down (8x10) on a 1/2" piece of plywood and stuck Push-Pins into the corners. I figure, on the back side, the water will soak into the ply...and on the front, the water will return into the air from where it came..... only to return To Earth at a later date.

RalphLambrecht · Nov 16, 2017

nyoung said:
Ok,
I haven't done any printing on fiber based paper since high school but I want take it up again out of dissatisfaction with the tonal range of the RC papers.

So, two questions:

How do you get the darn things to dry flat? I have had, in the distant past, many bad experiences with dryers.

Does anyone still use ferrotype plates? If so, how does one use them? I long ago inherited 4 or 5 but I don't quite get how you use them.

a dry mount press or a few days under a sheet off glass will do it after air drying.

jack straw · Nov 16, 2017

What do you guys consider "flat"?

I dry them hanging by one corner on a clothesline, then I have a stack of 6 big pieces of glass from $4 picture frames I picked up at AC Moore, which I lay the prints between once they are dry, with a stack of books on top. It fits 10 8x10 prints. After 24 hours any wrinkling and the severe curling is gone, but there is still a slight curvature to the paper--more or less a similar amount to what the paper has when you take it out of the Ilford box. Should I be leaving them in much longer, or is this flat enough? I haven't tried mounting yet, just got back into this hobby this year, after not having shot a roll of film in 15+ years.

Ronald Moravec · Dec 26, 2017

As someone mentioned, Salthill blotter stack dryer. Mine is a much older clone a neighbor got for me at a garage sale for retiring pro photographer.

Blotter roll, not book, works. In college, I had a 3 foot diameter belt fed drum that was great. For my home a bought a 8 or 10 in diameter one. It ended up in the bin. POS as they say.

BrendanD · Feb 13, 2018

Ric Johnson said:
I use my wife's clothes iron to flatten my fiber paper. I place the print face down between 2 pieces of 3 ply matt paper. The iron is set as high as it can, without steam, and then just move it up & down, left & right again, again and again until it's flat. Maybe 5 - 10 minutes. I then lay a large heavy book over the matt paper and let it cool down. I only use the matt paper for drying... nothing else. On the back sides of the matt paper I wrote down "backside only" so I don't have dirt or dust on the side that touches the fiber paper, I also store the matt paper in a bag so I don't try to use it except for flatting my print.

'Your wife's clothes' iron...' ? You're going to tell me next that she irons all your clothes for you???

mrosenlof · Feb 13, 2018

drymount press, 200 degress (F) 2 minutes, done

CMoore · Feb 13, 2018

A dry-mount.......
I suppose it is one of those things you have to weigh, and maybe keep an eye out. Ebay has them, of course, but they ARE heavy to ship.
But if FB is going to be part of your life, it might be one of the best purchases you make, in the long run.

Sirius Glass · Feb 13, 2018

BrendanD said:
'Your wife's clothes' iron...' ? You're going to tell me next that she irons all your clothes for you???

I have several steam irons that have not been used for over a decade.

hoffy · Feb 14, 2018

Ok folks. Is a hot laminating press the same thing as a dry mounting press?

tezzasmall · Feb 14, 2018

hoffy said:
Ok folks. Is a hot laminating press the same thing as a dry mounting press?

TOTALLY different beasts!

A laminating press heats up two plastic sheets, between which one puts something to be 'laminated'; ie waterproof, finger proof etc.

A mounting press is VERY heavy and has a temperature dial, for you to set manually for different uses of drying and flattening FB prints between mounting card and of course, to mount photographs onto mounts.

And then there is the Ebay 't-shirt transfer press' (not sure of actual name), that has been asked about on here a few times. This gives you the heat (but not enough of I think?) but lack of a weighted and hot top to it, so may or may not be usable. You would have to search the forum for these threads to see what comments have been made.

I presume you are looking for something to mount prints with? BTW I was lucky and got one at a good price on ebay and was, when it arrived, surprised that it was delivered, as it felt like it weighed a ton or so!!!! And the wrapping to stop any damage (mostly to other items I would think) took me about an hour to take off completely, so no I won't be selling it in the near future!

Terry S

hoffy · Feb 15, 2018

I saw a laminating press on gumtree and it looked kinda like what I was expecting a mounting press looks like.

RalphLambrecht · Feb 15, 2018

nyoung said:
Ok,
I haven't done any printing on fiber based paper since high school but I want take it up again out of dissatisfaction with the tonal range of the RC papers.

So, two questions:

How do you get the darn things to dry flat? I have had, in the distant past, many bad experiences with dryers.

Does anyone still use ferrotype plates? If so, how does one use them? I long ago inherited 4 or 5 but I don't quite get how you use them.

Here is one way to get them perfectly flat every time:
1. place the air-dried print into the dry-mount press for a minute
2.place under a sheet of glass and let it cool for an hour or so
3. flat and will stay flat unless there are humidity changes.

tezzasmall · Feb 15, 2018

hoffy said:
I saw a laminating press on gumtree and it looked kinda like what I was expecting a mounting press looks like.

Hopefully this will work.

This is a photo mounting press:

And this is a t-shirt mounting press:

Yes, there are some similarities but the photo one will be a lot heavier in build and (probably) has a higher temperature available.

Terry S

MattKing · Feb 15, 2018

That Seal press illustrated in Terry's post is a photo dry mount press.
This $100.00 eBay listing is a T-Shirt heat press:

hoffy · Feb 15, 2018

OK, thanks. Looks like I have a better chance in finding Hens Teeth then a Photo Mounting press anywhere near where I live!

hoffy · Feb 22, 2018

New post time - I have been flattening some prints for the last 4 days between some matt board with books sitting on top.

While the prints sit flat, the edges are wavey. Will the wave eventually flatten out?

Sirius Glass · Feb 22, 2018

hoffy said:
New post time - I have been flattening some prints for the last 4 days between some matt board with books sitting on top.

While the prints sit flat, the edges are wavey. Will the wave eventually flatten out?

When matted and framed.

Patrick Robert James · Feb 22, 2018

Wavy edges are a pain to deal with. I've resorted to pulling the prints over the edge of a table which sometimes helps if you target the tension in the right spot. That also helps if the print is curled towards the emulsion side and you want it flat which is most of the time. I figure if it was a good enough method for Brett Weston.....

adelorenzo · Feb 22, 2018

hoffy said:
New post time - I have been flattening some prints for the last 4 days between some matt board with books sitting on top.

While the prints sit flat, the edges are wavey. Will the wave eventually flatten out?

I can never get the wavy edges flat, I print with enough border on the paper that I can trim 0.5-1 inches off the print after I flatten it in a dry mount press. Or else I just dry mount the print.

faberryman · Feb 22, 2018

I dry face down on screens and don't get wavy edges. I just flatten in a dry mount press, and mount with corners and an over mat.

jim10219 · Feb 22, 2018

I use pants hangers. Those plastic hangers that fancy pants come on. I hang print from one, and then put a second one on the bottom for weight. That keeps the paper from curling up on itself too much. It will still have some waviness to it, so after it dries, I throw them in the bottom of my closet underneath a bunch of junk in between two sheets of plate glass that I use for emulsion coating. After a few days, they're mostly flat with just a touch of wave. Flat enough that when I mat and frame them, they're perfectly flat. Best of all, it's takes very little effort and doesn't require a dry mount press. Storage space is at a premium for me right now.

hoffy · Feb 23, 2018

OK, thanks folks. I'll keep the current print under the weight for a little while longer. It would be nice if I could get a bit more wave out, because I do suspect that it would still look a bit wavey on a mount.

RalphLambrecht · Feb 23, 2018

hoffy said:
New post time - I have been flattening some prints for the last 4 days between some matt board with books sitting on top.

While the prints sit flat, the edges are wavey. Will the wave eventually flatten out?

only if the prints are entirely between the mat boards.

mvs · Mar 8, 2018

well, I dry mine on home made screens, face down and then put them between mats (made from 13x24 acid free blot paper bought at Blick) and then ... I power on my trusted Black&Decker and iron little suckers (face down) till they scream no more. After that, they are weighted with a heavy metal plate or a fine selection of totally useless encyclopedias until I'm ready to slip them between the mat boards. It works just as good as using the press which I do not have.

Getting Fiber Based Paper Flat

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